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Showerthought: All this new housing nearby pushed more hawks into our area, so I tried something odd for cover.
I noticed hawks circling more often since they cleared the old field for apartments. I strung up some fishing line in a grid over the run (sounds weird, but it works). The lines break up their dive path, giving the girls time to duck under the bushes. It's cheap and doesn't block the sun like a net would.
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verah383mo ago
Huh, fishing line is clear though, so it wouldn't block sun even if you wanted it to.
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stone.thomas2mo ago
The sun blocking part was just a joke, I should have made that clearer. My real point is that even clear fishing line messes with a hawk's dive path. They see it at the last second or feel a light touch, and it ruins their attack run. I spaced my lines about eighteen inches apart and strung them about seven feet off the ground over the chicken run. It works because it breaks up their open flight space, not because it shades the birds.
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ivan823mo ago
Okay, so the fishing line is clear, but it still stops the hawks. How does that work? Do they see the lines when diving, or do they feel it and get spooked? What's the spacing between the lines, like a foot apart or more? And how high above the run did you put it? (I'm trying to picture the setup in my head.)
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