Our Cannon Page

Propane Cannons are the real reason this web site came into being. Berry farmers use these devices because the thought is that loud noise from a cannon will scare birds away from their crops. A few facts about these devices are:

1. They are relatively inexpensive to buy, costing just a few hundred dollars per cannon.
2. They are inexpensive to operate, because propane is cheap and readily available.
3. They are low maintenance. A farmer can set them up, then walk away, or move them around every once in a while.
4. They are very loud, from 115 to 130 decibels depending on the brand and model. The human pain threshold for noise is about 120 DB's.
5. They are marginally effective however, and this is probably bad because it encourages farmers to use more of them, turn them up full blast, and set them to go off at very short intervals. All of which has very negative effects on the neighbors.

The constant noise from these devices makes life miserable for those living in close proximity to berry fields and this is why we are protesting their use. Two or three of our members live in the heart of blueberry country and have to listen to between 12 and 16 blasts per minute, dawn to dusk. That equates to an average of 840 blasts per hour, 11,760 blasts per day in a 14 hour summer day, 352,800 blasts in a 30 day month, and the cannons now start in late June and last through into October. Thats over a million blasts per season.

The following are pictures of two varieties of Propane Cannons:

The one to the right is a zon gun, and the second is an unknown variety to the left. The one on the left is probably a double shot type as it points in two directions. There is also a triple shot model that emits three blasts in quick succession.