Birds pecking seats

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Steiner
Posts: 390
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:51 am
Location: Lyman, SC

Birds pecking seats

#1 Post by Steiner » Fri Jul 01, 2022 3:29 am

Not mine thank God. My dock neighbor got a brand new 2022 Sweetwater 2386 SFL (big rear lounge) tritoon this year. We are at a campground of around 100 campers on a lake in SC and leave our boats in covered storage but with chain link dividers and gates and only get out two or three days at a time every couple of weeks. A couple of weeks ago his was left on the dock unattended for only the second time and brids (crows he thinks) attacked the front couch backs and head rests of the captains chairs. There were about a dozen spots of the vinyl pecked/pulled off and claw marks. It wasn't just once...he went to town to get a tarp to cover it (don't know why he didn't just use the cover...he did eventually) and more spots appeared while he was gone. We found a mobile vinyl repair guy who patched it up great but it was about $300 and he'll be scared not to put the cover on it every single time it's unattended which is a pain in the ass. The whole thing made me sick to my stomach so you can imagine how they felt.

Now, there were two older pontoons right beside his boat that stay docked year round without issue. My 2017 Sweetwater purchased new never had an issue here in two years, and my 2019 G3 purchased new has not had an issue and this is the fourth year docking it here. There are several pontoons that stay docked the entire summer or year even along with others that are only docked when the occupants are at the campground and we haven't heard of a problem like this. One guy a few docks down has a pontoon that he just put new seats on last year and it stays on the dock but they were made in Vietnam.

My thinking is that there must be something in the foam or vinyl that attracts the birds. I know they've been using SOY to replace petroleum in car seat foam, wiring insulation, and other products for some time. Toyota has been sued twice unsuccessfully over what customers (and repair places) believe is an increase in rodent damage since they switched to all soy based wiring insulation several years ago. My father closed in the loading dock on his shop several years ago and squirrels immediately ate up all the new wiring without touching the old even though it was all in the same attic space. One of the campground owners has an old Super Duty, old Chevy, 2014 Ram, and a newer Ford....the Ford is the only one that is mostly garaged but it is the only one that has had its wiring harness chewed up.

My wife has a friend that was out on Kelleys Island in Ohio about the same time this happened and one of her friends owns a marina there. She told my wife that they have had a huge problem with birds tearing up boats recently and it has all been newer boats only a year or two old. They believe it's something with the foam in them.

Anyone else heard of anything like this lately? I really think it has to be something with the product. Most likely it's thanks to more lobbying pushing greenie replacement shit that only costs the consumer. We all know the government doesn't give a shit about what the consumer has to pay when it comes to their policies...diesel engines that can't make 100k thanks to new emissions equipment, ethanol damage and decreased mileage, etc etc.


I did get a motion activated owl that we'll put out whenever we have the boat out, and a few reflective owl cutouts to hang on the boats. Since they'll only be out every couple of weeks hopefully nothing gets used to them.
https://www.amazon.com/Ugold-Detection- ... ast_sto_dp
https://www.amazon.com/HOMESCAPE-CREATI ... ast_sto_dp
2019 G3 SunCatcher V322 SS tritoon, Yamaha F200
2019 F-150 XLT SuperCrew FX4, 3.5L EcoBoost Max Trailer Tow Package

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steve1313
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Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 6:33 am

Re: Birds pecking seats

#2 Post by steve1313 » Fri Jul 01, 2022 9:26 am

Wow! That's not good. My boat sits in a covered slip, but I was always faithful about covering my boat every night because since we lived an hour away, I could never be 100% sure we'd be back the next day. Now that my lakehouse is 5 minutes from the boat, I leave it uncovered in the slip for days at a time while we're at the lakehouse. I've always been worried about bird poop, but never even thought about the possibility of "seat pecking". I've never heard of it happening around here, but ya never know! Maybe it does have to do with the material the new seats are made out of. Mine is a 2017 Sweetwater, too so hopefully it won't ever be a problem.
Steve
"Serendipity" - 2017 Sweetwater 2286 WB Tritoon w/ 150HP Yamaha
Slipped at Lake Anna, Virginia
Primary Residence: Richmond, Virgina
Lake House: Lake Anna, Virginia

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Rick McC.
Posts: 419
Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2017 7:12 pm
Location: Weeki Wachee, Fl

Re: Birds pecking seats

#3 Post by Rick McC. » Sun Jul 03, 2022 6:50 pm

I’ve seen a bit of bird damage down here over the years; but it’s always been by buzzards tearing at the upholstery.
Rick

Sights are for the unenlightened.

Steiner
Posts: 390
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2019 7:51 am
Location: Lyman, SC

Re: Birds pecking seats

#4 Post by Steiner » Sun Jul 03, 2022 8:26 pm

Turkey vultures?
2019 G3 SunCatcher V322 SS tritoon, Yamaha F200
2019 F-150 XLT SuperCrew FX4, 3.5L EcoBoost Max Trailer Tow Package

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Rick McC.
Posts: 419
Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2017 7:12 pm
Location: Weeki Wachee, Fl

Re: Birds pecking seats

#5 Post by Rick McC. » Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:04 pm

Steiner wrote:
Sun Jul 03, 2022 8:26 pm
Turkey vultures?
Yes.
Rick

Sights are for the unenlightened.

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steve1313
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Re: Birds pecking seats

#6 Post by steve1313 » Tue Jul 12, 2022 3:01 am

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Steve
"Serendipity" - 2017 Sweetwater 2286 WB Tritoon w/ 150HP Yamaha
Slipped at Lake Anna, Virginia
Primary Residence: Richmond, Virgina
Lake House: Lake Anna, Virginia

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