Nets on birdfood

I went to homebase today as needed a small bag of RSPB peanuts and I noticed that Gardman are still selling suet balls, peanuts and mixed seed with the horrible green and red net round the foods. These had the BTO stamp of authority on them. You would think in this day and age the manufacturers would stop making these nets.. Profit before the well being of birds I think.. If I remember rightly even Homebase's own brand of suet balls had this net on them. The red nets you do not take of the nuts and seeds as you use this as the hanger so is evidently meant to hang in gardens. Sorry this really got my back up today and will be writing to homebase and also Gardman. Many people that start feeding birds do not know how dangerous these things are especially when Gardman shows you on their rot iron bird feeder, that is also for sale in homebase, the suet in the green net hanging beautifully. I am shocked that BTO is allowing them to use their good name on a product that is so faulty. It even says on the packets "recommended by Britain's leading wild bird research organisation". BTO have not done much research in to these nets then in my opinion. The RSPB has such a big voice and could help stop the sale of these nets which will endanger our garden birds. I can and will write letters but I am only one person and there must be millions of these products on our stores shelfs throughout the UK.
  • Just remembered - I started cutting the mesh off years ago. I found a group of jackdaws watching for when the balls had become small enough they could pull them out of the feeder. One'd grab the mesh and hang on, beating its' wings until it pulled the fat ball through a gap! They'd all set about it and then start on another.

    I think magpies fly off with them as well - I've seen one pecking at something on a neighbour's ridge tile and then the mesh falling into his gutter. 

    The mesh nets are just too dangerous.