Critters II (ABD's Deployed)

I like blueberries. So do other people in the family, which is why I planted eight blueberry bushes after we moved here. Blueberry bushes are actually well worth it, as they are good looking and don't really seem to require a lot of care. Except...

It seems that birds like blueberries too. They are amazingly able to see exactly when the berries are ripe, and are able to make sure that humans never get to them.

I discovered this fact the year after planting the blueberry bushes. What to do? For some years, I tried netting. This worked at first, although it was annoying to work with. It tangles and is hard to spread over the bushes, especially if you are trying to avoid disturbing blueberry flowers and unripe fruit. But what made me give up on the netting was when the birds figured out how to get underneath it. Seeing a happy bird ignoring all my work putting up the netting was pretty frustrating.

My latest idea, which worked for most of last year, is a set of Anti Bird Devices (ABD's). I have three:

1. Poles with glittery ribbon attached---this is special mylar ribbon which is supposed to scare birds.

2. Large ballons with eye-like stickers that make the birds feel watched, which they don't like.

3. A plastic owl.

This worked until the very end of the season. Then I discovered a bird happily munching the last of the berries. It might be because I stopped moving the ABD's frequently, which is supposed to be an important part of the plan.

Well, a few berries are beginning to turn blue, so I started the program. Here's a picture:



















Only one balloon so far. And it's a little hard to see the mylar, but you can see it in the foreground if you look carefully, and there's another green pole with mylar next the the bushes on the left.

We'll see who gets to eat the berries this year.