It was about this time last year that I used more swear words than I ever did for the whole time I was milking cows. Hard to believe but true. It was all down to those blasted Black Cockatoos and their love of apple pips.
But this year we hope to deter them and at least be able to get to enjoy some of our produce. A couple of weeks ago we made a trip to Melbourne and came home with 2 rolls of 13m x 100m bird netting....and this morning we set about trying to cover the most heavily laden of the apples trees. Russell has bought a small secondhand tractor and plans to make up a contraption for putting up the netting, but unfortunately time is against us so we went to the next best option.....
Yes 2 brooms!......and they worked a treat.....well as good as 2 brooms could do.
Then we had to have something to peg it down with..........we didn't even think of that. Okay some old fencing wire cut into lengths with a hook on one end......at the moment it all looks like it is working okay......despite some of the trees being small and bending over a bit.
We have netted 4 rows and will do another 2 next week. The true test will be when the Black Cockatoos arrive.....fingers crossed!
Linda :)
I've known of birds that bounce on the netting and peck through it!!! So good luck!
Posted by: Margaret Evans | January 25, 2017 at 04:51 PM
They are so destructive, they used to tear our cedar trees to pieces. It was amazing how thick the branches were that they snipped through with those big beaks.I didn't begrudge them the cedar berries, but I wouldn't want to share a crop with them.
Posted by: Keryn | January 25, 2017 at 09:07 PM
Fingers Crossed for sure!!!! That is a whole lot of HARD work..... I am impressed.
Posted by: Susie Q | January 25, 2017 at 11:36 PM
Hope the netting does the trick and you get to enjoy some of your crop! Good work with the brooms!! Well done :)
Posted by: Lorraine Walsh | January 27, 2017 at 06:43 PM
Try old CDs on string hanging in the trees.. As they swing in the breeze it scares the birds....
Posted by: Jane Polkinghorne | February 09, 2017 at 07:09 PM