North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>]

> I definately want to try that brilliant fake cherry scheme mentioned 
> earlier.


Yes, that really sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? If you've ever 
put out bird feeders where birds have not been fed before, you'll note 
that it can take them awhile to find it (especially if there are no bird 
feeders in the neighborhood). And numbers will grow the longer they've 
been fed there. I know people who've fed birds for years, and it's 
really incredible the numbers they attract.

So I wonder how decoy crops would work for birds. (Admittedly, birds are 
more territorial in the summer, so your local robins, for example, might 
keep other robins from the bounty. In the winter, when most bird feeding 
is done, birds tend to flock up.) But the fake cherry idea would 
probably discourage local birds from re-checking a tree when the real 
cherries get ripe. I like it!

I'd like to see a picture of the fake cherries sometime, though. I'm not 
sure exactly how it is done, how closely they must resemble a real cherry.


> I watch the birds feeding on the blueberries from my living room 
> window- the bushes pulsate with their frenzied feeding. This brings me 
> and my family great pleasure even though I can't be sure these plants 
> aren't luring more fruit lovers to my site. 


Yes, I wonder. It might depend on what species you're feeding. Some 
birds (cedar waxwings, for example) are wide-ranging and feed in flocks, 
even in the summer. Once they discover a food source, you may get large 
numbers swooping in. Others (like robins) are fiercely territorial 
during their breeding season and might keep rivals out themselves.

On the other hand, where food is abundant, territories are generally 
smaller. You'll have more 'local' birds packed into a smaller area. 
Also, your local robins will lay more eggs and raise more young. I think 
it was a single large family of young robins that wiped out my black 
raspberries this year. And I think that squirrels are the same way, 
unfortunately. They are territorial, but if they get lots of food, their 
territories will shrink and they'll produce more young themselves. At 
least, I think so (I'm no expert).

I like to see wildlife in the yard, but I don't want to lose my entire 
crop, either. I guess what I really need to do is to encourage predators 
- owls, hawks (especially accipiters), etc.  If you've ever seen a flock 
of birds really PANIC when a sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawk flies into 
the area, you'll know how effective that could be. Unfortunately, birds 
are too smart to be fooled by bird decoys (and we don't have any 
accipiters around here in the summer - few enough at any time of the year).

Regarding squirrels, since smell is so important to them (they seem to 
have very poor eyesight), you'd think that repellents would work to keep 
them from certain trees. But I've never found any that seem to do much 
good. Hmm,... wasn't someone here testing a new kind of squirrel 
repellent? I seem to remember that from earlier this year. If so, how 
did it go?

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)


--
Mythology is where all gods go to die. - Sam Harris