How do you stop robins from eating all the cherries?
Question:my dad has yet to enjoy more then a handful of cherries from his tree that he planted 3 years ago. every time they just ripen, the robins devour them in one day. we have even used cheesecloth, they just go under somehow. so how do you stop robins from eating all the cherries?
Answers:
The only thing I've had good luck with is covering the tree with the plastic bird netting and tying it off at the tree trunk, otherwise the birds can get in underneath. If you need more than one piece of netting (and you will for a big tree) make sure the pieces all overlap by 12 inches or more, or 'sew' them together by running a long string through both pieces the full length. You can also add bright flashing things, as other have suggested. I've found with my trees, however, that the birds soon learn that the cherries are well worth the risk of braving the bright flashing reflections.
Drape the netting all the way over and under the tree, and tie the loose ends off around the tree trunk. When you want to harvest the cherries, untie from the trunk and move a section to get to the fruit.
People hang those disposable pie pan tins from the branches and when the wind blows it will swing them around and scare the birds
Try hanging old CD's in the tree... it should help scare them off.
I do that with my persimmon tree and it works.
get a cats!
shoot one bird then hang it from the tree the robins will leave your tree alone
Plant 11 more trees; with a dozen he might get a few more cherries (or a lot more robins).
Plant a mulberry tree. They prefer mulberries to nearly anything else. 'course mulberries should be planted away from driveway/sidewalk since when the berries drop and they stain like the dickens, and the dropped berries attract yellow jackets. The trees get 35-50 feet tall (red mulberries, the kind that are native in eastern North America, where I live). Actually, mulberries are actually quite tasty. If you get more than a handful before the robins devour them all.
My grandmother used to have a similar problem with her pear trees. She would spry them with soapy water, making sure the soap was strong. They don't like the taste of it. She would also grind up alka seltzer and "powder" the trees with it. When birds eat alka seltzer it makes their stomachs explode.
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