Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Bird protection for cherries - As they do it in China.

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Road's End Farm <organic87@frontiernet.net>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Bird protection for cherries - As they do it in China.
  • Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 11:57:25 -0400


On May 8, 2008, at 11:40 AM, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar wrote:

I was in China two years back had visited the cherry plantation of the China
Academy of Agricultural Sciences. There I saw a simple but very effective
technique to control birds. They were putting nylon fibre nets (not like
the ones used by fishermen) put like volley ball nets around the plantation.
The height of the net was adjusted in such a manner that it commensurated
with the normal flying height of the birds. So it was about a metre wide,
fixed like a volley ball play ground nuts. The birds used to get trapped in
this net and could not come out. They ultimately died in a day or two. The
sight of trapped birds and their distress calls probably frightened other
birds and they keep away. It was quite inexpensive and VERY effective.


Gaaahh!

We do not want to trap the birds and kill them slowly. We don't want to kill the birds at all; we want them happy and healthy and eating pests elsewhere on the farm. Any money you save with this "inexpensive" system is going to be spent on additional pesticides needed because you've lost the advantage of the birds. Overall they are beneficials; they are only a pest while the fruit is ripening, and then only if they can get at that fruit.

What you are suggesting, adopted on any sort of scale, could cause significant ecological damage (something China has only recently started paying any attention to). Some of the birds trapped could easily be endangered species. I suspect this could get you into serious legal trouble in the USA.

Please do *not* post pictures of this. In addition to the ecological problems, I just plain don't want to look at them.

--Rivka
Finger Lakes NY; zone 5 mostly



Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page