do scarecrows work?

[ameliat]

I think I'll be making one with my son regardless, but I was wondering if anyone has had any success keeping birds away with them?

[rainbowgardener]

I'm sure I've seen photos of birds sitting on a scarecrow, but I couldn't find one to post.

The birds get used to it after awhile. It helps if you can give it big loose floppy clothes that blow around. The motion helps scare them. It helps to put it in a different part of your garden at different times. Aluminum pie tins hung so they swing work better, but maybe you could hang the pie tins from the scarecrow arms?

[ruggr10]

Hang some old CDs from it... CDs dangling on string work great!

[The Helpful Gardener]

Perhaps not as cute, but rubber snakes are about the best. Birds HATE snakes...

Problem is so does almost everyone else, including the wife...

But they work great...

S

[Gary350]

Birds are your friends they will eat all your bugs and you don't need bug spray. Birds are not as dumb and people think. A scarecrows will work for about 1 or 2 days as soon as the birds notice the scarecrows never moves they pay no attention to it.

[rainbowgardener]

Birds are your friends and I keep bird feeders full and grow things for them. That doesn't mean you want them eating your corn (or whatever) crop.

The scarecrow's efficacy will be improved by the measures marlingardener and I suggested. And it has the advantage of being totally harmless to the birds, neither killing them nor driving them away from your property.

[oldschoolvdub]

I'm having problems with birds too. There was a couple days in a row that I would go outside and they pulled my fresh planted seedling out and set them next to the hole they were in. Very frustrating! Also they topped a few of the plants, I'm assuming they couldn't get them out of the ground. And just recently the swallows are going crazy around here... I keep spraying their nests down as they try to build them.

[rainbowgardener]

why don't you want the swallows? They don't eat plants; they do eat mostly mosquitos, thousands of them a day. I'd love a few more swallows around my place!

[The Helpful Gardener]

I'm with RG; swallows are completely insectivorous...

I can see where swallow poop might be an issue... but for the most part that's a good thing that swallows show up. In my parts we are losing bats and swallows are our next best defense...

HG

[oldschoolvdub]

I've always felt the same way, but we can't put our dogs food out there without them being around it and pooping all over in it. And I don't want a chance at him getting sick because of it.

Also those darn birds dive bomb anyone in the back yard... Literally swooping at us and the dog... Kinda funny but sometimes, but it makes the little ones scared...

[greenheirloom]

Never had a scarecrow that worked for more than a day or two at keeping the birds away...one of those old wives tales

[rainbowgardener]

I've always felt the same way, but we can't put our dogs food out there without them being around it and pooping all over in it. And I don't want a chance at him getting sick because of it.

Also those darn birds dive bomb anyone in the back yard... Literally swooping at us and the dog... Kinda funny but sometimes, but it makes the little ones scared...

Are you sure those are swallows? Swallows eat exclusively on the wing while flying, they do not land. In my experience they do not come very near houses or people.

There are birds that behave as you describe, starlings and grackles are famous for liking dry dog and cat food and being both messy and bold.

Here's a picture of a swallow, but you will likely never see one this close up, usually you only see them fairly high up silhouetted against the sky:

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/swallow-info.htm

[The Helpful Gardener]

It is my understanding that swallows are far more of an issue in CA than around here and roosting there can get far more problematic. And I have see barn swallows set up shop pretty heavily on houses, especially older models...

Hardware cloth or wire may well deter them from areas you don't want them, and providing some other structure (two boards nailed in an upside down L-shape crossview, nailed between two trees, or on a shed wall) will help make the transition easier...

But they have a noted tendency for using the same spots year after year. This may take some work...

HG

[cynthia_h]

Never had a scarecrow that worked for more than a day or two at keeping the birds away...one of those old wives tales

Strange...I've always thought of such things as "old husbands' tales." Interesting, how points of view can vary, isn't it?

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[runner1212]

we have our share too, they sit and gorge themselves on mulberry,then drop a load the cars as they leave