Fscking Magpies!

grimloch

Bond-007 wrote:

Any vet who takes that action with ANY ANIMAL should in my view be put to sleep without anaesthetic! That is TOTALLY DISGUSTING! Dont vets f*cking well treat wildlife??? All rescues tell you vets treat wildlife free of charge.

So you'd condemn putting an animal to sleep without anaesthetic but you'd consider it perfectly acceptable to do the same thing to a person?

On the subject of magpies though, they're clever little fuppers when they want to be. They outsmarted my dog when he was trying to eat a bone and I was forced to go outside and guard it for him. There's definately been a population explosion in recent times, in my back garden anyway. It's gone from two to ten over the last five or so years.

My only grievance with them is that they are in cahoots with the local pidgeon population and consume all of the fruits we have growing in the garden which is a bit of a pain.

EGAR

Nope, not true, when someone dumped an injured badger on my doorstep I had to pay for the treatment and I am a rescue.

As to the Magpie not being a native bird, this is true (*The first Magpies that migrated to Ireland are said to have landed in south-east Wexford, where the first English settlement also took place, and whence the Magpies have since spread over the island. Smith (History of Cork) says it was not known in Ireland seventy years before the time at which he wrote, about 1746. An old Irish saying in this connection is that— "Ireland will never be rid of the English while the Magpie remains." Barrett Hamilton (Zoologist, 1891, p. 247) thinks Magpies were first seen in Ireland about 1676 when "a parcel" landed in Wexford.*)

BUT their rep is worst than the actual damage they do, just because they are large, showy birds who raise a racket. And I quote:

*Morgan has determined that magpies attack 43 bird species. On top of the hit list are harrier, blackbird, thrush, sparrow, heron, skylark and chicken.

More importantly he discovered that few magpie attacks result in death and that mostly they just move on a short distance birds that like the same food as they do. Most victims are other introduced species.

Another significant finding is that magpies do not attack and kill birds in their nests - a major cause of native bird loss for which harriers, rats, stoats, pine martens and squirrelsare predominantly responsible.

Morgan's study of magpie social behaviour is just as revealing. Big flocks of magpies, made up largely of juveniles, tend not to be territorial so rarely chase other birds. Mating pairs, which do vigorously patrol their home patch, are the most likely to chase other birds - and people. They are most aggressive in their breeding season between April and August.*

LovelyHurling

Bond-007 wrote:

Any vet who takes that action with ANY ANIMAL should in my view be put to sleep without anaesthetic! That is TOTALLY DISGUSTING! .

Heh, most animals are put to sleep not by anaesthetic but by lethal injection or shooting, so not giving anaesthetic is perfectly normal actually! We just had a policy of death by anaesthetic for some animals because a girl in the office messed up an order and we had too much for about 6months. In this case my boss used a brick. Now that may appear awful, but on a bird this has the same effect as shooting, which is humane and more instant than lethal injection, and shooting is quite rightly the method of choice used by the country's most knowledgable and experienced vets. I still think the brick was unprofessional though so I am with you on that.

All rescues tell you vets treat wildlife free of charge.

This is a very annoying thing to tell your Vet. Who do you think ends up paying for it? Vets have to get paid. I always find it amazing when people expect this service from a Vet because they are supposed to love animals. Animals dont have medical cards you know. Unless the Vet is hired by the shelter or they have a formal payment scheme, it is ALWAYS the Vet. There is NO assistance from the Dept of Agriculture and Food. Would anyone go to a shop and expect free food because they were broke?

EGAR very interesting post on the magpie btw. I had a listen this evening and heard one! Magpies chasing people, jeez reminds me of that old Hitchcock Film 'Birds'.

colmranger

Vets are supposed to treat wildlife for free, I watched young magpies in my garden one summer and i noticed they were surviving by eating the dogs poo in the garden all day!

Our man in Havana

I have always heard that vets treat wildlife for free, I also know of a local vet that puts sick or injured feral cats to sleep by using out of date anasthetic - I assumed that a vet would do the same for other sick wildlife. I have also not heard of a vet shooting animals before except of course for horses.

Huggles

Bond-007 wrote:

I have always heard that vets treat wildlife for free, I also know of a local vet that puts sick or injured feral cats to sleep by using out of date anasthetic - I assumed that a vet would do the same for other sick wildlife. I have also not heard of a vet shooting animals before except of course for horses.

I wouldn't have thought he shot the magpie I'd say it was a neck break.

To the poster who says vets shoot animals, apart from injured Horsies what animals are you talking about?

Our man in Havana

No I knew he ment the bird was whacked with a brick, just seemed weired about the shooting????

Endfloat

They're not indigenous to Ireland, or Europe for that matter. Some flute brought a load over from America I think in the 19th century because he thought they were beautiful and interesting to have in his stately home and because they have no natural predators here, their population escalated and we're stuck with the poxy things. One of those very bright green lasers that you can buy now are effective at scaring them away if you shine it at them. All you need do is keep scaring them away and they'll stay away. A decoy bird of prey can be effective too, or if you find a recording of one in distress and play it outside your house they wont come near.

Capercaille

combo775 wrote: »

They're not indigenous to Ireland, or Europe for that matter. Some flute brought a load over from America I think in the 19th century because he thought they were beautiful and interesting to have in his stately home and because they have no natural predators here, their population escalated and we're stuck with the poxy things. One of those very bright green lasers that you can buy now are effective at scaring them away if you shine it at them. All you need do is keep scaring them away and they'll stay away. A decoy bird of prey can be effective too, or if you find a recording of one in distress and play it outside your house they wont come near.

They are indigenous to Ireland/Europe. Shinning a laser could blind them.

anniehoo

Please don't post in 8 year old threads!!

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