Here's an idea to fool the birds and save at least some of your crop from our feathered friends....or you could just use bird netting! Gardening Hints & Tips / "Stones painted as strawberries when put around strawberry plants in the spring will keep birds from eating your berries when they ripen because the birds will think the ripened berries are stones." Hmmm, interesting. It's a project that you could get your children and grand children involved in. The decoys probably don't have to be works of art, but just something resembling the shape and colour of the real thing.
Might it work if the children painted them to look like 30 round magazines and sprinkle them around New York and DC? AT
@ AT Chell - The birds will think the ripened strawberries are stones? I bet not. When perfectly ripe fruit is around, they know... I swear! They know.
Maybe so....but it will keep the children busy for a while, and they'll make nice cutesy gifts at christmas time...pity they won't float in the punch bowl. It's so hard finding stones the right size and shape for a 30 round magazine... but teach them origami....some cardboard pistols painted up might work! Obvious Winner - So Easy To See The Awesomeness - ow
We have cats that stand guard over our berry bed. Then there are the 22 rat shot rounds that work great also.
@chelloveck did you try this? The birds ate my fruit before I could harvest it and I am reluctant to net them.
