There is great enjoyment in anticipating your strawberries ripening in the garden so you can create the perfect shortcake. However, this can quickly be dashed when you see a flock of birds devouring them in front of your eyes. Birds love strawberries as much as we do, which is why they can be a real problem in growing your strawberry patch.
Before you race out into your garden and yell, “Shoo! Shoo!”, there are a few simple ways you can protect your strawberries from the birds. Each of these methods is fairly inexpensive and certainly worth doing if you want to pick intact strawberries when they ripen.
1. Netting
You’ll want to position the netting far enough away from the strawberries, so that a determined bird will not be able to reach them. While netting a little more expensive compared to other methods, it is probably the most effective and only requires occasional inspection to ensure that it is still intact.
2. Pinwheels
You may have seen outdoor pinwheels before, but they are more than simple decorations. When the fins have a metallic or reflective surface like these metal, solar powered ornament, they can naturally scare birds away. The sudden flashes of light startle the birds and will help keep them away from your strawberries. Pinwheels are also quite durable and only need occasional inspection to ensure they are still upright and working.
The other option is to use cheaper plastic wheels. These plastic wheels may not be as durable but they are certainly as effective if you can find a sheltered spot for them.
While the pinwheels will not work at night, birds tend to be asleep anyway. However, a dark, cloudy day might reduce the sunlight to the point where pinwheels will not work. So, you may need to employ additional methods just in case.
3. Cayenne Pepper
Nature’s natural repellent, it seems that only humans are attracted to the scent of cayenne pepper. You can create a mixture of cayenne pepper combined with water to spray on your strawberries. The scent will cause the birds to react and pull away quickly. However, you’ll need to reapply the cayenne pepper spray frequently if you want to keep the scent strong.
Cayenne pepper is cheap, effective, and natural. And you’ll need frequent reapplications and remember to wash your strawberries before eating them. Otherwise, you’ll have an interesting and quite hot taste in your mouth.
4. Peppermint Oil
Peppermint Oil is known to be as effective bird repellent. Similar to Tip 3, Peppermint Oil is an offensive aroma for the majority of birds. Soak a few cotton buds in peppermint oil and place them in and around your strawberries.
Peppermint oil doesn’t harm the bird but does offend them enough to scare them away. It is also an organic product and will not damage your precious strawberries!
5. Bird feed
One of the simplest methods of keeping birds from eating your strawberries is to offer them an alternative food source with bird feeder. They eat your strawberries for food and therefore having multiple feeders with the right type of feed in them will ensure that they don’t go hungry. If you are interested on reading more about different birds feeders or different types of feed then please follow these links.
We do warn however, this tip does need to enforced along with others in this article. Alternative food sources alone does not ensure birds keeping away from your precious strawberries!
6. Fake Predator
You can use an Owl Decoy or hawk decoy around your strawberries to keep birds away! Simply set the decoy up somewhere in the area of your strawberry patch. Be sure to set it up in different locations so the birds believe that it is alive.
Birds and snakes are natural enemies, so placing a rubber snake around the yard is a great way to keep the birds at a distance. This is especially true of birds looking for a place to nest as they know that snakes will eat the eggs. Plus, rubber snakes are cheap, brightly colored, and can be used for the occasional joke on your family, friends, and co-workers if that is your sense of humor.
If you want to keep other creatures away from your strawberries, consider putting the plants on an elevated surface such as a table. This will keep them away from the insects and rodents that might otherwise discover how good your strawberries taste.
7. Motion Activated Sprinkler
Maybe a tip for those that enjoy a good gadget, but this motion activated sprinkler can do two jobs at once. Activated when an animal this fun gadget is both effective and helpful for your strawberries.
The sprinkler sprays water at any birds that come looking for your strawberries using its ultrasharp motion sensor. It only requires a a few AA batteries to work for up to 7,500 activations!
What smells can scare away birds from strawberries?
There are many smells that can repel birds away from strawberries in your yard. Garlic, Cayenne Pepper and Peppermint Oil are all known to be offensive to birds and all happen to be organic products. Follow this article to learn more about what smells keep birds away.
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About Us
We are avid bird-watchers who recently retired, allowing us more time to travel the world. Fortunately, we have managed to visit numerous countries around Europe, Asia, and America. Watching and photographing birds has been a passion for many years and we are making the most of the extra time on our hands!