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Sorry about the crudeness of the title but I went out to my boat the other day and one or more birds had shown an interest in purchasing my boat. Its seems they made a deposit on my brand new Sunbrella tarp. For some reason they had never done that when I was using a cheap Walmart plastic tarp.

Anyway my question is has anyone used those owl decoys to keep birds away from their pride and joy. This time of the year I can't get out to the boat more than about once a month. That could equal a lot of guano!! A fellow club member has rubber snakes hanging from the rigging. I don't know it that works or not. Another boat had a similar issue when a bird built a nest in his sails under the sail cover.

Other than buying a sea cat does anyone have any suggestions?

Observation - Dark sail covers and tarps attract white guano and light colored fabric attracts dark guano

simeoniii wrote:Observation - Dark sail covers and tarps attract white guano and light colored fabric attracts dark guano

Isn't nature grand! Its all set up for maximum visibility

This is the color of my boat cover so I guess I can get it from either quarter!!!

I had some fun with a red winged black bird a few times! It was even riding the mast for about a mile when I was leaving the mooring. It was angry a lot at those times! The minute I was back in the area, it was back on the mast!
http://youtu.be/n-fQ8iUdKc8

Michel wrote:I had some fun with a red winged black bird a few times! It was even riding the mast for about a mile when I was leaving the mooring. It was angry a lot at those times! The minute I was back in the area, it was back on the mast!
http://youtu.be/n-fQ8iUdKc8

Probably originally from New Hampshire, they are a stubborn independent lot.

No idea what can prevent it, but Formula 303 cleaner followed by 303 Fabric Guard will make it less permanent.

http://www.sailrite.com/303-Aerospace-F ... eaner-32oz

Had a Heron unload on us once. This color (Aquamarine) Gaaaak! That's the noise he made and the noise we made. What a mess. Three feet by six inches - a pattern a B-24 in Catch 22 would be proud of.

We tried CD's hung on string. Old computer reel tape (the big 3/4" wide reels), chartruse survey tape hung to flap. Neighbors tried inflatable owls, inflatable snakes, metal cat's heads with glass eye cut-outs. Nothing keeps birds off. Our Windex would have six swallows sitting on it like an amusement park ride. Only concession is they eat bugs/mosquitoes.

One I really don't want on my boat!
http://youtu.be/Y5qjFbCXUhE

I kind of like those ones...
http://youtu.be/8Q2WOMv6eVY

It is true that birds can be messy but I like them anyway. I could not do anything to hurt them.

Michel wrote:One I really don't want on my boat!
http://youtu.be/Y5qjFbCXUhE

I kind of like those ones...
http://youtu.be/8Q2WOMv6eVY

It is true that birds can be messy but I like them anyway. I could not do anything to hurt them.

We have a plethora of species on Cherokee Lake. Ducks, geese (Canadian, noisy little fellows, they leave their Moosehead cans lying around), coots (both old and regular), swifts, ospreys, finches, eagles, herons, sparrows, and surprisingly sea gulls who must really be off course.

We don't really have a big problem with them using our boats as facilities to be honest except for an occasional nest one builds in a derelict and they do tend to keep the bug population down. Last winter we had a very hard freeze and the lake was littered with about 10 thousand shad fry that had frozen. The lake was covered with dead sardine sized fish and 1000 different birds feasting on the carcasses.

I like all wild life. Living where I do I have deer, bears, raccoons, bob cats, skunks (not really appreciated to be honest) and myriad other creatures wandering through my property. I enjoy watching them. As for birds, I usually have a family nesting right outside my kitchen window in the spring and we attract hummingbirds by the dozens.