Keeping birds from sitting on my bed rails and crapping

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fireworks.222216/#post-17215788

 

I placed wood joint mending plates on my mailbox and the MF still land on the mailbox and shit all over it. They are sharp too!

 

They seem to like the top rail of the tailgate. Anyone just placed a rubber snake in the bed there or do they just ignore it in a day?
Also, when searching to buy a toy snake to try, all I see are large realistic fake snakes that might freak someone out seeing it there.
It'd be cool if someone came up with a snake that moves a little. AAA battery inserted that makes it move just a bit to make birds think it's not a prop.

 

This just reminded me of the plastic owls I see on the roofs of hotels. I asked the engineer at a Renaissance I worked at and he confirmed it actually did keep the birds away after putting it up there.

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bird-B-Gone-Hawk-Decoy-MMRTH1X/202347475?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US

Owls are nocturnal and not a familiar predator to most birds. Hawks on the other hand hunt during the day. I think one of these mounted to a Prinsu facing the bed would look bad ass!!

 

My friend does this on his porch for that reason. Just moves em every week or so

 

There really is nothing you can do to deter birds other than to physically chase them off and be a security guard or to exclude them from the structure. @T4RFTMFW suggestion was a good one, exclude them with a truck cover/tarp.

I've written and implemented nesting bird abatement plans for large scale infrastructure projects; bridge retrofits, etc. The fake owls/snakes, oils, reflective teasers, spikes, and so on won't work. I've researched this topic extensively and those are all gimics. The powered owls/hawks have had limited success, but I know of several cases of birds nesting right next to them (i.e. it may work for some dumber birds, but is not reliable).

Physical deterrence works but it is basically being a security guard, once you're not there they'll come back. Physical exclusion is the most effective. Hence a tarp or cover for your truck.

Good luck.

 

@Caslon are they house sparrows by chance? If so, those are introduced European birds. They are not protected under the Migratory Bird Treat Act or State laws (if your state also has their own laws protecting native birds). House sparrows fuck with our natives, so if they are house sparrows you could legally shoot them with a bb gun, trap them, etc. Could be a temporary solution and it would be beneficial to local native birds. If you are considering this but don't know and could get photos I could tell you what species they are.

 

You know the answer to that Ribber. Those fuckers will shut a project down. Got to prevent nesting however you can. Exclusion wherever feasible. Then comes water hoses, paintball guns with vegetable oil, and manlifts plus paint poles with scraper attachments; all to remove nests under construction. Not protected till that first egg. Crazy common nesting birds have more protection than endangered species which you can get incidental take permits for, but MBTA was written in 1918 and Federal Endangered Species Act was 1973.

 

I know your passionate about it! I was just trying to lighten the mood for a few second!

 

I'm passionate about preventing project constraints, yep. Natural resource protection is second, but not from a tree hugging standpoint. Those people ruin it and go overboard.

 

Birds get used to a snake lying static, not moving. What if it moved? Showed some motion? I bet that would make birds respect it. Problem is, how to efficiently power it over time. It could have skin made of solar power cells maybe. That would require direct sunlight. However, a timed twitch (micro chip). every so often would not drain a battery too fast if placed inside, or stick a cord in it to charge the battery. Crackpot idea? Maybe. Feasible? Maybe. Experiments beforehand to see if birds give a damn.

 

Or just move the old $1 one every few days a little.

 

I used to have a single bird that would perch near the bottom of my side mirror, chirp at himself and crap for hours on end.

 

C

Can't be too careful

 

Wow this thread is still alive.

I should probably share a solution I saw last week while camping, touring wineries, and generally getting drunk and belligerent.

One of the wineries I saw posted 10-15 foot tall PVC pipes at random spots across the property, and on each pipe they attached a 3 foot string with a large kite shaped like a hawk. The wind made each one flap and flail about, and the flexibility of the pipe really gave it some range and lifelike motions. I thought that was genius.

Edit: one of them wound up in one of my photos, but it's so blurry that you can't tell what the fuck it is. Oh well, I'm posting it anyway.

 

A for effort.

 

Birds can not smell

 

Is that true for buzzards? They can find the dead even when hidden from view. ???
Never heard one way or another about birds and their smell capabilities.