Brewed Friday night and left the 'brew in a bag' full of spent grain in a bucket outside the back door. On Saturday morning I found magpies had ripped my nylon bag apart to get at the grain.
I'm planning revenge >:D
time to zero the scope...
Larsen trap, they are pretty easy to make and the most effective.
Only problem is like I was last summer you will spend the week wringing necks.
I was reading about a woman in Dublin last year went to court for culling 17 in a day!
They are fiercely territorial and all you are doing is population control as neighbouring magpies will merge into your neighbourhood.
I thought this would have been from an angry Manchester United fan :-*
Unfortunately we have very strict laws here about discharging firearms in residential areas so it will have to be a larson trap borrowed from the local gunclub,
17 in one day - that woman deserves a medal.
What are they like to eat?
Quote from: Will_D on December 10, 2013, 11:52:34 AM
What are they like to eat?
Roast magpie with spent grain stuffing anyone?
Hi there
Rather than trying kill wild birds why not just buy a bucket with a sealable lid. That way you can leave the stuff outside safely.
Larson traps are illegal in a lot of counties (including Denmark where the inventor is from) and I suspect anybody seeing you use them will not think any better of you. Trapping wild birds when a simple solution will foil them would strike me as preferrable. As a rule I would not leave grain outside like this as the next visitors might be four legged brown furry beasties that will ignore Larson traps :)
Shanna
@Shanna you have a different view if you lived in the boonies, they have no natural predators and cleaned out every song bird I had around me.
I personally watched them harvest a blackbirds nest.
What is allowed in those countries is shooting and poisioning. Even though I have a gun they are impossible to shoot and I am not a fan of poisioning as both a missed shot and poision are potentially slow deaths and will impact on what eats them.
@Will Scrawny and not much meat and they eat all sorts of shit so I didn't bother, their mates didn't have a problem eating them though.
Quote from: iTube on December 09, 2013, 11:49:08 PM
Starve the cat for a few days. Cures rodent issues.
Sent from my U9200 using Tapatalk 2
Cats are afraid of Magpies. At least the 2 we have and had. :)
You could talk to Ditch over on Jims beer kit and ask him, he's a rat catcher and all around pest guy who lives up in Leitrim, English traveller and a nice guy.
trapping or shooting them is fine. poisoning is not.
Quote from: Eoin on December 10, 2013, 02:01:49 PM
You could talk to Ditch over on Jims beer kit and ask him, he's a rat catcher and all around pest guy who lives up in Leitrim, English traveller and a nice guy.
Ditch is real?
I always just assumed he was some sort of Tyler Durden of homebrewing.
Have you met him?
Quote from: CH on December 10, 2013, 01:03:35 PM
@Shanna you have a different view if you lived in the boonies, they have no natural predators and cleaned out every song bird I had around me.
I personally watched them harvest a blackbirds nest.
What is allowed in those countries is shooting and poisioning. Even though I have a gun they are impossible to shoot and I am not a fan of poisioning as both a missed shot and poision are potentially slow deaths and will impact on what eats them.
@Will Scrawny and not much meat and they eat all sorts of shit so I didn't bother, their mates didn't have a problem eating them though.
Hi CH,
I knew when I wrote this that I was going to get the "its different in the country argument" rolled out. I am not anti hunting, fishing etc. I understand that crows, magpies are perceived as vermin (have relatives who keep sheep and regularly shoot them) and do kill song birds but then again cats also do. Cats also regularly kill all types of birds, mamals smaller than them and people are not advocating killing them. My understanding is that magpies do have predators including cats, foxes and dogs who will kill and eat them if they can catch them.
The larson traps are notorious for being cruel as people forget to check them regularly and like snares whatever is trapped in them struggles when caught and often will maim or kill itself to get out.
Leaving aside the perception of cruelty my point out bucket with a lid still stands (kiss).
CH would agree with you that I would never consider eating a magpie, just too much effort for very little return ;-)
Shanna
Go to a local restaurant, chippy, bakery etc and get yourself a 15litre plastic tub (mayonnaise, ketchup, spices, oil etc all come in these). They'll not peck into that.
Quote from: Billythegypsy on December 10, 2013, 03:49:48 PM
Quote from: Eoin on December 10, 2013, 02:01:49 PM
You could talk to Ditch over on Jims beer kit and ask him, he's a rat catcher and all around pest guy who lives up in Leitrim, English traveller and a nice guy.
Ditch is real?
I always just assumed he was some sort of Tyler Durden of homebrewing.
Have you met him?
Ditch is real, he lives up around Mohill somewhere.
Ditch also rings a lot of birds, he's a real animal lover. He'd know what to do humanely.
I'm not playing your a townie card either but I will tell you magpies are very aggressive, cats or dogs don't kill magpies they are too clever and too fast. Very few cats in my part of the world.
