Alternatives and Solutions to
to the Propane Cannon Problem

There are many alternatives that berry farmers can use instead of propane cannons. These quiet alternatives are listed in an ever growing list below.

Ban the Cannons has also put together a list of Solutions and Recommendations that have been presented to Ministry of Agriculture and BC Blueberry Council representatives several times since 2001. But nothing changes and the number of propane cannons in operation in the Fraser Valley continues to grow. Please click on the following link to read our Solutions & Recommendations.

Alternatives

• Nets, our number one recommendation for bird control. Nets that totally enclose a blueberry crop are environmentally friendly, and virtually 100% effective in protecting a crop from birds.



• Side Netting, a variation of total canopy netting described above. This approach has been used by an Oregon grape grower with great success and is described in more detail on our side netting page.



• Automated Netting Systems, are now available that greatly reduce the number of man hours required to cover crops with nets, making netting a much more viable option for berry and grape farmers. For more information, see our automated netting page.



• Lasers, a Cloverdale berry farmer has invented a laser unit that is effective in scaring birds from his fields. Lasers are totally silent and work better than cannons according to the inventor. The details can be found on our laser page.



• Streamers, and reflective tapes, quiet and environmentally friendly.



• Mylar vibrating line, a thin line that flashes and also vibrates and hums to scare birds.



• The Eagle is the latest silent bird scare device our group has found on the internet. This device is a model of a bird, or eagle, that soars on a tethered line and patrols fields up to 2.5 acres. For more details, please visit our Eagle page.



• Overhead Scare Eye Balloons, and heli-kites that simulate hawks in flight, or large owl eyes.



• Hawk & Owl silhouettes, similar to balloons and kites.



• Natural Predators, one of our members recently pointed out that hawks and owls are natural predators of starlings, and these birds should be encouraged by farmers to nest in the vicinity of berry fields. I did a little more research on this alternative, and the details can be found on our Natural Predators page.



• The Silent Sentinel, recently the Right to Quiet Society of Vancouver found an article in a local paper about a new device designed to deter birds. The device is a series of flags strung over rows of berries that rotate and flap to scare birds. For more details, please see our Silent Sentinel page.



• High frequency noise devices, products that put out a high frequency noise that humans can't hear, but birds can and are frightened by.



• Scare Windmills, reflective windmills, powered by the wind. The reflective blade surfaces flash UV light that scares birds, silently.



• Inflatables, recently a UK group sent us an e-mail describing their new bird scare device designed initially for airports, by people in the aviation industry. The device can also be used in other applications, including agriculture, and is currently in the testing phase. For more details, please see our Inflatables page.



• Metal and mirrored flashers, such as hanging pie plates, mirrors, etc.



• Starling Traps, to capture the little villains. A lot of sites go into the details about making starling traps. See our trap page for more info.



• Professional Trapping, recently one of our members came across a solution used by Washington State berry growers to reduce fruit damage caused by European Starlings. Their approach is described in more detail on our Pro-Trapping page.
  
  
• Canine Patrols used successfully by golf courses to discourage birds and waterfowl. Also used at airports to deter birds for safety reasons.



• Repellents, biodegradeable and non-poisonous please.



• The Owl, a life-like owl model that can be positioned on a pole or along fencing to deter birds. For more information, see our owl page.



• ScareCrows, which have been used by farmers for hundreds of years.



• High-tech Scarecrows, A Canadian company has created 'scarebots' to ward off hungry birds. For more information, see our high-tech scarecrow page.

Solutions & Recommendations

The Ministry of Agriculture and the BC Blueberry Council would like us all to think that there are no viable alternatives to noise polluting bird scare devices.

But, as you have seen above there is a long list of alternatives. There are also initiatives that the government and blueberry growers could take to phase out propane cannon use. But instead, all they have done in the past seven years is write a bunch of reports and publish them on the Ministry of Agriculture's web site. And they contributed $100,000 to the BC Blueberry Council to have one man run around and point cannons away from neighbouring residences. In effect these people are simply perpetuating the use of propane cannons

Similarly Municipal Governments could play a role here, and it is time they stopped hiding behind the excuse that the "Farm Practices Act" has taken the noise pollution issue out of their hands. It is time Municipal Governments stood up for their constituents.

Ban the Cannons has a number of ideas and recommendations that could be acted upon by these groups, and they are highlighted below.

Our group, Ban the Cannons, recommends a total ban on all noise polluting bird scare devices as specified in our position paper presented to the Ministry of Agriculture on several occasions, dating back as far as 2001.

This page focuses on some of the many steps that the Ministry and the blueberry growers could take to rid us of noise polluting bird scare devices. These ideas are in addition to the thoughts presented in our group's position paper.

* First, the ministry should assign staff to actually study the bird predation problem rather than just writing reports about it. For example, when blueberry scorch infected Fraser Valley blueberry plants the Provincial Ministry of Agriculture teamed with Agriculture Canada to tackle this problem. They assigned a dozen or more researchers to study the issue. Why aren't these two groups assigning people to study the bird predation problem, a problem they claim causes crop losses of ten to fifteen per cent?

* Second, test farms could be established that would test all available silent bird deterents and experiment with new technologies, such as the new laser device. The objective would be to determine the best quiet techniques for deterring birds. Test farms could use an integrated approach to detering birds and test a number of the silent ideas simultaneously.

* Third, someone should investigate why some farms do not use and do not need noise polluting bird scare devices. What makes these farms successful? Is it possible that the bird predation problem isn't as serious as some make it out to be? One good example is the Matsqui Prairie Farm called Organic Blue. They use no pesticides and no cannons. Now this is a farm to patronize for your summer supply of berries.

* Fourth, the organic farm mentioned above also traps starlings. If all farms followed similar practices maybe there wouldn't be a starling problem at all. Okanagan fruit growers have a successful starling trapping program in place, as do Washington State farmers. Why don't BC's blueberry growers do the same?

* Fifth, the phase out of cannons could be complaint driven. In areas where farms are generating a lot of complaints, their right to use noise polluting bird scare devices would be removed. But they should also be provided with funding assistance and tax breaks to become more environmentally friendly. In areas where farms are more isolated, the use of noise making devices is more acceptable.

The bottom line here is that there are many alternatives to propane cannons. There are also many things that blueberry growers and Ministry of Agriculture officials could do to help solve this problem, and ultimately eliminate noise polluting bird scare devices. But all they are really doing at present is trying to perpetuate the use of cannons.