Ok, I took my boat out of the water on Saturday for the winter, but haven't finished winterizing it yet so have not put the tarp on it. Yesterday I went by it to unload some more stuff, and it has more bird crap on it now that it had all summer long combined!!
Do those plastic owl models work to keep birds away?
Does anyone else use anything else effective to keep birds away?
I scrubbed the whole deck on Saturday, and now it looks worse than ever already!
- AndyS
Owl decoys - effective??
. I hanged it by the mast and the wind moves it so it doesnt stay fixed. so far it has been good to me since i leave my -
John D. 26x
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 11:54 am
- Location: Lafayette, CO
Owls
I have 2 owls. One has feathers all over it and the other is a regular decoy type but it's head pivots up, down and all around. The feathered one goes on the bow pulpit. The other goes on the pedestal. The first coulpe of weeks seemed to help, but didn't stop all the birds. Then one weekend we arrived to find our owls had been totally discraced. There must have been birds lined up for hours to take turns dumping on the owls. The owl on the pulpit only had a few dropings on it, but the one on the pedestal was covered. Thickly covered! THe birds set on the main sail cover and bombed the poor guy. The whole boat was a total mess. The owls never stopped the birds after that. They now collect dust in my garage.
I've tied alum plates to a string and went over the boat. No effect on stopping the birds. I tried hanging 2 long tensil like things that the wind blows the hundred or so tensil streamers. Looks like a real party boat; but little effect on stopping the birds. Many of us around the marina have tried different things, but nothing seems to really work.
I've tied alum plates to a string and went over the boat. No effect on stopping the birds. I tried hanging 2 long tensil like things that the wind blows the hundred or so tensil streamers. Looks like a real party boat; but little effect on stopping the birds. Many of us around the marina have tried different things, but nothing seems to really work.
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TampaMac
- Engineer
- Posts: 142
- Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 9:03 am
- Location: Port Richey FL 2002-26X Merc 60 4stroke
I have an Osprey that sits on my mast about 4 months of the year. He scares away the owls.
Actually he is worse than pigeons. He catches fish out of the bayou and eats them on his perch on the top of my mast. So I get fish guts and scales all over the top of my boat.
He won't be scared away. All I have done is yell at him a few times and he isn't bothered by it.
He is a threatened species that I certainly wouldn't think about hurting him.
He is also a really beautful bird, I guess all in all I can deal with cleaning up his mess.
So I'm stuck with him.
Actually he is worse than pigeons. He catches fish out of the bayou and eats them on his perch on the top of my mast. So I get fish guts and scales all over the top of my boat.
He won't be scared away. All I have done is yell at him a few times and he isn't bothered by it.
He is a threatened species that I certainly wouldn't think about hurting him.
He is also a really beautful bird, I guess all in all I can deal with cleaning up his mess.
So I'm stuck with him.
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Dimitri-2000X-Tampa
- Admiral
- Posts: 2043
- Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 5:36 am
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Tampa, Florida 2000 Mercury BigFoot 50HP 4-Stroke on 26X hull# 3575.B000
AHA!!! TM, you just helped me figure out what that fuzzy little thing on top of my mast is (aka lightning deflector)....its really an OSPREY DEFLECTOR!!!
See, we have some Osprey's around here too...and I used to have the same exact problem on my former boat (granted, it had a much larger mast and a cap on top)....fish bones and guts on my boat all the time. But with my Mac, it never happens...even though the boat sits in the same spot...so, it absolutely must be my osprey deflector. cheers dude...
See, we have some Osprey's around here too...and I used to have the same exact problem on my former boat (granted, it had a much larger mast and a cap on top)....fish bones and guts on my boat all the time. But with my Mac, it never happens...even though the boat sits in the same spot...so, it absolutely must be my osprey deflector. cheers dude...
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waternwaves
- Admiral
- Posts: 1499
- Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:18 pm
- Location: X less in North Puget Sound -have to sail other boats for a while
Tampa,
Is it a male osprey?, and no I dont know the difference from 30 ft. away.
lol
maybe a model of a female osprey, parked low down on the boat or on the dock or nearby, would attract his attention and move him off the top of your boat. or maybe a tapered pipe cap similiar to waht is used on the pilings would discourage him.
Is it a male osprey?, and no I dont know the difference from 30 ft. away.
lol
maybe a model of a female osprey, parked low down on the boat or on the dock or nearby, would attract his attention and move him off the top of your boat. or maybe a tapered pipe cap similiar to waht is used on the pilings would discourage him.
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Dimitri-2000X-Tampa
- Admiral
- Posts: 2043
- Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 5:36 am
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Tampa, Florida 2000 Mercury BigFoot 50HP 4-Stroke on 26X hull# 3575.B000
Frank C wrote:So, wonder why they (Osprey) don't just perch on the spreaders instead?
Good question.. I have a feeling that they only like to stay on the highest point of a structure. Maybe it is a "bird of prey" thing. Even when I see them perched on a neighbor's house, it always seems to pick the peak of the roof...just a hunch anyway..