Having tried bird netting very unsuccessfully in the past, I decided to try another approach last year. My cherries were being carried off by Mocking Birds and Ravens faster than they could ripen. My solution was to try and cover the cherry clusters with clear plastic, liter bottles. You can see one in the lower center of the photo. It worked fairly well for the few that I placed on the tree, but cutting the bottles up their side, especially in the neck proved to be difficult; so difficult, that this year only one made it to the tree.
Necessity is the mother of invention so I started thinking of alternatives. Since bird netting is difficult to place over the tree and darned near impossible to take off a tree, something that would not snag seemed appropriate. I made "sleeves" for the branches by cutting row cover material into foot wide strips. I attached them with staples and hoped for the best. The birds have gotten into some cherries near the edges, so next year I'll make certain to close off the ends too.
