Am i th only linatic to do this???

[broken pete]

Hi everyone. Before posting a reply, please refrain from laughing at me, I already know I am nuts and have these crazy ideas. somehow they always looked better in my mind then the finished product.

Well here it is, my "anti-bird landing" device, coupled with my aqua-signal series 40 sun shade hat.





your thoughts please
Happy "sun"day

[SV Melody]

Well... It might scare off the bigger birds until one of them decides to land on it anyway (like they do...) and discovers that zip ties bend really easy, after which they'll really enjoy your masthead for tickling their wingpits and other such foolishness. Sections of straightened coat hanger might be more effective against those brave and annoying ospreys that give it a go.



Also, putting bits of colored yarn in red and yellow from the tops of the zip ties would probably scare off the littler birds. Fluttery things in predatory colors have a pretty stout impact on the daily plans of birds that get eaten from time to time.

[AMB0318]

Coat hangers will probably rust.
There are several companies that make stainless steel spikes that work pretty well.
The stainless Steel spikes are really sharp and painful if you are not careful with them.
Google stainless steel bird spikes

There is also a bird caulk type goo that you can dab onto metal surfaces the you usually don't touch.
This stuff works pretty well too but it is a sticky mess when you get it on you.
It resists UV pretty well but needs to be re-applied yearly in the NE USA and probably more frequently in the south.
It has an absurdly long shelf life.

[broken pete]

the main purpose was to create a bit of sun shade, I am in the tropics and the last series 40 was desemated by the sun in no time. Always on the very top.

So thats the purpose of the plate. the zip-ties are just to scare the birds away but ya never know, maybe they like to be ticked by these lovely yellow flexible sticks. Maybe I am creating an invitation instead........ I will let ya know

[senormechanico]

I'm not laughing one bit !
OT, but I'm about ready to use some muffler repair goo to glue a pizza stone on top of a gas stove chimney in our home's bedroom.
When it rains big drops, the noise sounds like dropping bb's on thin metal and keeps us awake.

[noelex 77]

I use the same idea. The cable ties are sharp and look like they would create a very unpleasant landing/perching area, but surprisingly I still occasionally see birds on the masthead.

I suspect it helps, but this is difficult to gauge. Some monofilament fishing line strung tightly might work better, but I worry this may cause injury to birds so I have never given this a try.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

I use the same idea. The cable ties are sharp and look like they would create a very unpleasant landing/perching area, but surprisingly I still occasionally see birds on the masthead.

I suspect it helps, but this is difficult to gauge. Some monofilament fishing line strung tightly might work better, but I worry this may cause injury to birds so I have never given this a try.

Monofilament is used a lot in the NE US as a bird deterrent and doesn't seem to cause any harm. Although after the cormorants adopted my boat as their daily roosting place last summer I was ready to cause as much harm as it took to get them to leave.


Usually a couple of lines a couple of inches over the spreaders and a couple of bits on large flat areas seems to work but the most effective for the later are little horizontal windmill things that spin around a few inches over where it's mounted.


Once the cormorants discovered my boat I could NOT get them to leave. I strung almost 200 meters of monofilament around the boat, essentially creating an enclosure from bow to stern with lines 15-20 cm apart all the way from deck level up to 2 meters up the shrouds and over the boom and they still came.

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

I use the same idea. The cable ties are sharp and look like they would create a very unpleasant landing/perching area, but surprisingly I still occasionally see birds on the masthead.

I suspect it helps, but this is difficult to gauge. Some monofilament fishing line strung tightly might work better, but I worry this may cause injury to birds so I have never given this a try.

Tightly strung line still provides a place for birds to perch. A slack Li e that doesn’t stretch down to a solid element works better because birds can’t perch on a slack line.

As far as “spikes” go, in my experience all one needs is a spike that provides less than a wingspan and birds won’t generally perch there. I have a smallish JRC radar dome and have a 200mm thin stainless spike sticking up from the centre. Very rarely do we get birds there because their wings hit the spike as they try to perch.

I also once made my own net of thin cord with 100mm square mesh. No bird was ever seen entering the net because with fluttering wings, they would not easily fit through that size hole and they probably found it easier going to the boat next door. We occasionally had a bird perch on the net but that was rare too.

But as with most things, there will be exceptions.

[KTP]

Wait, so you guys don't electrify your mast?

[broken pete]

amazing the lengths we go to just to get rid of birds. I have no clue if this will work, one friend just told me the zip-ties would make for a very nice starting structure for a nest, so ya never know, I might have a nest up there in a few weeks.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by KTP

Wait, so you guys don't electrify your mast?

If it works I'll put a couple of KV on it.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by skipmac

If it works I'll put a couple of KV on it.

How is that going to work? the birds sit on the overhead power lines around here quite happily. If it did work they you would KFC falling out of the sky

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Pete7

How is that going to work? the birds sit on the overhead power lines around here quite happily. If it did work they you would KFC falling out of the sky

The mast and rigging would be the ground. Then run hot wires over the spreaders and around the rigging, all of course isolated from the rigging. Then the bird lands on the spreader and leans back against the hot wire and bingo, roasted cormorant. To get KFC fried cormorant would take a little more doing.

[Wani II]

Heavy trimmer (weed-eater) line might work better. Won't rust and the .155 is really strong. Good luck.

[wrwakefield]

That might help with birds trying to land on top of your light stack...



I took this photo of a friend's boat... The larger birds are used to having their way...

The commercial fishing boats around here usually put long metal spikes welded on the ends of their outriggers to help discourage birds when stowed vertically:



The vessel the eagle is perching on has shorter spikes than the vessel to the right in the photo... maybe longer is better? Don't know.

Many more photos in this post.

Best wishes with your quest...

Cheers! Bill