Make Shift Bird Deterrents

We’ve been having problems with birds building nests under our back porch. I don’t mind the birds so much but our garage is under the porch and our cars are constantly bombed with bird poop. Our cars looked like they spent the night in an aviary.

Stop the Nest Building

So the battle began. I tried removing the nests before the birds could get finished building them. I would remove the clumps of mud, grass and twigs and within 30 minutes, they’d start all over again. There were several spots where they could build nests so they kept me very busy.

I searched the Internet for bird deterrents and I kept coming across the metal spikes that looked rather painful. Additionally, if I had ordered those spiky contraptions I would have to set the timer to remove the nests every 30 minutes or so until my spikes arrived (not gonna happen).

Recyclables Save the Day

Fortunately, I’ve been saving our empty coconut oil jars. They come in handy for mixing paint, storing small hardware from my furniture transformation endeavors and they are also a nice receptacle for storing herbs. I never throw them away because they have so many uses.

I’ve discovered yet another use for the empty coconut oil jars. I added water to the jars to add weight so strong winds wouldn’t knock them down, closed the lid sat them on the beams under my porch. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough jars so I had to think out of the box. Enter empty Dr. Bronner soap containers.

I added water to the Dr. Bronner soap container and laid it on its side atop the beam beneath the porch. Between the coconut oil jars, Dr. Bronner soap container, a few unused glass mugs and an old metal water container, I was able to come up with enough bird deterrents to stop the birds from nesting.

Now that I know the mish-mosh of items work for stopping the birds from building nests there, it’s time for me to make those ugly deterrents look attractive. I’ll swap out the Dr. Bronners containers for jars as they become available. Additionally, throughout the summer I’ll add color and style to the jars by painting them. After all, if they have to stay there under the porch, they might as well look good…don’t you think?

UPDATE 4/30/18: It’s been five years since writing this post, and those bottles are still under the deck keeping the birds away.  I’ve added a few more bottles because the birds attempted to build nests in the space between the bottles.

The fact that the bottles have weathered brutal winters and hot summers is a testament to the durability of the bottles.  I’ve since started using them to store and freeze excess soups and sauces in my freezer.