The Rural Voice, 1991-08, Page 31worked, says: "of course it worked.
Everything works, but nothing
works."
Marley, formerly a Southern
Ontario grower of cherries and ap-
ples,— whose crops were ravaged by
blackbirds and blue jays, explains the
contradiction. "It means the effective-
ness of any device depends on the
species, the kind of crop, why birds
are there, whether they've always
been there, or whether they're hap-
hazard appearances.
"Regardless, you can never rely on
one device or technique whether it's
blackbirds, ducks, geese, or anything
else," says Marley.
He says scarecrows were station-
ary and birds soon learned they were
not too threatening. The stuffed -shirt
scarecrow would have worked better
had it been moved around in the field
every day or twice a day, or put on a
track and constantly moved. Even
these techniques could have been
improved with sound effects.
"The whole idea," Marley says, "is
you need an integrated approach."
He compares the original scare-
crow to taking "a hoe and leaning it
against the barn ... it's a damn poor
cultivator."
When Marley speaks to growers,
he tells them they must first study
their problem, then make the commit-
ment they're going to do something
about it.
To illustrate the importance of
analyzing the problem, he tells about
the plane which was practicing run-
way landings for an up -coming royal
visit in the early 50s. It almost
crashed at one airport because of a
flock of seagulls. A biologist, exam-
ining the reasons for this bird air -
strike hazard, noticed that tall grass
grew along both sides of the runway.
Grasshoppers infested this grass.
After cutting it, both seagulls and
grasshoppers left.
Marley continues, "It's important
to start (an eradication) program early
because it's easier to keep birds out of
crops than to chase them out. Once
they get the habit established that it's
a good place for lunch, it's an awful
lot harder to drive them out."
"You can use home remedies, or
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AUGUST 1991 27