Bird deterrent

[bstreep]

We use CDs and rubber snakes (buy a whole pile of them cheap on Amazon). What also works is single strands of tight fishing line. They HATE it.

[Alistair242]

Rather than killing an actual bird maybe try one or more of these?

https://www.birdfighter.com/index.ph...l#.YgtUZS_ZWfA

[Alistair242]

Originally Posted by Bruce K

A dead seagull works in Pittwater! Found one about 3 years ago, put it on the top of my boat, while it was there I had a few "fly overs" with much squarking, but nothing since. A mooring neighbour has one laminated between two layers of plastic of some sort, that works also. It surprises me that there are no imitation dead seagulls available in Oz.

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/Dead-Gull-De...-127632-2357-0

[Hasbeen]

Good luck with that. I did find a way, but you may not like it.


I used to run an outer Great Barrier Reef Day trip operation in the Australian Whitsunday Islands. I installed a 20 meter 60 passenger imitation submarine coral viewing vessel, a 25 meter pontoon, & a few bits of equipment permanently out at the outer reef destination.


In less than a week the Gannets had discovered 2 lovely night perches. The gannet is a sea bird about the size of a duck, with vert efficient bowls. We erected masts & tried streamers, owls Hawks & all the rest. I purchased some sort of agricultural bird control acetylene cannon that went off with a large bang at irregular intervals. It worked for a week, before they became used to it.


I installed an expensive electronic noise maker, guaranteed to keep birds away. they liked it so much they almost burred it in poo in a weekend.


I installed a 2" Jabsco fire pump on the subs 6 71 GM diesel to at least speed the washing down.


The solution was to install a full accommodation unit on the pontoon, & hire a skipper & his wife to live out there all week, & send a relief skipper for week ends.


During the off season, when we did not run reef trips, so no one out there, I had to fly the skipper out by sea plane Monday morning to give him 2 hours to clean & de-stink the thing. It was so bad after 3 nights, Friday Saturday Sunday he requested breathing gear to do the job.


As I said, good luck.

[MicHughV]

the gulls....ok.....a problem...but their poop washes off fairly easy...

crows...on the other hand.....they eat these palm tree berries....and their offering is a dark purple schmear on the decks, I dunno what is in those berries, but it can stain fiberglass and bimini tops, etc.....requires bleach and softscrub to remove...takes about 50 cusswords per stain to remove...

I've tried putting stuff at the masthead...but the birds just sit elsewhere.....spreaders, etc...

I've found the most effective way..but not a foolproof way....is to make the sound of a gun going off, by clapping my hands hard...they seem to recognize this as a shotgun sound and will perch elsewhere......I'd give it a 75% rating....birds start recognizing where the sound emanates from...and go sit on other boats...

in the summer time....I get wasp problems....they like to build their nests in some unusual places on the boat...under the mainsail cover for instance, always a surprise when it gets removed......I'm highly allergic to wasp stings....so keep wasp spray handy in several locations.....

[MicHughV]

at a local beach bar, they run fishing line from the outdoor patio to the main bar...about 50 strands, zig-zagging every which way...it works...not sure how to replicate this on a boat though..

[boatman61]

Booby's are poop machines.. had one land on deck one evening.. made the mistake of leaving it alone overnight.
Next morning there was crap everywhere, who'd thought they have that much in them. Tried scaring him off but they're fearless, just stand and look at you like your stupid..
In the end I picked the blue footed twat up and threw him overboard.
Booby crap is really hard to get off teak decks..

[Alistair242]

From what I can see if you are on the boat and/or the boat is moving on a regular basis its not a huge problem. I left our boat to go overseas for 6 months last year and when I came back the boat had been trashed by the birds. Half way through that 6 month stint a diver who had scrubbed the bottom sent me a video which showed the deck in excellent shape with no real sign of birds. After that they got it. Get the boat off the mooring or out of the slip often and for as long as possible and they seem to go to boats that sit for long periods.
Starbrite bird and spider stain remover seems to work well.

[svHyLyte]

There is an extensive discussion of this subject at https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ly-210919.html

[Alistair242]

I have settled on a balanced plan that seems to be working. The cheapest and I think most effective weapon is monofilament fishing line. They do not like it at all!

I run it safety line to safety line down the boat(over the boom) about 3 ft apart which takes me about 5 mins to set up and less to take down. In addition I put two 8’ bird spiders over my large glass solar panels and one smaller one on each bow. No birds for almost a month with this setup. Fingers crossed.

There are still plenty of seagulls about but the old adage of out running a bear applies. You do not need to out run the bear, just the other people fleeing, or in this case boats.