Bird Deterrant

[CCR2580]

I have found a cheap way of keeping the stinking birds off my spreaders, thus eliminating the bird crap on my boat. Go to Walmart and buy a plastic skeleton for $10 and connect it to a spare halyard and hoist it halfway up your mast, Let it swing in the air about 4' from the mast and i guarantee the birds will not land on your spreaders. I have done this for a week now and all the boats around me have bird carp but not mine! Million dollar idea. You can buy plastic skeletons on online also.

[zeehag]

i found a flapping pillow case on the pulpit also works, when the C A T is sleeping.....

[HankOnthewater]

a tongue in cheek alternative: "go sailing"

[Celestialsailor]

Great....I want to dock beside someone with a skeleton flapping in the breeze.

[onestepcsy37]

I used shiny CD's. Tied them on a line at three foot intervals. Hoisted the CD line from its centerpoint with the main halyard. Tied off each end to the stanchions. Never had a bird again.

[Arthur Garfield]

Keeping with Halloween spirit skelaton sounds spooky Maybe skeleton with CDs
will bannish the mess makers !

Great ideas.

Another may be the old plastic owl ,hawk or,eagle



All the Best

[Hudson Force]

Maybe the placement of the skeletons causes an important effect. I have a couple of skeletons in my closet and there's no bird problem across the entire marina!

[zeehag]

cds cause a strobing efect which can cause seizures in many individuals. try to no t use these items, as this actually CAN cause harm. also brings on migraine, aka visual disturbance headaches, which are very similar to seizure activity as they have post ictal and aura , as do seizures.
you dont want to cause any boating accidents with your attempts to rid world of poor birdees, many of which eat mosquitos.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

Maybe the placement of the skeletons causes an important effect. I have a couple of skeletons in my closet and there's no bird problem across the entire marina!

Good one, Hudson!

Jim

[JPA Cate]

Fine monofilament strung about 2 inches above the spreaders, from mast to shroud seem to work.

I have also seen the large cable ties fastened with the tails up along spreaders to do the same thing.

Finally, i know someone who swears by feather dusters lashed to the shroud at spreader level. That one seems way weird to me, but she swears it works.

If you're aboard, banging the rigging will get most birds off, but crows don't seem to care much, you have to pretend to shoot them.....or maybe the Aussies were just fooling me!

Good one, Hudson!

Ann

[onestepcsy37]

Originally Posted by zeehag

cds cause a strobing efect which can cause seizures in many individuals. try to no t use these items, as this actually CAN cause harm.

Good to know that. I thought my seizures were caused by too much rum so I stopped drinking. Think I will just take down those cd's and go back to rum...

Actually I only had them up while my boat was on the hard and I was away. When I'm on the boat I use my BB gun.

PS. Seagulls taste terrible.

[zeehag]

one step--bubba deaded a seagull in mazatlan.. goo dkat-- here they dont land on my boat, nor others inmarina--very few seagulls here-- frigates and pelicans yes, and boobies....cormorants, some others.... egrets and herons, and da night heron pushed bubba into the lagoon one night, how embarrassing for the cat....

[Hudson Force]

A few yers ago while I was anchored up in Gloucester, Massachusetts I was looking at some old photos in a local museum. One picture of the early 1900's raised my curiosity. It showed hundreds of drying racks of fish all about the harbor and not a single seagull. Today three or four seagulls would instantly battle for a small scrap of fish dropped on the dock. I asked some older local guys for an explanation. They said that the seagulls were not a protected species back then and any one in the area would be shot at by the local fishermen with their catch drying in the sun. The fishermen also often hung a dead seagull from a high point in their rigging. There were still plenty of seagulls elsewhere, but they stayed clear of Gloucester!

[Chenega]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Fine monofilament strung about 2 inches above the spreaders, from mast to shroud seem to work.



I have also seen the large cable ties fastened with the tails up along spreaders to do the same thing.



Finally, i know someone who swears by feather dusters lashed to the shroud at spreader level. That one seems way weird to me, but she swears it works.



If you're aboard, banging the rigging will get most birds off, but crows don't seem to care much, you have to pretend to shoot them.....or maybe the Aussies were just fooling me!



Good one, Hudson!



Ann

I do use trip wire... I run seizing wire over the spreaders about 2-3" from the shrouds to the spreader base / mast. Has worked for many years for me. Cormorants hate it but I've been startled in the middle of the night when they "trip" and fly off.


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[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by CCR2580

I have found a cheap way of keeping the stinking birds off my spreaders, thus eliminating the bird crap on my boat... I have done this for a week now...

Yup, anything new will keep birds away for a few days, maybe a week or two. Eventually they'll get used to it and ignore it.

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Fine monofilament strung about 2 inches above the spreaders, from mast to shroud seem to work.

BINGO!

Anything that will keep them from landing safely or especially taking off quickly will deter them long-term. Monofiliment is ideal because, once they know it's there, they'll never want to risk getting snagged in it during an emergency takeoff. Heavier line will also work, but I think mono is good because it's almost invisible, and they never really know if and where it's safe to land on your boat.