[rogertb]

Hi chaps, this morning I found some old netting that I'd once used for cloches ... it has 1" holes ... I thought I might build a small fruit cage and then wondered if birds can get tangled in the netting, I wouldn't want to go to the plot and find dead birds hanging there ... anyone any experience of this please ?

Regards Roger

[Trillium]

I never found them able to get caught in the netting. The big problem is the little beasts somehow getting caught inside the whole cage and eating up the fruits   

[Kleftiwallah]

1" is a bit large for fruit cage netting.

Cheers,   Tony.

[sunshineband]

1" is a bit large for fruit cage netting.

Cheers,   Tony.

Mine is only 2cm square -- the netting not the fruit cage of course    Birds never seem to be caught up, just seem to find ways to sneak in from time to time 

[madcat]

Ours is debris netting and how they get in I do not know!

neighbours have wider netting and yes, we have had to cut a young blackbird free on occasion.  We found it because mother was screaming blue murder.  You do need something more dense.

[rogertb]

Thanks for the advice folks, I guess I'll maybe give it a try and keep a regular eye on things but for me one bird death is not worth a few berries so maybe I'll forget about a cage ... just call me a softy !

I also read somewhere that a cage doesn't need a 'roof' ... is this an urban myth, or did I imagine it after a few pints ?

[Madame Cholet]

MY neighbour had to free a gras snake.

[madcat]

It needs a roof.  Birds fly and love redcurrants ....

Once inside the debris netting the birds are fine; plenty to eat, safe from predators and quite frankly dont want out!     But the mesh is so dense they cant get a leg stuck in it and panic ... 

[Yorkie]

What you might have heard re. the roof is the suggestion in the winter to remove it, or replace it with wider mesh because the weight of snow on fine mesh can bring it down.

[rogertb]

Thanks again one and all and Yorkie, you're probably right, it did seem odd that birds wouldn't fly down into a cage !

[A Reyt Tayty]

I netted my tayberry canes last year to stop the birds. It worked. The wasps got to eat the birds share! No nets for me next year, I'd rather let the birds have them.

[solway cropper]

I've only tried netting my fruit and veg once and won't do it again after finding two sparrows completely tangled in the netting. It took ages of delicate work to free them. To be honest I don't suffer that much damage to my crops even though I live in a very rural area surrounded by wildlife.

I do use enviromesh over the brassicas but the holes are so small no birds can get in.

[JayG]

When netting my blueberries for the first time I underestimated the lengths that blackbirds will go to to get at them - on a couple of occasions I had to lift the netting to let out the panicking intruders. Problem solved by making sure it was pegged down securely all the way round the edges (access for picking is made easier by using 2 pieces of netting so I can create an opening flap at a convenient height from the ground; this is held shut with plastic clothes pegs which are quick and easy to remove.)

I once found a live and apparently uninjured sparrow inside my carrot fly proof enviromesh cage (no holes, pegged down at 6" intervals all the way round, with the edges covered with soil for good measure.) Still trying to figure that one out! 

[fatcat1955]

Remember if you are using debris netting to only put it on at the fruiting stage to allow insects in to do their work. Bloke on the next plot to me still cannot work out why he never get's any strawberries despite being told by myself and others.

[compostqueen]

It seems that birds get caught up in netting when it's not taut! 

Plot holders are generally very considerate to small birds and hate to have birds killed or injured in this way. We recently had a kestrel caught up in netting on our site and the RSPCA had to be called out to free it 

You're right to be concerned    I like Enviromesh too and the scaffold net is also closely woven and won't trap birds