life expectancy of a tomato-eating mockingbird

[sleepy]

just kidding...i wouldn't hurt the little fellow..they come all the way over to the picnic table to eat the ripest toms...puttin them inside right now..my stomach hurts from eating so many tomatoes..must be the acid..

[bcday]

We have a catbird that nests next door and visits the strawberries here. Every once in a while I find a berry with a suspiciously sharp V-shaped gouge in one side, nothing like the raggedy holes that the slugs leave. But there are plenty of berries for us and the catbirds. We like catbirds. The slugs...not so much. I shorten the slugs' lifespan as much as possible.

[sleepy]

i know the birds are eating my blackberries as soon as they get almost ripe..my blackberries are still in their first full year.next year i'll put a net over them ,not really enough to worry about this year..

[Tormato]

If only I had a mockingbird that ate tomatoes...at about 2 AM.

[Crandrew]

Last year the birds went to town on my Blueberry's. So far this year they have backed off. Not sure why, but I'm thankful.

[janezee]

Many years ago, when I lived in Rhode Island, I spent from midnight until dawn listening to the song of one lonely mockingbird. One of the most memorable nights of my life. He sang and sang, not repeating himself, for hours on end. I don't remember who quit first, him or me, but in my mind, it plays there still.

There are no mockingbirds in Washington. How I miss them.

j

[Msjoy2u]

I had a mocking bird pecking at a few tomato's but I put up nets. Now I have a Squirrls eating on my big big beautiful tomato's, both ripening and green. Any ideas out there. The bird net only helps them hang on to the planet from under neath.

[sfmathews]

Msjoy, have you tried putting out ground red pepper around and on the plants, to deter the squirrels? Maybe once that squirrel gets a flaming mouth and paws, he might leave them alone.

[Tapout]

Originally Posted by Msjoy2u

I had a mocking bird pecking at a few tomato's but I put up nets. Now I have a Squirrls eating on my big big beautiful tomato's, both ripening and green. Any ideas out there. The bird net only helps them hang on to the planet from under neath.

There are many ways to deter squirrels, but most involve killing them. If you don't want to go that route can do the bait and switch technique. The squirrels are eating your tomatoes because they are thirsty and hungry, so feed and water the squirrels with a bird bath of some sorts and a nice block of feed. I have seen squirrels eat some strange things in the past due to lack of food "wasp nests".

[homegardenpa]

Originally Posted by bcday

We have a catbird that nests next door and visits the strawberries here. Every once in a while I find a berry with a suspiciously sharp V-shaped gouge in one side, nothing like the raggedy holes that the slugs leave. But there are plenty of berries for us and the catbirds. We like catbirds. The slugs...not so much. I shorten the slugs' lifespan as much as possible.

Haha, I can't stand our catbirds. They always find the ripest strawberries minutes before I do and all I find is strawberry carnage with just a stem hanging there. They also eat most of our raspberries and will take 1 to 2 pecks out of each of the ripest tomatoes - just enough to ruin them. I can't even tell you how many tomatoes I tossed last year. I actually had a stand-off with our resident catbird last year - I chased him out of the garden and he flew a couple feet away from me and just kept making his bird calls, as if to say "this is mine, you go away"... This year I've invested heavily in bird nets.

That being said, they tend to leave the unripe tomatoes alone, so I've left the nets off for now since it seems that sparrows are going into the garden and eating up aphids and the like, but the second any of the tomatoes blush, the nets are going up ASAP.

[Msjoy2u]

Thank you. I will try that but have to figure out how to do it without my little dogs getting it. It rains here a lot so water is plentiful nearby. I don't think they are thirsty. I tossed a big batch of potato peelings out last evening for them and they left those and still ate bites out of over half dozen maters. Picky I guess.

[Tapout]

Hmmm I guess your maters are to good hehe. Another alternative is to call the animal control people and have them bring out a few live traps to capture the little buggers.

[bcday]

I wouldn't think squirrels would be especially interested in a meal of potato peelings. My dog, on the other hand...LOL...constantly trying to raid the compost pile.
Peanuts or sunflower seeds from a feed store that sells wild bird food would work much better for luring a squirrel away from your maters.
It rains a lot here too but the nearest water besides my bird bath that they could drink from when it isn't raining is a small creek 300 yards away that is in another squirrel's territory.

[dustdevil]

Originally Posted by Msjoy2u

I had a mocking bird pecking at a few tomato's but I put up nets. Now I have a Squirrls eating on my big big beautiful tomato's, both ripening and green. Any ideas out there. The bird net only helps them hang on to the planet from under neath.

Get a Havaheart trap and "relocate" the troublesome squirrels. Since they multiply like rabbits, you have to take more drastic measures or you'll have no tomatoes left.

[lakelady]

Squirrels are not much of a problem for me, but chipmunks are. I won't comment on what I did last year, but this year there are less. Hopefully the new cat will keep them at bay since she loves to roam the perimeter of the yard and is a lot faster than fat boy who likes to stay indoors and sleep on my bed. She's the hunter, but so far has only caught two birds very early on this Spring, and lots of lizards, which I wish she wouldn't. At least her scent is around when she is not because she has made herself a potty stop near the garden .