Magpies and strawberries

[SMW]

A few months ago the magpies were all over my strawberry baskets but it was for the coco liner for nesting.

They are now back plucking away but can't get close to see if it's for berries or more coco. They don't seem to have got anything.

I hate the look of netting so I was thinking of puting half a dozen wooden skewers in each basket to determine them. Has anyone tried this before?

S

[Mr Bones]

Give it a go and see what happens. The magpies could be looking for grubs but they had some of my outdoor toms as they ripened last year so would probably take strawbs too.

[Bren In Pots]

Not tried wooden skewers the only thing to deter birds is to net, if I didn't net mine I'd have no strawberries left.

[JusPotterinTim]

I have a feeling that magpies are determined enough that they will negotiate the skewers to get what they want. Canes in the ground does deter my neighbour's cat from using my front bed as a toilet though but I think the cats give up easier than magpies would.

Yes netting seems to work - you could cover the skewers with netting though, which I did last year. This raises the netting and avoids it squashing the plants down, and means the beak-to-fruit distance is higher so they can't just peck through the netting.

[vixylix]

I have a family of 8 magpies living in my garden (I also have two cats - madness) and so far I've not noticed them doing any damage. My strawberries and peas are starting to ripen up though so if they start disappearing I'll know why!!

[Potstubsdustbins]

I put up all new wall troughs this year and as they came with coco liners I used them, never again. Black compost bags don't look as nice but they don't encourage magpies either...........