This afternoon my pots are empty, they were full this morning.

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Black birds.
A friggin pest I want to get rid of.
50 black pines, 8 red pines, 6 larches, my beeches, my magnolias, burned in the scorching sun because some bird decided to check my soil for bugs.

I used sticks to cover the pots.
I have used other means to try and close my pots from birds fucking them up.

But after the fifth mop-up job this week, picking up the remains and filling my pots with soil again, and burning the carcasses of plants that I cared for for years, I'm done.

I hoped that writing this down would lower the frustration, but I'm more and more convinced that a few well aimed hollow point pellets are the most adequate answer.

What do you guys do to keep birds at bay?

 

[cmeg1]

Dude!,with you on this.I live in the burough now and I got to say, birds and squirrels are way more ravenous in the burough then country animals it seems.
I recently put netting over everything I have.
Too bad,I hope your trees bounce back.

 

[cmeg1]

Fiberglass stakes around 18” tall benches with 100’ x7’ roll of bird netting draped over with cloths pins
They are relentless where I live.
A bonus is that japanese beetles dont really like any hinderance such as bird netting either

 

[GGB]

I find squirrels leave anything I plant in inorganic soil alone, thank god because I was at my wits end usnig potting soil. As for birds, the only kind that mess with me are house finches. Every spring I keep a close eye on my yard an knock their nests down multiple times before they give up and live somewhere else. So far so good. This is my very first year I'm being left alone by birds n squirrels. Now if the mites would back off....
I do keep a scoped pellet gun and hollow points in the basement but haven't fired it yet. I'm training my tiny greyhound to chase off squirrels and I don't think that's hurting anything either

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

I had birds digging around in my pots until my wife put out a bird feeder on the other side of the yard, now they congregate over there and annoy her in her garden by pooping out vine seeds. My pots remain untouched so far. Except for the neighborhood cat...that little asshole wants to lay on propagation trays for some reason.

 

[GGB]

Oh and another change I've made, and this wont help in making bonsai from scratch but.. I just simply started working bigger. Instead of 12 to 18 inch (30 - 45cm) trees, and growing from seed, I just buy 2 foot (61cm) trunks and grow toward larger stuff. It's limiting, but I follow wu wei. I'm not going to force something that causes me constant aggrevation. If you're being honest with yourself, you can shoot 20 blackbirds but you know there are probably 300 more ready to roll

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Depends how many squirrels, but live traps and relocation works pretty well if you are only dealing with a couple.

In SoCal we've had to deal with tree rats. I battled them for over ten years before I finally got them controlled. A combination of trimming the palm trees and poison traps did it for me. I lost track of how many I've killed. Had to be at least 50. Might have even been 100. Just had the palms behind my koi pond trimmed and there were six dead rats in a single tree.

 

[River's Edge]

Black birds.
A friggin pest I want to get rid of.
50 black pines, 8 red pines, 6 larches, my beeches, my magnolias, burned in the scorching sun because some bird decided to check my soil for bugs.

I used sticks to cover the pots.
I have used other means to try and close my pots from birds fucking them up.

But after the fifth mop-up job this week, picking up the remains and filling my pots with soil again, and burning the carcasses of plants that I cared for for years, I'm done.

I hoped that writing this down would lower the frustration, but I'm more and more convinced that a few well aimed hollow point pellets are the most adequate answer.

What do you guys do to keep birds at bay?

Downright frustrating to say the least. We have tons of birds, live on an acreage in the middle of the forest, they turn over everything looking for food. They have not bothered any of my tree's on the benches or in the grow beds. I am using inorganic soil for everything , plus Neem Meal in my regular organic fertiliser. The only problem is the neighbours cat looking for a litter box in my grow beds from time to time. I use moth balls in a pvc pipe with vent holes, just set it in the area for a week or so. Works every time until it comes back in a different area. LOL.
So far the local squirrels have also avoided digging, i think the Neem Meal odour repels them along with most insects. Now if only it would work for mites!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

No squirrels or flying hamsters here, just the black birds.
A year or two ago, some kind of virus blew over from Russia and wiped out 99% of the black bird population. Where we used to have around 200 visiting our yard, now there was one.
But damn did that one reproduce! They're back in full strength.

We have feeders all around, hot and cold water baths, enough backyard to roll around in and then some..

Back in the days, when I was just a regular young gardener, some old school defenses were enough. Like shown below.
Pretty Spartan right?!

But the bastards hacked the system; they pull the sticks out and then ravage the soil. I see that it's hard to make up from the image below, but there's around 3 tea cups of soil missing.


As I'm writing this post, I see around a kilogram of soil being removed from my fig tree.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

No squirrels or flying hamsters here, just the black birds.
A year or two ago, some kind of virus blew over from Russia and wiped out 99% of the black bird population. Where we used to have around 200 visiting our yard, now there was one.
But damn did that one reproduce! They're back in full strength.

