Hazelnuts and Stellar's Jays

To those in the US Pacific Northwest, have you found effective deterrants to Stellar Jays? They have completely denuded 2 trees in a matter of days. I have hung mylar strips from the branches of 2 other trees, but I still see them perching in the trees. Help!

In my experience, it seems like nothing deters jays and squirrels except netting. I sometimes use pieces of cheap black plastic netting over my blueberries when jays are a problem and the crop is too small to share. They sell this type of netting at gardening stores. My friends use giant nylon-like net bags that cover the entire fruit tree to keep the birds and squirrels from stealing fruit. You can pick these up for $15-$20 online. I've also used a fabric called  "tulle" that is used to make wedding dress veils. This fabric is sold at many fabric stores. You can make your own net bags with this stuff. If you take good care of your netting, you can just re-use it every year. Don't use row covers or plastic sheeting to protect your nut crops- they can fry your trees. Good luck!

Hi Eileen, I have a similar problem. The squirrels and blue jays eat most of the hazelnuts in our woods. I think hazelnut farmers get around that by having an enormous number of trees, more than the squirrel population in one area can harvest. I think that the strawberry farmers use a similar strategy.

Ben Law says that the easiest way he has found to make use of hazelnuts is to eat the squirrels after they have harvested them. I think that Stellar's Jays are native to my area, and therefore count as songbirds. So I can't hunt them.