Making Birds Ignor Strawberries

I found an interesting technique for fooling birds so they leave ripe strawberries alone: paint pebbles red and scatter them around the strawberry bed. Theory: birds peck the red stones, find they are inedible and then leave red tidbits alone. But do decoys work?

I spray painted around three dozen pebbles "gloss cherry" red and placed them near bunches of ripening strawberries. Some berries are still being damaged but it is still early in the season. Very likely there will be other pests that will reduce our harvest. Already I'm finding slugs eating ripe berries and since they don't have eyes, red stones won't deter them! Chipmunks ate a lot last year and I think they go for the smell of ripe berries. 

Red Painted Stone Near a Ripening Strawberry

Undamaged Strawberries and Red Stone

Bites Taken Out of a Strawberry Near a Red Stone!

A Slug Eating a Strawberry, Ignoring the Red Stone!