Fighting Fire With fire

摘要

VERNE Gingerich was fed up. The Oregon blueberry grower knew he had lost a lot of fruit over the years to starlings, but the 2005 crop was decimated. Gingerich, who farms just under 100 acres of blueberries in addition to hazelnuts and seed crops in Canby, OR, estimated he'd lost close to 100,000 dollar worth of fruit that year. "That's a fairly conservative figure," he said. "2005 was the worst bird pressure we'd ever seen." Not only had Gingerich lost a lot of fruit, but upon closer look, a lot ofthe berries that remained had been pecked by the starlings, who seek the seeds. Gingerich Farms not only grows blueberries, but as a packer/ shipper, Gingerich was all too familiar with the damage birds caused. "It's not just that they take the fruit, they also damage it," he said. "That damaged fruit isn't worth anything."