The trap I had, had food and water, but you are right they do get animated when caught, but it's a fraction of the duress suffered from a poorly executed bullet or poison :(
Quote from: iTube on December 10, 2013, 05:53:44 PM
Quote from: LordEoin on December 10, 2013, 03:42:30 PM
trapping or shooting them is fine. poisoning is not.
What about blowing them up?
Probably the most humane thing I've heard ;)
Jesus nobody has suggested gassing yet! , Alex has some argon.
That's how they kill the chicken or turkey on your table
How about a custom built solid trap, hooked up to gas and jump leads, so that once the magpie gets trapped inside it starts to fill with butane, then the battery connection provides a spark that explodes the magpie, then it automatically opens again, revealing the magpie mush which will tempt the next magpie into the trap.
Eventually, there'll be enough exploded flesh and feather to coax a few foxes into the trap too. bonus!
Quote from: LordEoin on December 10, 2013, 10:34:38 PM
How about a custom built solid trap, hooked up to gas and jump leads, so that once the magpie gets trapped inside it starts to fill with butane, then the battery connection provides a spark that explodes the magpie, then it automatically opens again, revealing the magpie mush which will tempt the next magpie into the trap.
Eventually, there'll be enough exploded flesh and feather to coax a few foxes into the trap too. bonus!
Genius idea.
Sent from my HTC One
Quote from: LordEoin on December 10, 2013, 10:34:38 PM
How about a custom built solid trap, hooked up to gas and jump leads, so that once the magpie gets trapped inside it starts to fill with butane, then the battery connection provides a spark that explodes the magpie, then it automatically opens again, revealing the magpie mush which will tempt the next magpie into the trap.
Eventually, there'll be enough exploded flesh and feather to coax a few foxes into the trap too. bonus!
Oh no I don't want to kill any foxes they are cute and gods creatures.
I have to confess to catching next doors cat, tempted an all as I was because of its continual shit on my flowerbeds I didn't wring its neck.
Its the 21st century. All cats should be radio fenced. No excuse for them to roam and shit in this day and age.
Christ, someone needs to stand up for the poor little Magpie
Why all the bad press?
I like the little fella's, I have a pair of them that nest in the trees beside me every year. I get great craic watchin them go through their mating rituals(riot), especially when a few of them arrive to try get in on the action.
whats not to like about them?
clever, brave, aggressive, arrogant and not to mention beautiful colouring.
CH, who gave you a gun licence? :o now im worried.
eoin, I think you've too much time on your hands.
Whats next? shooting the Kites
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfnMdTEAdgY
Magpie Blues
cracking album that actually
magpies steal petfood and spread disease.
They're winged rats with razer bills and talons.
They attack young and sick livestock.
They're noisy and general dicks.
I hear they even rip open carelessly places grain bags.
Quote from: Damo on December 10, 2013, 11:30:57 PM
Christ, someone needs to stand up for the poor little Magpie
Why all the bad press?
I like the little fella's, I have a pair of them that nest in the trees beside me every year. I get great craic watchin them go through their mating rituals(riot), especially when a few of them arrive to try get in on the action.
whats not to like about them?
clever, brave, aggressive, arrogant and not to mention beautiful colouring.
CH, who gave you a gun licence? :o now im worried.
eoin, I think you've too much time on your hands.
Whats next? shooting the Kites
Let he who has not sinned cast the first slug pellet.
the slugs drown in beer. It's a dignified way to go.
What about using knock off Iraqi AA guns. I am sure they have plenty still left from the war ::)
This Forum is normally a good place to get practical advice, but if I followed all your recommendations I'd have the Special Branch, CIA, Taliban and the local Bunny Huggers all after me! :(
Beer inspires the mind :)
I wouldn't worry about the first three
Quote from: CH on December 11, 2013, 11:58:55 AM
I wouldn't worry about the first three
What do you recommend as the best defence against a Bunny Hugger attack?
Nail some meat to my front door? - the traditional garlic won't work as they are probably veggies
:o
Quote from: Eoink on December 11, 2013, 12:17:32 PM
What do you recommend as the best defence against a Bunny Hugger attack?
I find this works:
Invite them into the house and make some snacks:
Give them:
Toasted Cheese sambo
Toasted Onion and Tomato sambo
Tosted aubergine and parmesan surprise sambo.
Send them on their way and they will be dead within 3 hours
Cause of Death:
Mixing-my-Toasties
;D ;D ;D
Quote from: Eoink on December 11, 2013, 12:17:32 PM
Quote from: CH on December 11, 2013, 11:58:55 AM
I wouldn't worry about the first three
What do you recommend as the best defence against a Bunny Hugger attack?
Nail some meat to my front door? - the traditional garlic won't work as they are probably veggies
It has just been suggested to me that a Steak through their heart always works