this post has been bothering me .. and i think i finally figured it out ...

don't waste your money ....

you want to change ma nature with few bucks of tape ... IT WONT WORK ... and there is a snake oil salesman around every corner willing to sell you a remedy ...

NOTHING is going to stop the neighborhood birds from coming only into your yard .. think about it ... it wont work ... and if you remove the robins ... something worse might replace it .... everything you remove from nature will be replaced ...

this isn't much different than another post that asked if she could train her cat to only kill voles ...

if you have a problem with seedlings.. then you need protection for the seedlings .. not to change the structure of nature ...

try a screened area ... bird netting... a simple leanto structure with common house screening.. cheap greenhouse .... etc ... there are a multitude of solutions to your problem from cheap to expensive .... but they all involve protecting your plants.. not changing the dynamic of nature ...

good luck!!!!

ken

PS: if you really believe you can alter nature .... i have a bridge over some swamp land that i would like to interest you in ... lol ...

I'm not trying to get rid of the robins, just keep them out of my garden until their nest building is finished. It seems our schedules coincide. I want to plant my garden, they want to build nests.

I don't think the scare tape (or foil) is any different than using a scarecrow...you're just trying to keep critters out of the garden. And that's no more messing with mother nature than using netting.

But I guess I'll just use the netting and be safe, and complain about it. I'd hate to get the tape (which is only about five bucks) and then have it not work. Better safe than sorry.

link is for crop protection ... reemay might be what you need .... hopefully you can locate a piece smaller than 67 by 100 feet.. lol ....

the other option at this location is shade cloth .....

i have solved many a problem by calling this place [ i love 800 numbers]... they are in piqua OH ... and i think its a family run operation.. just nice people ... and i wouldnt be surprised if they will make pieces to your needs... reducing cost ...

and it will probably last for a century or two.. if you take care of it ...

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: a. m. leonard

I've also heard that shiny surfaces will scare away birds. I'm trying to keep the woodpeckers away from my house, so I've been thinking about trying something similar. Like you, I wouldn't consider birds to be a pest, but it is different when they become destructive like your robins have. Instead of tape, I want to find a more permanent, humane deterrent for my property. http://blunderbird.com