Angry at the Birds

On the first day of Summer
My true love gave to me,
A blackbird in my orange tree.

This is not a good thing.  As I was out doing the chores in the late afternoon, I observed a commotion within the branches of one of our navel orange trees.  As I walked over, three large blackbirds exited the tree.  As I inspected the golf ball sized fruit that is currently growing, this is what I see:


Scarred Fruit

As I searched on the Internet for why the blackbirds are doing this, I found an article saying that blackbirds have developed a taste for orange rind.  They will keep scratching and pecking at the fruit until the fruit drops from the tree.  What I've noticed from past years, is that even if the fruit doesn't fall, the fruit on the inside closest to the scarring is damaged, dry and inedible.  That's for the birds...literally.
  

I didn't ask for grated orange rind.

The only remedy for the problem, according to the article, is to purchase netting and place it over the tree to keep the birds out.  I do have some netting, but I'm calculating whether or not it is too late to put it out.  It seems like the damage is already done.  The funny thing is that the article says netting is the "ONLY" control mechanism for this problem.  Not true.  I can think of another:

My neighbor, before he passed away, used to shoot the blackbirds left and right.  Blackbird carcasses littered both my yard and his.  In fact, I got tired of picking them up and would simply mow over them to "compost" them into my lawn.  Black feathers would fly out from beneath my lawnmower on a fairly consistent basis.  The other neighbor, however, is a bird lover and would not like it when Mr. Bill shot at them.  Sometimes after I heard Mr. Bill's shotgun go off, I could hear a scream from the other neighbor.  I may employ Mr. Bill's tactics and get my 12 gauge out, but have you seen the price and availability of ammunition lately?  It might be cheaper to hang a couple of these from the citrus trees:



Rubber Snakes

It seems like that may scare the blackbirds and might be worth a shot.  If it didn't work, it wouldn't be a total loss.  I'm thinking I could use them to play jokes on my wife!  :) 

Caught red-handed!

You can see that the bird left incriminating evidence on the leaf beneath the scarred fruit.  It doesn't take master sleuth-work or CSI Miami to prove without reasonable doubt that the blackbirds are responsible for the damage.  One way or another, I'll bring the perpetrators to justice and try to salvage the orange harvest.

If you let continue to let the birds have free reign, they may eventually try this:  (Run for your lives, kids!)


Alfred Hitchcock's "THE BIRDS"