Tomato protection?

[ADMIRALSTOCKDALE]

I realize that this thread gets started every year around this time but:
what do you all recommend to protect your vegetable from the birds? last year, after reading on here, i erected a frame with some netting, but that got to be a bit of a pain. i've heard that there are "scarecrow" type measures, i.e. sticking a wooden owl in the ground. suggestions?
thanks.

edit: oh, and before any of you liken my "tomatoe" to that of a former veep's spelling of "potatoe", i caught it and tried to correct but it didn't work.

 

[scottsins]

In reply to:

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[hornian]

Well, they sell bird netting at home depot or garden stores that works really well, pretty much just a mesh that you put over the plants. I'm going to rig up some as soon as I get my plants in the ground, it worked well last year.

Another thing that I have heard is to put up some red Christmas ornaments, in the ball shape, before you start getting ripe fruit. The theory is that the birds will try to pick at the ornaments, and find out that they aren't edible, and then think that the fruit when it does grow is the same way, so they leave it alone.

Or get a cat.