Magpies how to get rid of them?

Tiercel Dave

SlowBlowin wrote: »

.....On a side note we have a lovely sparrowhawk in the valley which has become a magpie specialist, I have seen him several times chasing magpies over extended periods of time. He rarely visits my feeders, he just prefers to go for magpies.

Just to point out, in the interests of equality, that that would be a female Sparrowhawk, a male wouldn't be able to handle a Magpie.....

loveisdivine

berettaman wrote: »

The amount of people that think they can get through life without impacting nature in some way..


The minute that humans built a house, started to farm or built a road they were altering nature to suit their needs.


Vermin have to be controlled. I never said eradicated.


Do I control magpies, grey crows and foxes...yes
Do I feed song birds, pheasants and grow habitat...yes.


You have to be realistic.

I think it's important for everyone to try and reduce their impact on the land and on nature.

There's a huge gap between imposing on nature to build a home that's needed and deciding magpies are vermin and deserve to be shot and killed because you prefer pretty song birds.

the_syco

Perhaps try large googly eyes? It works on keeping some larger predator birds from airports, but not sure about magpies. It would not keep song birds away.

SlowBlowin

looksee wrote: »

I think the pine marten went for the magpie out of simple irritation. Bird hops around going 'look at me, look at me, I want to drink, would you ever move over, leave some of that food for me, I'm here, can you see me'.

I think the pine marten hates the magpie, as you say they continually irritate them.

I have watched many times the magpies peck at their tails while they are feeding. I have also filmed magpies pecking the tails of foxes, they seem to enjoy the game.

Odelay

SlowBlowin wrote: »

I think the pine marten hates the magpie, as you say they continually irritate them.

I have watched many times the magpies peck at their tails while they are feeding. I have also filmed magpies pecking the tails of foxes, they seem to enjoy the game.

I’m sure the foxes don’t enjoy it! That’s very cruel of the magpies.

SlowBlowin

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

Just to point out, in the interests of equality, that that would be a female Sparrowhawk, a male wouldn't be able to handle a Magpie.....

True, I thought of that when I wrote the post but I have never been close enough and its a small bird. I have seen many tiercels bring over-sized prey into nests

The bird that sometimes visits the garden is a large female.

BTW I would hate to meet feminist sparrowhawk..

cd07

Tiercel Dave wrote:

Just to point out, in the interests of equality, that that would be a female Sparrowhawk, a male wouldn't be able to handle a Magpie.....

True! I saw a young male Sparrowhawk hit a juvenile magpie once...big mistake! He was mobbed by 4 others within seconds and had his ass handed to him!! Life lesson learned for the young spar!

upupup

I had a lone magpie in my garden a few years ago ,he was a sorrowfull sight
but he got a mate and they were both a joy to look at.
they had a chick soon after and I think it was a girl magpie
Last year the tree of them attracted another magpie which was a boy magpie i think.
I decided to cull them and set up a larson trap.I caught five on the first attempt and made a little money selling them.
Second catch was six magpies!..I had struck gold with my magpie trapping.
I usually catch seven at a time now but i cannot tell you what I do with them..thats a secret never to be told:)

cd07

upupup wrote:

I had a lone magpie in my garden a few years ago ,he was a sorrowfull sight but he got a mate and they were both a joy to look at. they had a chick soon after and I think it was a girl magpie Last year the tree of them attracted another magpie which was a boy magpie i think. I decided to cull them and set up a larson trap.I caught five on the first attempt and made a little money selling them. Second catch was six magpies!..I had struck gold with my magpie trapping. I usually catch seven at a time now but i cannot tell you what I do with them..thats a secret never to be told

Hahaha very good!

Tiercel Dave

upupup wrote: »

I had a lone magpie in my garden a few years ago ,he was a sorrowfull sight
but he got a mate and they were both a joy to look at.
they had a chick soon after and I think it was a girl magpie
Last year the tree of them attracted another magpie which was a boy magpie i think.
I decided to cull them and set up a larson trap.I caught five on the first attempt and made a little money selling them.
Second catch was six magpies!..I had struck gold with my magpie trapping.
I usually catch seven at a time now but i cannot tell you what I do with them..thats a secret never to be told:)

I wish you would tell us, maybe if you catch eight!.....

upupup

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

I wish you would tell us, maybe if you catch eight!.....

The trap only holds seven so catching eight is wishful thinking.

The lady that i sell them to is beautiful,,she told me she would kiss me if I brought her nine

tricky D

magicbastarder wrote: »

yep; it's a good thing humans arrived on the scene to control nature, it was a mess till we arrived.

And we in our arrogance and conceit, think we can control nature. One day Mother Nature is going to strike back hard at the aberration that we are.

loveisdivine

hawkwing wrote: »

We should save and feed rats and grey crows too.

I'm honestly not sure if you're being serious or sarcastic.

Either way, how about just leaving them to it? Let nature be nature.

Eddie B

loveisdivine wrote: »

I think it's important for everyone to try and reduce their impact on the land and on nature.

There's a huge gap between imposing on nature to build a home that's needed and deciding magpies are vermin and deserve to be shot and killed because you prefer pretty song birds.

No there isn't really though, is there. We all like our comforts, and nature is the last thing we consider when it comes to that. We all want to live in a house. We all want to take transport. We all want to get our food from shops etc. We all are to blame, for the huge imbalance in nature.

Because of humans, and how we are, with destruction, waste etc, most wildlife suffer, but some adaptable species cope well, some even thrive on our presence like the brown rat. This can cause an imbalance, and a high population of one species can affect other struggling species.

With reguards vermin. Vermin is nothing more than a word for any species that infringe on humans lives. Be it a bunch of mice in your kitchen, or a bunch of hooded crows picking out the eye's of your lambs. Most people don't like the idea of killing animals. Well that is until it affects our everyday lives of course. As for instance, that bloody Bill Oddie. (Sorry, can't stand the guy). Bill had to get in a pest control company, and their poisons in, because he had a huge rat problem on his property. He was feeding them along with the birds, and the rats multiplied. His poor neighbours were badly affected by his actions. So yea, some people think that keeping the numbers of certain species in check, is necessary, to keep somewhat of a balance. Others see that as nothing more than cruelty.

These days people are up in arms over hunting, fishing, horse racing etc, and that's all well and good, but what about the bigger picture. What about the main reasons why are wildlife is in crisis. Why no outcry? Why no marches? Why does no one really care? Because the things that are causing this huge destruction of our wildlife are beneficial to us, so's we can have a cushy life, That's why!

One thing that us humans are fantastic at though, is pointing the finger at others, so's we won't have to look at ourselves, and admit, that we as individuals, are responsible for so much, which is killing this planet.

So even though we all don't go around shooting stuff, we certainly have a lot of blood on our hands.