[TowerTalk] Birds on antennas

[Jim Jarvis]

There have been a lot of comments, but this topic is not much
different from birds on sailboats...  so here goes:

*  Birds are smart.  Plastic owls are not.  Not even when their
	little heads bob, and they face North.  They don't work,
	at least, not for long.

*  CD's seem to....a string of them between the headstay and mast,
	and somewhere aft, or along the lifelines, seems to work.
	The reflections annoy the birds.  But they wll probably be
	altogether too visible and annoying for humans, as well.

*  Safety reasons seem to preclude shooting 'em.  Yet, air rifles
	or pellet guns might have sufficiently limited range to be
	effective.  Or, possibly slingshots.  Check your local laws
	regarding weapons discharge, and see what the police recommend.

	The head of public works in a town I lived in got really pissed
	off at the birds on a tree over his pool....so he persuaded them
	to leave.  Unfortunately, the neighbors didn't take kindly to the
	weapons discharge,  and he no longer works where he lives.  They
	didn't prosecute...but he had to resign.  

*  Loose tubing is an interesting idea.  But unless you can cover
	the entire antenna with it, birds will eventually figure out 
	what's not going to dump them every time they land. 

*  How about shooting paper wads from a shotgun?  Should be safe..
	particularly if cleared with law enforcement in advance.
	Question is whether they'd carry to the tower top.

*  and finally...I was requested to shoot a bow and arrow over a tree,
	in Chevy Chase MD, in order to properly elevate a 160m antenna.
	After some inspection, I declined.  It's a weapon...and discharge is
	illegal.  Entirely too suburban to avoid hitting something unintended.

N2EA
jimjarvis at ieee.org