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Birds

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royal4

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Location
Jordan Lake, NC
I went to the boat today and noticed 2 little birds going in and out of my right side lifting strake from the rear.... they're not going to be happy next time I put it in the water... hope they don't start a family before this weekend......  sad... but that's life.
 
I have birds trying to build nest everywhere this time of year, they managed to get one built above the boat in the garage while I was trying to clean the interior. My trailer tongue sticks out of the door so I can't get it closed all the way. Found a bunch of poo on the floor, eradicated the situation! Evolution of life, on the smart will survive!
 
Natural selection. I've noticed some barn swallows flying up under mine. I hope they like boat rides as well. I looked under there but didn't see any signs of nesting. I've been researching this as I've been ripping down the barn swallow mud nests, and they rebuild, rip them down and repeat. I now have two tactics I'm trying. One I deployed yesterday and I'll check to see if it works. It will sound crazy but I saw something on line that if you put Crest mint gel toothpaste in the corner of your canopy it will keep them away. So yesterday when I got home I ripped down the nests, put down some painters tape and squirted a line of toothpaste in all the corners maybe 6'8 inches long.


If that doesn't work my next step is trying this. I figured I can attach it with zip ties to both end pieces and along the sides and top preventing them from nesting anywhere. The holes are 5/8's so they won't be able to get through them.


I've had it with the bird crap and mess everywhere.
 
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My Matador Red cover seemed to have survived our first season with only minor bird messes. Actually, they seemed to prefer sitting on our ladder and doing their business there, but not very much mess thankfully.
 
Had a minor bird problem in Virginia when the boat sat on the trailer in the storage yard. They used to sit on the Bimini boot and of course crap on it and the mooring cover. Tied 2 small foil pie plates to the Bimini boot and it scared the birds away as it moved in the wind.


Having the same problem here in NC...............But it's on my mail box. The birds love to sit and crap on it. Don't think my neighbors would appreciate foil pie plates tied to it. Gotta think of something.........
 
Good thing you don't live in Holland. As part of our "European Vacation", we took a canal tour today. We were told that if a bird nest in your boat and you move the boat or move/damage the nest, you will be punished with 1.5 months of community service. Law enforcement patrols the canals and looks for nests and notes which boats they are on. If the boat is moved, they know who the boat belongs. 
 
PonTuna Salad said:
Good thing you don't live in Holland. As part of our "European Vacation", we took a canal tour today. We were told that if a bird nest in your boat and you move the boat or move/damage the nest, you will be punished with 1.5 months of community service. Law enforcement patrols the canals and looks for nests and notes which boats they are on. If the boat is moved, they know who the boat belongs. 
Click to expand...

Those must be some special birds!
 
Many of the birds that live on the water are endangered. 
 
PonTuna Salad said:
Good thing you don't live in Holland. As part of our "European Vacation", we took a canal tour today. We were told that if a bird nest in your boat and you move the boat or move/damage the nest, you will be punished with 1.5 months of community service. Law enforcement patrols the canals and looks for nests and notes which boats they are on. If the boat is moved, they know who the boat belongs. 
Click to expand...

They would never find the bird or the nest..........
 
So the toothpaste in the corner trick didn't do squat. They just build their nest in another area. So I put the netting up as follows. Still have to do some adjusting and trim the zip ties but no more nesting since. I cleaned the play pen cover yesterday so I'll be able to see how much crap gets on it now.


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Well done. I may have to try that  :)
 
Get a barn cat ,we have a stray that hangs out on our back deck ( my wife feeds it )  .Not many birds around now . I even saw it catch a Hummingbird mid air last year .
 
Nice work, LL. Thanks for sharing, even if I don't have a covered lift.
 
I had/have issues with barn swallows as well at the house. Last year they were making nests under the deck, above the patio. I put up the netting and left one section out of the way open for them hoping they wouldn't move under the eaves. They made their nest there.


It worked last year. This year they made a nest in the same place, fine. But they started up on the deck above a window. I tried the toothpaste thing and it worked. They moved off the deck and on to downspout. I guess I can live with that. Never going to get them to move on entirely.
 
Go to the Walmart toy isle and buy rubber snakes.   Hang them near problem areas.  It works.  Have about a dozen hanging around our two boats.  
 
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