help with seagulls and swim rafts!

[Parker Island Fun]

Help, how do i keep the seagulls from turning my swim raft in to a white covered roost for the summer?

[Misty Blue]

Hi PI! Hope that you are enjoying the new place.

There are many theories and methods to combat this situation. Here are a few:

The attack and destroy method:
Have you ever seen or used a potato cannon? They are fun to make and even more fun to operate! They will throw a potato 75 yards and make a cool sound too!
And it is something too see. Launch an Idaho spud into a gaggle of mallards and watch the feathers fly! Unfortunately this action disturbs the neighbors, can get you a heafty fine and really only exasporates the guano situation.

The mechanical method:
There are noise makers (usually on a timer) available to scare them away. However If you and your neighbors are up here for peace and QUIET, this may not be the option of choice. Again scared birds only add to the guano.

There are rotating "whirllygigs" that spin by wind power and do the trick but they have all of the charm of a cellphone tower. Again maybe not an option.

The hydro method:
On the mainland behind Rattlesnake Island one clever raft owner has set up a spray nozzel that I assume is powered from the shore that sprays water on the raft. 'Sure seems to work but when you want to use the raft it will be wet. And there is always the possibility that you will be inundated with "dirty ducks" looking for the cure!

The elevation method:
This is what I use. I have noticed that when the lake is high and my dock is near water level the ducks like to rest their flippers on my dock. When the lake is low they seem to stay off. I assume because the leap is not worth the effort. My neighbors raft is low. Built on styrofoam blocks it is just inches above the water and Daffy just loves to sun himself on it. Often leaving his gift of "Daffy DO-DO. My raft is built on plastic drums and is at least 24 inches above the water. While you need a ladder to get up to it, it is fun to dive off of and the ducks seem to pass us up for lower elevations.

I hope that these suggestions enlighten and brighten your day.

Misty Blue.

[Gatto Nero]

It may not be PC but I bet an airsoft pistol would do the trick. They shoot about 40 to 60 feet so you should be able to reach the little buggers from shore. Before everybody goes go all tree hugger on me you should know that my kids and their friends shoot them at each other for fun. They shoot little plastic BBs that will sting a bit but don't do an major damage. I've been hit from about 10 feet away on bare skin and lived to tell about it. It feels similar to being flicked with a finger. There's a place on route 104 that sells them. I think it's called Abe's Armaments.

[Kevin C]

How about a plastic or wooden owl? Over the years I have seen many boats (while moored) and house decks with an owl prominently displayed to keep the sea gulls away.

[ApS]

If one plastic owl doesn't work...try two!

[dpg]

[QUOTE=Gatto Nero] Before everybody goes go all tree hugger on me you should know that my kids and their friends shoot them at each other for fun. They shoot little plastic BBs that will sting a bit but don't do an major damage.

Won't be too funny when one of the kids get one in the eye.

[NightWing]

What happens to the little plastic BBs that drop in the lake? A new type of fish or loon food?

[Gatto Nero]

Originally Posted by dpg

Won't be too funny when one of the kids get one in the eye.

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye, but ski goggles help.

Originally Posted by NightWing

What happens to the little plastic BBs that drop in the lake? A new type of fish or loon food? .

I don't have a water fowl problem so I haven't actually done this but my "guess" is they would pass right through like $*%# through a duck, so to speak.

I'm kind of surprised it took this loing for the comments. Must have been the nice long weekend.

[Winni]

Originally Posted by Misty Blue

There are rotating "whirllygigs" that spin by wind power and do the trick but they have all of the charm of a cellphone tower. Again maybe not an option.
Misty Blue.

I'll just ignore the cell phone tower reference and add a funny story that proves the pinwheels don't work. When we first came to the Lake about 18 years ago, a friend gave us a raft covered in all that nice fake grass stuff. We thought it would be great...no slivers in the kids' feet. Little did we know it would be duck paradise! They thought they had found Nirvana!

We tried everything and had no luck so finally ended up calling "Fish and Game" for suggestions. They suggested the pinwheels. Well, they worked out about as well as the no-kill cage trap they set for us to get a raccoon when we lived in Mt. Vernon. The bugger was so big he could go in, get the bait, and exit without the door ever flopping down behind him.