We have feeders all around, hot and cold water baths, enough backyard to roll around in and then some..

Back in the days, when I was just a regular young gardener, some old school defenses were enough. Like shown below.View attachment 249316
Pretty Spartan right?!

But the bastards hacked the system; they pull the sticks out and then ravage the soil. I see that it's hard to make up from the image below, but there's around 3 tea cups of soil missing.
View attachment 249317

As I'm writing this post, I see around a kilogram of soil being removed from my fig tree.

I think you have to add feces to the sticks to insure an infection.

 

[Anthony]

Planted Muntingia c. and the birds feed off of that fruit.
It is a 10 m tree.
Have Kiskidee, Thrush, Ant shriek, Oriole ,Tanager, Parrots, Tropical
Mockingbird, Doves, Pigeons, Tropical King bird,, house wrens and Hummingbirds
as well as a few hawks. Also woodpeckers.

Most eat grasshoppers/Locusts but have no interest in Bonsai anything.
Same for the occasional squirrel and opossum.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Deleted member 21616]

sorry to hear about that @Wires_Guy_wires

i found a solution that seems to be working for me: instead of using deterrents, i offer alternatives to the animals. 14 types of lettuce, as well as tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, kale, chard, beans and so on. I regularly have birds or squirrels going through my vegetables as I play with my trees 5-10 feet away. I'll never scare them away. They know that that's their safe zone. (I also have 5-6 un-baited mouse traps for 'surprise' on my bench should they get curious)

i give them no reason to even consider my boring maples!

 

[leatherback]

Here the same problem. Started about 2 weeks ago. Every day I get home and find another hole poked in one of my pots. Ruining nebari development etc.

I am looking for some plastic mesh, just like you use in the pot, to put over the substrate. Just need to fnd a reasonably priced source.

 

[Smoke]

Tree Rat Hot Legs

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Franks Red Hot
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 teaspoon garlic minced
1 teaspoon worcestershire

BBQ legs till well grilled and toss in sauce. Enjoy with beer on ice till your tree problems go away!!

Works well with squirrels, blackbirds, crows and finches.

 

[Smoke]

Here the same problem. Started about 2 weeks ago. Every day I get home and find another hole poked in one of my pots. Ruining nebari development etc.

I am looking for some plastic mesh, just like you use in the pot, to put over the substrate. Just need to fnd a reasonably priced source.

I have done this for years. My problem is gone.

Just cheap stitchery canvas that women use. About 50 cents a sheet for the big ones. 8 1/2 by 11 is about 10 cents at Walmart

 

[Melospiza]

I had thrashers in Atlanta that like to toss up the substrate looking for bugs. I placed pebbles and broken clay pot pieces on the soil that worked in reducing that. The sticks you have should do the trick!

 

[Punky]

Depends how many squirrels, but live traps and relocation works pretty well if you are only dealing with a couple.

In SoCal...

FYI: It is illegal in California to relocate any wildlife, including squirrels.

 

[leatherback]

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[Wires_Guy_wires]

Tree Rat Hot Legs

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Franks Red Hot
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 teaspoon garlic minced
1 teaspoon worcestershire

BBQ legs till well grilled and toss in sauce. Enjoy with beer on ice till your tree problems go away!!

Works well with squirrels, blackbirds, crows and finches.

You grill them first and then put them in sauce? Absolute madness! How is the flavor going to soak into the meat?

Why not
3 spoons of olive oil
6 spoons of sriracha - don't get the 'extra hot' because it's not extra hot, it's just less garlic.
3 spoons of honey
1 spoon of minced garlic
1/2 spoon of salt
1 spoon of ground bell pepper
2 spoons of vinegar
1 white onion diced
Some chives and a tiny dash of lemon grass

Soak for a night in the fridge and then BBQ, while spraying it with vinegar+worcestershire.
Mix some ketchup with whipped cream and bourbon (1:1:1) for sauce. Add some ground habanero if you're feeling spicy.

Or beat the KFC:
Cool your wings/legs to almost freezing, grind some of your favorite tortilla chips down to dust, roll the wings through the ground chips, then fling on some yolk, then roll them again.
Bake in the oven, or BBQ, or deep fry, I'm not the kitchen police, I don't care. Oven: preferably on a rack for even crispyness.
Works for poultry, fish and even onion rings (bring those to actual freezing temps before coating and frying them).


I'll be shopping for mesh today. Good tips! Thanks!

 

[Ruben Bouwmeester]

Keep i clean is my advise. I looks like a mess, pots on soil, dead branches, dead leaves. A lovely place for bugs.