Facts About Propane Cannons

Propane Cannons are the reason this web site came into being. Blueberry farmers in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia use propane cannons in an attempt to scare birds away from their blueberry crops by blasting the birds with   (((( extremely loud ))))   noise. The noise produced by a propane cannon is similar to the blast made by a shotgun.

This approach is only marginally successful in scaring the birds but totally devastating to neighbours who live next door, and extremely annoying to all others who live in the vicinity.

The picture to the right is a typical propane cannon, called a Zon Gun. The most common device used around the Fraser Valley is the Purivox Triple Shot cannon shown below.

These devices work as follows:

• a regulated amount of propane gas is allowed to flow into the device.

• the devices have timers, and at a set interval the timer triggers a spark that ignites the propane

• the propane explodes making a very loud crack similar to that of a shotgun blast. Some cannons are as loud as 130 decibels.

• these cannons can be set to fire as frequently as every thirty seconds, and some even more frequently.

• and if that is not enough for you, the two models shown on this page fire three blasts in quick succession, tripling the noise pollution inflicted upon the neighbours.

A few facts about these devices are:

• They are relatively inexpensive to buy, costing just a few hundred dollars per cannon.

• They are inexpensive to operate, because propane is cheap and readily available.

• They are low maintenance. A farmer can set them up, then walk away leaving them to fire all summer long.

• They are very loud, from 120 to 135 decibels depending on the brand and model. The human pain threshold for noise is about 120 DB's.

• They are only marginally effective but this is doesn't deter your average blueberry growing moron from using them, turning them up to full volume, and setting them to go off as frequently as permitted. All of which has very negative effects on the neighbors.

The constant noise from these devices makes life miserable for those living in close proximity to berry fields and this is why we are protesting their use. Two or three of our members live in the heart of blueberry country and have to listen to as many as 10 blasts per minute, from 6:30am to 8:00pm. Taking into account a 3 hour noon day break, this still equates to an average of 600 blasts per hour, 6300 blasts per day, 189,000 blasts in a 30 day month, and the cannons now start in late June and last through into October. Thats about 750,000 blasts per season.