But I digress... So, my poor husband went out there on the raft and carefully drilled nice holes for the pinwheels about every six inches all the way around it. We went out and bought those nice, expensive (because we thought they'd be long lasting!) wooden and plastic pinwheels.

And...as we watched the lovely little duckies fly up and over the pinwheels within about 3 minutes of his finishing the job, you could have heard my hubby swear all the way to the other end of the lake! For only having about 2 brain cells to rub together, those darn ducks were pretty darn smart. Needless to say, the raft didn't stay here for long.

So, now we have a family of Canadian Geese that have moved into our yard. It's hopeless. We try the hose on them but they keep coming back. Geez, you'd think it was their territory or something! What are they thinking???

[Sal]

Try a good slingshot (like Kittery Trading Post sells) with glass marbles from a toy store (smaller, rather than bigger) for ammo. Aim for body or tail. Ducks and gulls don't like it and actually learn not to come back. A miss but a close splash works almost as well as a direct hit.

[jrc]

Well if you're going to use a slingshot, the proper ammo is ice cubes. They're almost free, too big to kill anything and leave no litter. My Dad taught me this trick on squirrels raiding the bird feeder and the howling "in heat" cats in the back yard. Those mini cubes are the best.

[Gavia immer]

Pro-active attempts to shoo ducks usually result in an additional "spite poop" just before takeoff. Keep them from roosting in the first place with a "Gull Sweep" at less than $40.
http://www.gullsweep.com/ I saw one raft with a 30-inch rubber iguana "resting" on it that seemed to be working just fine.

BoatUS has some funny gull-poop stories: http://www.boatus.com/Seaworthy/birds/default.asp We have it easy here.

[Captain Zipper]

First off, the ice cubes for ammo is a GREAT idea. No pollution and your fingerprints melt away when the tree huggers show up.

Now, if any of you would like me to crew on your boats and rafts; I'd be happy too. I'll just slap on some coco butter and shoot cubes at anything that moves. My schedule is open from now till whenever. If you'd like to drag me to the keys for the winter that's okay too. I'll just tell my wife not to expect me home for dinner for awhile.

I would like health insurance included in my compensation package but I could stay on my wife's if the money is right.

PS I have my green card.

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by Misty Blue

{snip}
The elevation method:
This is what I use. I have noticed that when the lake is high and my dock is near water level the ducks like to rest their flippers on my dock. When the lake is low they seem to stay off. I assume because the leap is not worth the effort. My neighbors raft is low. Built on styrofoam blocks it is just inches above the water and Daffy just loves to sun himself on it. Often leaving his gift of "Daffy DO-DO. My raft is built on plastic drums and is at least 24 inches above the water. While you need a ladder to get up to it, it is fun to dive off of and the ducks seem to pass us up for lower elevations.

I hope that these suggestions enlighten and brighten your day.

Misty Blue.

.... then buy them off !


So what PIF needs to do is perhaps raise his raft and then build another, lower, "gull raft". The gulls will (hopefully) stick to their floating parcel and leave the human raft alone ! And if occasionally the gull raft erupts in an all encompassing sheet of flames, immolating all the flying rats resting thereupon and sending their smoldering corpses to the lakefloor to become food for the crayfish, well who is to say it isn't an Act of God*.

*rather than ... say ... a propane tank with a RF controlled valve hitched into a network of grill burners and ignitors. Did I forget to mention the all aluminum construction of the gull raft ...

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Here are a couple ideas to check out. (Though I don’t know why I am trying help you, they just might come visit me! )

Can you add a mast or flagpole to your raft? This guy had some luck repelling seagulls.


Gull Chaser guarantees their product.

Good luck! Let us know if you find something that works!

[gtxrider]

Do not try this!

I worked with a guy who lived on Staten Island and had a nice Bertram cruiser. Anyway what the people in the marina did was shoot a gull and nail it to a dock post. It was a signal to the other birds to stay away.

He swore it worked.

[Weirs guy]

I find a properly placed tennis ball throw followed by a 80 pound lab works pretty well too, at least in the water and near docks.