Anti social bird scarer use.

[TonyMartinwasright]

Anyone know why bangers on rape are going in the dark, are owls a "pest" now? These are the type sold by Michael Williams with no light sensors so have been deliberately set to fire in the dark. They are starting at around 6.15 and still going 2 hours after sunset. The nearest one is aimed at houses and a riding centre and set to "random" so it can often fire 6 or more times in 10 minutes. Can anyone explain why this is deemed acceptable? Been like this 5 or 6 weeks now seven days a week. Council can't /won't do anything and nobody knows or is willing to divulge who is the responsible party. Seems to me its some brainless moron with a hate vendetta against local residents rather than a pigeon/crow problem. PS I'm a retired farmer not some whining city dweller from the smoke.

 

[Walton2]

If that happened here the bangers would go missing very quickly .....then appear on eBay shortly afterward....and the job sorted. Possibly,!!!

 

[Jon]

Does sound like some fine tuning of the timer could help.
Gas bangers are a pain if they're not policed properly.

 

[Brisel]

This suggests it would be component failure, malice or negligence to have it going off at night.

 

[JCMaloney]

I would be "intervening" by talking to the farmer and/or adjusting said items depending on the result of the discussion. If they are away from the block of land they might be blissfully unaware ............. or not.

 

[teslacoils]

Mine is going off a bit early and late, but only as I have his it in an isolated corner to give and "dawn or dusk lurcher exercisers" a bit of a suprise.

 

[DrWazzock]

If it's not in accordance with NFU guidelines then really the council has an obligation to investigate despite what they might say.

Download our Bird Scarers Code of Practice

Bird scarers and deterrents are an essential tool to protect many crops from damage. Download our Code of Practice here.

www.nfuonline.com

This kind of inconsiderate behaviour described by the OP gives us all a bad name and usually ends up getting things banned, which is a problem for all of us, never mind being incredibly bad PR for farming.

Overuse of bird scarers also makes them ineffective, but when did that ever stop some people?

In the first instance I would speak to the farmer. Maybe he is unaware of the problem.

I will probably be setting one up soon. It won't be going before dawn or after dark and no more than twice an hour. Probably switch it off at the weekend. Courtesy counts. I will also be doing a bit of pigeon shooting to keep them on their toes. Common sense and good neighbourliness required.

 

[Dry Rot]

Just a hypothetical question (of course!), but if the disturbed individual (and I choose my words with care) were to simply turn off the gas to the banger, what could he be charged with -- assuming the incident was reported and there were witnesses?

 

[Bury the Trash]

Best to Get a portek one

 

[Vincent]

Has any body ever fitted the Spaldings conversion kit that includes the dawn -dusk timer. I have 2 that need a kit like this or they are scrap.

 

[Brisel]

Has any body ever fitted the Spaldings conversion kit that includes the dawn -dusk timer. I have 2 that need a kit like this or they are scrap.

I have several Portek Mk3 bangers that have had the Spaldings kits to replace the ever unreliable Portek circuit boards. Great simple gear that hasn't let me down yet.

 

[Heathland]

@Brisel can't you sleep or are you sat on your drill!
The Spaldings conversions have been spot on with no issues apart from the hoses splitting but thats down to the age now.

I've got a retired farm manager over looking one of my osr fields,he rang me up the other day and said the field was covered with pigeons,so I told him I'll not put a banger out as its too close to the village,so I decided to put out some flags as I'm a considerate farmer.

Anyway that didn't work,so in a further phone call he told me he had a box of Portek skybird rockets left over from his manager days,so he'll let a couple off when he see the sky rats are about.

Had 3 phone calls all ready complaining and he's only let off...












????? ....................FFS.

Luckily none knows who is letting them off but it is working

at pissing everyone off???.

I've never let one off or heard one, just wondering if they are louder than a normal gas banger?.

 

[Matt77]

@Brisel can't you sleep or are you sat on your drill!
The Spaldings conversions have been spot on with no issues apart from the hoses splitting but thats down to the age now.

I've got a retired farm manager over looking one of my osr fields,he rang me up the other day and said the field was covered with pigeons,so I told him I'll not put a banger out as its too close to the village,so I decided to put out some flags as I'm a considerate farmer.

Anyway that didn't work,so in a further phone call he told me he had a box of Portek skybird rockets left over from his manager days,so he'll let a couple off when he see the sky rats are about.

Had 3 phone calls all ready complaining and he's only let off...












????? ....................FFS.

Luckily none knows who is letting them off but it is working

at pissing everyone off???.

I've never let one off or heard one, just wondering if they are louder than a normal gas banger?.

They are a different sort of loud, great fun I find they work best if you launch two, one to get them up then a second once they are up, the second normally sends them off to the neighbour rather than just up into my trees. Time consuming and costly though, but a great stress relief!

 

[Jon]

No reply from the Op

 

[PSQ]

@Brisel

Anyway that didn't work,so in a further phone call he told me he had a box of Portek skybird rockets


I've never let one off or heard one, just wondering if they are louder than a normal gas banger?.

They're a *lot* louder, given that they ignite around 250ft in the air so the sound carries far further. More of a 'boom than a bang, not dissimilar to 'light' artillery. They really come into their own when the pests your trying to move are on a slip lead; especially when fired at an angle just under 45 degrees (2 1/2 feet of 3/4"metal pipe, bottom end crimped in a vice, stuck into soil). If you fire 8 of them over the space of 40 seconds they tend not to come back.

 

[Heathland]

@PSQ @Matt77
That explains the phone calls then.

I'm going to give them a try myself plus I did say I would replace the ones he let off.

 

[Flasheart]

Has any body ever fitted the Spaldings conversion kit that includes the dawn -dusk timer. I have 2 that need a kit like this or they are scrap.

Yes, fitted them to scatter bird mk3s , works well.

 

[Brisel]

@Brisel can't you sleep or are you sat on your drill!
The Spaldings conversions have been spot on with no issues apart from the hoses splitting but thats down to the age now.

I've got a retired farm manager over looking one of my osr fields,he rang me up the other day and said the field was covered with pigeons,so I told him I'll not put a banger out as its too close to the village,so I decided to put out some flags as I'm a considerate farmer.

Anyway that didn't work,so in a further phone call he told me he had a box of Portek skybird rockets left over from his manager days,so he'll let a couple off when he see the sky rats are about.

Had 3 phone calls all ready complaining and he's only let off...












????? ....................FFS.

Luckily none knows who is letting them off but it is working

at pissing everyone off???.

I've never let one off or heard one, just wondering if they are louder than a normal gas banger?.

I've got the cold that's doing the rounds so couldn't sleep last night.

I aim rockets that go off over their heads. One lifts them off, the second soon after ensures they don't come back quickly!

 

[Heathland]

I've got the cold that's doing the rounds so couldn't sleep last night.

I aim rockets that go off over their heads. One lifts them off, the second soon after ensures they don't come back quickly!

You have my sympathy,had it a fortnight ago,just as well it was too wet to drill,felt like sh*t.
Definitely going to give them a try,same they don't have any affect on beetles.

 

[wr.]

No reply from the Op

Another One Hit Wonder? Only joined up a few minutes before his one and only post.