Solar Powered Fake Owls and the Cherries
This is not fake news!
Yesterday I received two solar powered fake owls to guard our ripening cherry trees.
We lost so many cherries last year to birds.
There are little solar panels on the top back of the head that power the head to move about.
I tried to put them in place yesterday on taller posts but the hole in the bottom of the owl was too small so I used handy stakes meant to hold up the tomato cages. They are a little short. Maybe it will work better for the young cherry tree pictured at the top. I wonder if it will work as well for this more mature tree.
When I checked both trees have just as many cherries today as they did yesterday.
Can you count them from this picture?
Thanks to @bola and this post https://steemit.com/gardner/@bola/using-a-fake-owl-to-off-scare-birds for the idea!
That's great!
Thanks!
Let us hope so.
Another way to deter predators...
I need to give these a try, thank you for posting.
You are quite welcome. I hope to be able to report good news when cherry picking time is over.
We got a cherry pitter last year in anticipation of a good harvest.
Haha. I wonder if it will work here in new zealand though. As our owl the morepork is a cute little thing.
Maybe it will really frighten the birds who will think they are being invaded by a new species.
If you try it and it works please let me know.
Hahaha thats a good point. Will keep you in the loop.
Thanks!
Bchick, you could have a contest-guess the number of cherries in the tree😉 Hope Lee is recovering from her ordeal🐓
Thank you for your concern and for asking.
Lee is recovering,
Thank God. Lee seems happy in this protected environment for now and enjoys all the treats I bring her during the day.
You could make a contest too. Go ahead.
My answer is innumerable.
Yes that answer would be correct😃
Oh boy! I won! Do get to share in the cherry harvest?
I'll send some your way for sponsoring the contest.
That's really neat! I love the idea of that owl. Glad you have lots of cherries. I have 5 cats and they keep the birds away from my berry bushes.
It seems to be working too...day 3 only though
Seeing that cherry tree really brings back memories. My uncle had one and we would fill old time (paper) grocery bags full of hand picked cherries!
How did you reach them to pick them? This will be the first year we have had so many but I am wondering how to reach them...Or can you just shake the tree?
He had a shaky 6 foot wood ladder like they did back then. I remember being scared going up coz the ground was so uneven.
Yikes! The orchard is on a slope. I think that would be asking for trouble. The apples fall from the trees and we have an apple picker. It has an adjustable long handle with a clawed the end but widely spaced tongs. I guess when the time comes we will figure it out.
These are such a cool idea a friend has a couple for the same reason got them a year ago and swears by them
The new ones seem to be still working and the big cherry tree is still filled with innumerable cherries ripening. (still to sour for my taste)
The older ones we have for the garden are a bit raggedy. We will put them all away for the winter this year except the one out near the chicken coop.
I also read on here (somewhere) that pinwheels that kids have can be used. They would work in the garden, being low to the ground. Now I just have to get to a store that sells such things.
Good luck finding them maybe a party supply store
We do have a neat store in town that sells all kinds of odd things. Maybe some with red, white and blue ones will be available now.
The hard part is remembering to stop and look when we are in town on other errands.
The cherry tree is looking good still today and so full the branches are leaning down. Tomorrow we will pick them and i will try the new cherry pitter and then the new hanging dehydrator that is hanging outside airing out right now.
Oh boy, learning new things.
Good luck with all of that sounds like an adventure