Wire Network Fools Seagulls (Nov, 1928)

Wire Network Fools Seagulls

RESERVOIRS containing the water supply of a California city were becoming favorite nesting-places of sea-gulls flying in from the nearby Pacific until engineers hit upon an ingenious method of sheltering the pools. Wire cables were stretched across the reservoirs, dividing them into checkerboards marked off into 50-foot squares. The wire network proved entirely successful in protecting the pools from sea-gulls, the birds steering clear of water criss-crossed by the shiny wire.

Until the simple network method was devised attempts were made to drive the gulls away by shooting. An automatic exploder was installed, but it was expensive to maintain and not so efficient as the wire cables.