OK Boomer: it’s bird scarer time

Help at Hand

Ripe and ripening fruit means hungry birds invading orchards, vineyards and home fruit tree gardens.

Already the apricots, green Granny Smiths, plums, raspberries, black and red currants have been attacked, or in some cases stripped from the bushes/trees.

While some few bird scaring guns have echoed recently across the townscape, comparatively poor fruit levels mean fewer growers resorting to scaring off the scavengers.

But the banging of the gas gun in rural zones sparks unwanted phone calls from nearby urban dwellers aroused by the sound of the protection.

One such caller was angry that he was being interrupted while “planning my retirement” in a house several hundred meters away.

He was not mollified by lines like “this is the country,” and demanded to know how long the intermittent shots would continue. Till the fruit were ripe to pick _ or what was left of them. Disgruntled, he hung up.

But wait, help may be at hand. SWDC has a detailed policy: “Audible Bird Scarers and Other Bird Scaring Devices.” Check it out here:

https://swdc.govt.nz/bird-scarers/

Under “Audible Bird Deterrents” it notes:

“Where sensitive crops are grown in proximity to housing, hospitals, and schools, there can be a conflict between the growers seeking to protect their crop, and the amenity of the area. 

“The best practical option is defined as the best method for preventing or minimising the adverse effects on the environment having regard to: 

__The nature of the discharge or emission and the sensitivity of the receiving environment to adverse effects; and 

__The financial implications, and the effects on the environment, of that option when compared with other options; and

__The current state of technical knowledge and the likelihood that the option can be successfully applied.

It sets the bird scarer noise level “at or below 65 dBA (SEL) at the notional boundary of rural dwellings or at any point within a residential zone. This may mean a buffer distance of 300 metres  or more is needed to ensure enough sound reduction via distance to nearest houses.”

It lists noise devices as gas guns, audible avian distress alarms and firearms.

Also listed are bird deterrent “best practices” _ including the number and positioning of discharges, as well as “alternatives,” then the clincher: how to lodge a noise complaint so council’s environmental health and noise control staffers can be alerted.