Help please - Pigeon problem

peanutpie05

Please can anyone offer any help with a pigeon problem ... would be very grateful of any ideas....

My Dad and his fiance bought a plum tree a few years ago and it now stands approximately 9 feet high. They bought it specifically to grow and harvest the fruit for consumption ... so they are, understandably, very upset that the pigeons are trying to strip the tree bare.

It would seem that one of them 'discovered' the delights on the tree and now his mates have joined in the fun (3 of them regularly landing on the tree, picking off the fruits and breaking the branches too).

ANY suggestions would be very gratefully received.

TIA

Kay_Peel

I suppose it would be impractical to put netting over a tree that his 9 feet tall - but you could save a few branches by netting them.

The only alternative that I know (apart from an air-rifle!) is to hang windchimes and a load of old CDs from the branches. Anyones else got some ideas?

Kay

savingsara_2

I'll be watching this thread with interest....woodpigeons are the bane of my life! If I knew how to I would attach a photo of one helping itself to grub from my seedfeeder, in spite of my best efforts to prevent them. :mad:

They eat my plants as well!

kickstart_3

A plastic owl ..seriously they think its a real bird of prey! Dont ask me where you will get one , but i am sure it would be easy enough to tie to the branch of the tree !

savingsara_2

kickstart wrote: »

A plastic owl ..seriously they think its a real bird of prey! Dont ask me where you will get one , but i am sure it would be easy enough to tie to the branch of the tree !

Have a look at this!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GREAT-EAGLE-OWL-DECOY_W0QQitemZ110123091813QQcmdZViewItem

Penelope_Penguin

Pigeon pie

BeerBelly

Why don't you get air rifle or BB gun?

They would soon get the message it hurts to land on your lawn/fence!

dizzydolly

Ive got pidgeon problems too ,the damn things keep pecking at my newly planted seeds ,the 2 main culprits have always hung around our garden and me and the kids picked cute names for them ,the names I call them now are not so cute lo!.

catewithers

BeerBelly wrote: »

Why don't you get air rifle or BB gun?

They would soon get the message it hurts to land on your lawn/fence!

:eek: :mad:
Because there must be far better ways to discourage them without inflicting serious harm. It may take longer and be harder work but that's no excuse.

BeerBelly

You should have taken my comment with a pinch of salt!

We had a pigeon in our loft and caught it and released it into the wild. I also rehome the many snails I find climbing over my bags ..etc. - I was just offering an option that hadn;t been mentioned.

I personally would never kill a flying ray myself, but you never know some folk might.

catewithers

Bless you