IT'S open warfare at one orchard in Victoria's North East.
Sick of having his apple trees stripped by flocks of cockatoos, Peter Chambeyron has pulled out the big guns - the latest top hits.
He's bought a host of transistor radios and has them strategically placed around his orchard, where they blare out music in the hope it will keep the cockies away.
While some may laugh at his methods, it shows just how desperate and frustrated he has become to try to save his fruit.
The only way he's been able to protect the cherries in his Stanley orchard is with netting, but the nets rub on apples and mark them, making them unsuitable for sale.
And with EPA restrictions only allowing him to use his gas scare guns 80 times a day, and within a 7am to 7pm curfew, there's still a gap when the birds can attack the trees.
Mr Chambeyron said the cockatoos often would come before 7am and, once they had a taste for the fruit, would continue to come back until it was gone.
Mr Chambeyron, whose family has owned the farm for 130 years, said something needed to be done to allow farmers to farm.
"If someone moves into the district, then they have to accept that there is farming activity there and understand there will be noises and movement," Mr Chambeyron said.
"If we could use the scare guns for slightly longer hours, we wouldn't have a problem."
