At War - Part II

For some unknown reason, my strawberries are doing beautifully this year. The plants are tall and prolific. A few of the large berries are beginning to ripen. I walked out to check on them last night and found one of the biggest strawberries laying on the cement half-eaten!  Magpies!!! 

Remember this post in 2011?

For the last two years, we have hung CD’s in the garden. The movement in the wind and the subsequent reflection of the sun was suppose to frighten them away. Frighten a magpie? Huh.

So this year, Potts came up with an ingenious contraption utilizing PVC pipe and bird netting. 

The top is even hinged so I can lift it up to weed! Pretty cool, isn't it? I’m crossing my fingers that it will keep the magpies away and this year I will win the war; I’ll let you know how it goes.

"I was acquainted with a tame magpie in Melbourne. He had lived in a lady's house several years, and believed he owned it. The lady had tamed him, and in return he had tamed the lady. He was always on deck when not wanted, always having his own way, always tyrannizing over the dog, and always making the cat's life a slow sorrow and a martyrdom. He knew a number of tunes and could sing them in perfect time and tune; and would do it, too, at any time that silence was wanted; and then encore himself and do it again; but if he was asked to sing he would go out and take a walk."

---Mark Twain