While you are enjoying a pleasant Sunday afternoon watching these curious denizens of the neighborhood, be on the lookout for small holes in yor home. Keep a keen ear to hear any scratching noises in the walls of your home and, just to be on the safeside, inspect your attic.

Sqquirrels are cute, but are also a bother when they invade your home and eat almost anything in sight, Being playful is one thing, but being careful is another. For more information, visit ust at: http://www.bird-x.com/yardgard-p-40.html for more information on protecting your home and yard.

Thanks for asking such a great question! It seems so many people have issues such as yours.

I would recommend a synergistic approach meaning that I would use a couple different tactics to get rid of the birds. The worst you could ever do is poisoning or other means of killing. The problem there is that you are not making the area uncomfortable for them. If you kill some of the birds, all that happens is that others will take their place. They like your dock because there is a good food source nearby and nothing hassles them there so they feel safe and secure. You need to take about the safety and security to make them leave.

If you have a pole/post on the dock, I would start with a visual scare device, such as the Terror-Eyes (http://www.bird-x.com/terroreyes-p-6.html). This is a huge orange durable balloon that has the marking of a giant horned owl (their predator) and 4 gigantic holographic eyes that seem to “follow” them wherever they go. Combine that with it bouncing around against the pole and in the wind and you’ve got a scary predator lurking about.

Next, I would add a sound (or sonic) scare device such as the BirdXPeller PRO (http://www.bird-x.com/birdxpeller-pro-p-24.html). There are 8 programmable settings on this and can come with an optional speaker so you can emit sounds in two different directions. The sounds include 4 alert/alarm calls of the bird and like bird species and 4 predator calls (some of which are the little birds being attacked by the predator birds – but doesn’t sound any different than regular bird noises to us). You can set this intermittantly or continuously.

The third thing I would do is to spray a solution on the deck called BirdShield (http://www.bird-x.com/birdshield-p-61.html). This is a harmless solution that tastes extremely bitter to the birds – and it doesn’t smell to good to them either. To us – there’s really no smell and it is not harmful to us whatsoever. Its main ingredient is methyl anthranilate which is derived from the skin of concord grapes.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us at 800.662.5021 or at dave@bird-x.com.

Thanks for posting.

Before starting the process for clean-up and removal of the grackles, you should make sure that you are properly protected, such as wearing protective clothing and at least a face mask (like a physician would wear in operations just so you do not breath in any harmful spores from the excrement. Once you have protected yourself, then go ahead and use your power washer to spray away the excrement from the sidewalk, deck, lower branches and the rest of the area under the trees.

Before spraying the trees, you should check for nests and remove them from the trees. Once the nests are removed, go ahead and spray away at them. Some leaves may fall off the trees, but as you know, trees are tough customers. They can withstand high-powered wind and rain storms.

The best way to apply the Irri-Tape to the trees is to wrap it around the trunk first. This is a pretty sturdy tape and is not prone to rip at the slightest yank. Then, act like a teenager at Halloween and teepee your trees. Just toss the roll over the tree and let it fall to the ground on the other side. Do this a few times to get the tape all over the tree (this is the best way to “festoon” it around each tree. A 100′ roll of Irri-Tape is fine for each tree.

As for the Terror-Eyes, that should be hung from the lowest branches of the trees so it is visible to the birds flying towards them. They should see that big orange ball with the menacing holographic eyes and giant horned owl markings and they should turn in mid-flight to flee from the trees.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at dave@bird-x.com or 800.662.5021.

Thanks.

I have purchased both your Terror Eyes and Irri-Tape products to deal with the problem, but now that the products I have a couple basic questions about their use. I had thought I could use the Irritape along the deck and house eaves, and hang the Terror Eyes from exposed branches of the tree. But your insturction manual seems to recommend festooning each tree by spiralling the Irri-tape around it, but I find I have a few questions:

1. Removing excreta — the sidewalk and deck are easy, but bottom leaves/branches of the trees are full of it as well. I have a power washer, but am concerned about whether that will knock off all the leaves damage the tree which is in full foliage right now Do I need to just endure the grackles for now and wait until next spring before the leaves bloom?

2. Do I need to worry about possible nests with baby grackles? I’m presuming my working around the trees will chase most of the adult birds off, but I’m not agile enough to climb around inside a tree searching for nests.

3. Any suggestions as how to actually do the festooning in the top part of the tree? While I can get to the trunk with an extension ladder, my understanding from your manual is that the irritape needs to be on outside boughs of the tree? Is the Irritape sturdy enough to toss the roll back and forth over the tree by hand, without it tearing?

4. I don’t think I ordered enough tape. How much tape does one need to use? A roll per tree? More?

Thanks for your help. I apologize for asking what may be obvious questions, but I’m a first time homeowner here who hired a professional the only other time I had to do anything with the trees (i.e. pruning).

Thanks.