Raylo

I have a few really nice blueberry plants on my townhouse deck. Last year I got exactly zero fruit because of the birds and squirrels. My house backs to the woods and there are zillions of critters. The birds swoop down out of the trees and feast. The squirrels leap from deck to deck and then jump into the pots and climb the plants to eat their fill. They also like to dig in the pots which destroys roots.

I have solved the digging problem by placing wire mesh screens in the pots with holes cut out for the plant trunks. I am considering several ways to combat the pests getting the berries including bird netting and an electric fence wire rigged to stop the squirrel assualts. Maybe use the existing mesh screens for the ground plane. Also considering making some sort of frame out of pvc pipe and covering with chicken wire.

None of these methods will be visually attractive but what can I do? Anyone have any experience/suggestions?

manic

Buy a owl decoy, that should solve your bird problem, may keep the
squirrels away also.

yustr

You might try a motion activated sprinkler like THIS ONE. If you set it up right it might handle both.

mack1

experience:

At first it bothered me that I could never get any pears from the tree out back near the woods. The squirrels, racoons, deer, and crows got them every year. Squirrels were cute, but the deer were a sight to behold. With their babies beside them, the deer would rare up and get a pear. Then with head pointed skyward, would chew on it until it until it could be swallowed. I had always thought they would bite off chunks like humans.

suggestions:

Enjoy the critters and buy some blueberries at a local farmers market. You'll have piece of mind and save money.

Very best regards,
Mack1

Mcninjaguy

sometimes in the winter (i live in the city) we have around 300 crows in the backyard and I love their loud caws!

the crows nest in the farm (middle of the city owned by the goverment - "Experimental Farm" ) and at night when I'm driving down one the big roads that goes from end to end, its right beside the experimental farm at around 9 pm I'll see around 150 birds to a tree by the road

kinda creepy like the movie "Birds"

SABL

Perhaps netting would be cheapest and most effective. Not attractive but efficient.

As for crows and deer.... they can be destructive. We have open season on crows with little restriction. The deer are seasonal but nuisance permits can be obtained. I have seen entire fields of corn decimated by herds of deer. The natural preditors have declined in the case of the deer population and at times the herds are hazardous to crops and motorists. I love to watch the deer and have taken very few, but they are tasty.

Raylo

My friends that live on a farm always say "plant enough for everyone" meaning to let the critters have their share. I say BS. First it just isn't possible. There are too many critters and too few square feet on my deck. Second, I don't see my friends "sharing" their chickens and eggs with the foxes!

Luckily my deck is on the second floor so the deer can't get at my plants, too. My house borders on utility/parkland and I often see up to 40 or so deer in the woods behind my house.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Not sure yet what I'll try but I have a while to think about. They don't come for the fruit until it is ripe. They are smart that way.

DonaldG

We live in the countryside too - a few years ago, a bird 'dropped one' while sitting on our fence. It grew into a very sweet raspberry plant - Now we have many raspberry canes by courtesy of one bird.

We share them now with all the local wild life. If they leave us any, we enjoy them knowing that they too enjoy them....

Share with the critters.... Think of the townies who do not have the pleasure of badgers & foxes digging up the lawn

SABL

What color raspberry, Donald?? Good eats if the critters care to share with you. Pretty good on a bowl of corn flakes.... no sugar, mind you. The berries will take over if you let them. The weather does not like to cooperate around here and I haven't picked any berries (black or rasp) in ages. We get lots of blooms but when it comes time for fruit formation we get no rain.

Foxes are around but rarely seen. Coyote population is on the rise.... seen one in my side yard and hear them after the sun goes down. So far not a problem but we do have open season year round for control. Unless they become a nuisance I can see no reason to kill them just because I am allowed. I enjoy wildlife and if I harvest one..... well, it's just that....harvest.

Raylo

Well, I decided to get a low power electric fence energizer and I rigged a couple of plates on the rail the critters use as their main highway and to drop down on my blueberry plants. I also rigged a hot perimeter wire around each plant with the metal mesh beneath being grounded. The mesh was already in place to keep em from digging and burying stuff in the pots and it makes a great ground mat. I'll add nets to keep the birds off once the fruit comes in. Maybe I'll actually get a few berries this year. :-)

Attached Images

	energizerplate.jpg (76.6 KB, 14 views)
	energizerplant.jpg (125.4 KB, 12 views)

mack1

Great rigging Raylo. That should fry them.

SABL

Keep the kids away!! Watch where you relieve yourself after a few drinks..... could be a shocking experience??

Opting for netting could provide for some tasty morsels at harvest-time.

Raylo

Well, shouldn't hurt the little guys. It's the low power model meant for pets and small animals. And being the stand up guy that I am I tested it myself. It gives quite a jolt... sort of reminescent of grabbing onto a live spark plug lead.

But damn if I'm not starting to look like Bill Murray in Caddy Shack! Squirrells, gophers.... what's the difference?? ;-)

Raylo

Having my first leisurely morning sipping coffee and looking out at the deck.... A squirrel climbed up from the deck to the rail to check out one of the plates. He put his nose right up to it but didn't touch it. Then he jumped back down to the deck, hopped from there to a chair, from there to the table, from there to another chair, from there to the grill, from there to the rail past the other electrified plate, and from there to a neighbor's deck. Talk about the scenic route. There must have been some educational opportunities during the week when I was at work. :-)

Raylo

I got to see the gear work first hand yesterday AM. Mr. squirrel, cruising my deck for some easy pickins, leapt up from the deck landing square on the electrified plate on the rail. A millisecond later he launched himelf airborne and off my deck. Based on my previous observations I thought all the squirrels had figured it out. But there must be some newcomers.... or just slow learners. Anyway, I'll mark this one solved.