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 Birds + Clothesline= Another Washing
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Author Off the Grid/Homesteading Skills: Previous Topic Birds + Clothesline= Another Washing Next Topic  

pennyhenny
True Blue Farmgirl

304 Posts

Missy
Dayton OH
USA
304 Posts

Posted - May 24 2012 :  05:55:25 AM  Show Profile
*Please forgive me if I'm not posting this in the correct forum. I'm always trying to figure what posts go to what forum.

I love the birds in our backyard BUT I also love our clothesline and well the two just don't go together if you know what I mean.
Do you have any tips on keeping the birds off the clothesline or should I say the clothing.

Birds + Clothesline= Another Washing

hugs,
-missy-

http://citychickblogging.blogspot.com/

Sisterhood Member#4003


Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower.
John Harrigan

AnnieinIdaho
True Blue Farmgirl

437 Posts

Annie
ID
USA
437 Posts

Posted - May 24 2012 :  4:52:34 PM  Show Profile
Hi PennyHenny,
Oh my...I can just imagine. I am thinking they may be enjoying the swamp cooler effect of the wind blowing through the wet clothes. It makes it a mighty nice comfortable temperature until the clothes are dry. I have no ideas for what to do about it except maybe hang windchimes on your line to make noise. Maybe they would be afraid of the chimes???
Have a great summer.
Annie
Farmgirl Sister #3655
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natesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl

1735 Posts

angela
martinsville indiana
USA
1735 Posts

Posted - May 25 2012 :  06:07:30 AM  Show Profile
I switched to very brightly colored clothes pins and bought nearly 3 times as many as I needed. When I hang clothes I put lots of extra pins out so there isn't long open areas of the lines exposed. I would put 2 extra over a tshirt for example. It deters them somewhat. I always had 2 or 3 things that would need rewashed, but not nearly as much as before.

My aunt keeps a cup or 2 of her wash water in a small bucket for scrubbin out the poo. She dips it out after a few minutes of agitatin so she has the soap blended into it. She'll scub out the spot with a brush, rinse in the sink, then hang it over a kitchen chair to dry.

Hope one of these ideas help you!!!

Farmgirl Sister #1438

God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important?
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queenmushroom
True Blue Farmgirl

985 Posts

Lorena
Centerville Me
USA
985 Posts

Posted - May 25 2012 :  12:45:25 PM  Show Profile
Solution? Move the bird feeders away from your clothes line. I have to tell you a funny story...My late great grandmother used to feed the birds out back of her house. I think they were sea gulls. One time, she had just hung the laundry out to dry when they landed. Needless to say, after having to rewash her clothes, she decided to stop feeding the sea gulls.

Patience is worth a bushel of brains...from a chinese fortune cookie
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oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl

1511 Posts

tina
quartz hill ca
USA
1511 Posts

Posted - May 25 2012 :  2:22:13 PM  Show Profile
they make a non-sticky tape that is made from the same thing as mylar balloons, one side is silver, and the other side is red, tie 12 in strips ever few feet on the lines, it moves and twists with the slightest of breezes and the birds will not go near it, I have been useing this method for years, you can actualy see the birds avoid flying near or even over it...

"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad"
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Moonshadow
Farmgirl at Heart

1 Posts

Judy
Richmond Texas
USA
1 Posts

Posted - May 25 2012 :  3:56:39 PM  Show Profile
Hmmm...I haven't hung clothes out since the last hurricane-driven power outtage, when my dryer wouldn't run on the generator, but I remember that my mother used to lay old sheets over the lines and pin them down to protect the clothes from bird droppings. Wow, I haven't thought about that in half a century!
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Bear5
True Blue Farmgirl

13055 Posts


Louisiana/Texas
USA
13055 Posts

Posted - Jun 02 2012 :  6:26:50 PM  Show Profile
I would say get some outside cats, but the birds mess on the top of my car while our outside cats are napping under the car. Good luck. I remember my Mother would hang bags with moth balls in them. The wind would rattle the bags and the noise would sometimes keep the birds away. I think the birds eventually get used to the bags rattling! LOL.
Marly

"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross
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