[jimtyp]

A gang, and I mean a tough gang, of Magpie birds have destroyed a few things on my railroad, like pecking some G scale station benches apart, and hauling off with some G scale sheep!

Any easy deterrents for these birds? They seam to be a tough and smart lot, related to crows I believe.

 

[Steve Stockham]

Yeah, I got a solution! It's called a pellet gun!! (I'm serious!) Those birds are nobody's friends! The only thing worse are pidgeons!!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crazy.gif

 

[Burl]

Got cats?

 

[DennisB]

Fishing line strung from one small peg to the next. The line is almost invisible, until they land. The line will almost tangle in their feet and frighten them away. It even works on squirrels. Simply string it loosely a few inches above the ground on a 5 inch high dowel. Stick it loosely in the ground so they can escape. Animals and birds have very good memories. We use a similar method to discourage crows from landing in an area. Regards, Dennis.

 

[altterrain]

I hang old cds out in the veggie garden to keep the crows away. They don't like shiny, reflective things.

-Brian

 

[Dave F]

As mentioned above ..... Cats

Dogs seem to be equally effective.

 

[Torby]

They used to sell balls with eyes painted on them for scaring birds away. I don't find anything about them now, so maybe they didn't work well.

 

[silverstatespecialties]

Here's my preferred method:

Crosman 2240 .22-cal pellet CO2 pistol



I've eliminated over a dozen pigeons so far this year alone...I've added some custom touches though, like a BOSS Repeater Breech (holds 25 pellets) and Red-Dot sight. One CO2 cartridge is usually good for 35-40 pellets. Quite effective!

 

[Mik]

I don't know Colorado's game laws, but here in Pa. it is illegal to shoot "non-game" animals & birds, period. (and rather stiff penalties for killing game animals out of season or without a license)

IIRC Ohio OTOH allows the shooting animals classified as a "nuisance" (like feral cats, etc).....

 

[Torby]

Susan used to send me out with the air rifle to shoot sparrows because they drive the bluebirds out of the bluebird box. I can see Mrs. Bluebird: "Are you kidding me! Did you see what happened to those sparrows? I'm not going NEAR that nest!"

 

[Paul Norton]

My backyard is surrounded by a tall cedar hedge. At this time of the year there are a lot of blackbirds nesting in the hedge. They clean the nests of any droppings and deposit them in a neat line all around the edge of the pool. By the end of the day it can be pretty disgusting.

If the cats are out, the birds just land at the other end of the pool. Here in Canada handguns are verboten, and it is against the law to fire any kind of gun within the city limits. So like Brain, I found hanging old CDs frightens them away.

The stand is made with a scrap of lumber, half a coat hanger, a fishing swivel and a piece of line. The CD swivels and flashes in the wind, scaring the blackbirds away. If you live in a windy area, a heavier piece of lumber may be required.

 

[jimtyp]

Thanks for all the ideas! I'll try the less dangerous (to myself options like CDs and Fishing line first. Don't have a cat and the dog is too spoiled to chase the birds.



Do you think one of those fake Owls would work?

 

[Semper Vaporo]

The fake owls work for a while, but are soon "challenged" and found to be fake. It order to work continuously, it would have to "react" to the Magpie's presence and at least threaten them somehow, which I know of no way to do.

 

[wchasr]

Posted By Mik on 05/15/2008 12:41 AM
I don't know Colorado's game laws, but here in Pa. it is illegal to shoot "non-game" animals & birds, period. (and rather stiff penalties for killing game animals out of season or without a license)
IIRC Ohio OTOH allows the shooting animals classified as a "nuisance" (like feral cats, etc).....




PA? You've got to be kidding me? I've known a ot of folks in PA that take care of nuisance animals that way (& other more creative ways!) Also using the Bow and arrow as well! LOL!

Chas - (Who no longer lives in Pa)

 

[Mik]

Posted By wchasr on 05/16/2008 7:15 AM
Posted By Mik on 05/15/2008 12:41 AM
I don't know Colorado's game laws, but here in Pa. it is illegal to shoot "non-game" animals & birds, period. (and rather stiff penalties for killing game animals out of season or without a license)
IIRC Ohio OTOH allows the shooting animals classified as a "nuisance" (like feral cats, etc).....




PA? You've got to be kidding me? I've known a ot of folks in PA that take care of nuisance animals that way (& other more creative ways!) Also using the Bow and arrow as well! LOL!

Chas - (Who no longer lives in Pa)





Ah, but the excrement hits the bladed motorized cooling device when they DO get caught.... loss of hunting priveleges, impoundment of firearms, rediculous fines, even jail time...ESPECIALLY if the ASPCA gets involved too.

 

[jimtyp]

Did more research and found this article:
scare magpies

My wife made six of these and we have them hanging by nylon thread in some trees in the yard. She got some woods disks for 25c at Michaels and painted them like the article showed. So far so good

 

[Tom Leaton]

My dad used to have a pellet gun with a pump which allowed for lower, non-lethal pressures.

Decades later, I was advised that you can't even use that to get squirrels out of your attic: I couldn't buy pellets because
1.you can't discharge a weapon in the city limits ( and that is a weapon, they say) and
2.squirrels are a "protected species."

...so I used an AM radio to repel them --it worked.

cheers

 

[R.W. Marty]

Jim,
Usually if you eliminate the attraction you eliminate the problem.
One of the big ones for Magpies is pet food.
Why are they attracted to your yard?
Later
Rick Marty

 

[RaTTeR]

Talk radio or rap? /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crazy.gif

We've had pigeon problems, called the county Animal Control office. Their guy
tells us that there is basically nothing that they can do - I had already netted
over the possible nesting spots around the house. His advice, off the record
of course, get a pellet gun and bag up the bodies at the bottom of the curbside
trashcan. Six down, fifty something more to go...

Alan

 

[jimtyp]

That's a good one, I think talk radio or rap would work, the problem is it would run me off too So far the disks I made are working. But supposedly they only work on Corvids, so probably wouldn't help with pigeons. Maybe you could rent a hawk or falcon, that should put the fear into them.

They seem to be attracted to my G scale items. They pecked some G-scale benches to bits that I had in front of my depot. And they hauled off with some G-scale sheep I had in a pasture setting. And of course they crap on the structures. There is a "gang" of them, about 20+, that hang out in the park behind my house. They often seem to have some sort of gang initiation and decide to reek havoc, which seems to be just for the fun of it as they don't use anything they destroy to build nests and don't eat anything, just tear things up and then leave sqwalking like they think what they've done is funny. Well, it probably is to them

Nothing of what I have is worth killing them, I'd prefer to just scare them off.