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takadi

Birds are snipping off my corn seedlings one by one!

takadi
14 years ago

It's as if these little suckers are doing it just to get back at me or something! I'm planning on buying a plastic owl to scare them away, but does anyone have any tricks up their sleeves that they care to share? I have some mylar also, will hanging up strips of those scare them away?

Comments (17)

  • Kimmsr
    14 years ago

    Crows? Blackbirds? Starlings? They all do that kind of thing and I have watched them march right down a row just as the corn germinates and pull up every plant and eat them. Scarecrows, plastic owls, the ballons, old CDs flapping in the wind, etc. do not seem to be as effective today as they once were and about the most effective way to keep them away is with Floating Row Covers left on until the corn has rooted deep enough so they cannot pull them up.

  • takadi
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I've stuck some stakes with flying mylar flapping in the wind...so far the rest of my seedlings have been spared but I don't think it will last. I see the crows watching from a distance and judging the situation, and sooner or later they'll find out.

    Does fishing line over the rows work for crows?

  • takadi
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Alas, my largest seedling, 7 inches tall, was ravaged. Time to get the row covers

  • takadi
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Do you guys think shot gun repellent will work?

  • petzold6596
    14 years ago

    Twelve or twenty gauge? Either would be effective but you must be sure to target the pest to produce the best results.

  • takadi
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Well I was thinking of getting that too, but there's an actual organic repellent by bonide called "shot gun"...all purpose repellent that contains blood meal, "rotten egg solids", and garlic oil. But I'd probably just use the real thing just for satisfaction

  • Kimmsr
    14 years ago

    If you are out of well populated areas where the discharge of firearms is not illegal a shotgun may be of some help, however the crows will soon know when you are around and when you are not and they will come in when you are not.
    You also need to be sure that you do not shoot at some of the blackbirds what are protected species.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    14 years ago

    Petzold! Kimmsr! Shot-Gun Repellent is a manufactured product!

    Takadi, I'm not familiar with this stuff, nor have I talked to anyone who is, but I will say that the ingredients are similar to some of the effective animal repellents out there. I'm just not sure how it would work on birds, which have an entirely different olfactory and taste sensory system going for them.

  • takadi
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    They are driving me insane, they are getting aggressive now. Sunflower seedlings, tomato seedlings, corn seedlings...they just rip everything out and leave it there to taunt me. For some reason though, they stay completely away from my butternut squash area....

  • petzold6596
    14 years ago

    I'VE USED FISH LINE STRUNG ABOUT 6" APART TO PREVENT DOVES FROM ROUSTING IN RAFTERS. YOU HAVE NEVER MENTIONED THE BIRDS THAT ARE CAUSING THE PROBLEM. THEY MAY BE AFTER SOMETIME IN THE SOIL OTHER THAN THE PLANT. LIKE MAYBE INSECTS, LARVA OR WORMS.

  • takadi
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I suspect Robins or sparrows, but I also see crows flying overhead. It most likely is a robin though

  • takadi
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Does anyone know if predator urine will repel birds?

  • petzold6596
    14 years ago

    It won't.

  • Thomas Hood
    7 years ago

    I have gotten good results with plant collars for corn. These collars are rings cut from plastic jars. I like for them to be 4 inches tall and at least three inches wide. Remove when the corn has eight leaves. I began using plant collars to protect corn from billbugs, but so far they have worked for birds too.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    7 years ago

    Can't really picture how a collar would be helpful against birds, Thomas. Sorry. I'm not sure how a plastic color would prevent anything from crawling over it.

    Maybe if you shared a picture.....I can't even think of a plastic jar of any kind!

  • Thomas Hood
    7 years ago

    Rhizo, check Google or Bing Images, and you will see examples of plant collars. It is an old and effective method for protecting plants that are attacked at ground level by billbugs, cut worms, wire worms, and such. I said jars because I drink coffee and use the coffee jars for plant collars. Each jar makes two collars. I think 2 liter drink bottles would be better, but I do not have them. Birds pull up corn to eat the sprouted kernel. I have lost no corn with plant collars to birds. Once the corn is big enough, they (for me, brown thrashers and purple grackles) leave it alone. However, a plastic plant collar will not protect sunflowers from attacks by brown thrashers.

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