Crow invasion

[Kidds]

What did you use for bait to attract them ?
A few years ago I tried our ladder trap and baited it with wheat ontop of a conventional straw bale. All i kept getting in it was chuffing pheasants !!

Just wheat but no bale in there, left the lids off for a couple of days. There was a fair bit of wheat in there, 5lbs twice a day at least.
I have cage traps set around the place and have had 2 Jays, 5 squirrels, 2 jackdaws and a pheasant in them this week.

 

[robs1]

We have had an invasion around the yard and on some barley where neighbour cut silage and they used that to land in. Shotgun but they keep coming back. Mainly jackdaws. How do people dispatch them out of Larson traps?

Always wear gloves and use a piece of rag to grab them, then hold them on the ground and belt their head with a bit of 2 by 1, instant death, not sure what you would do with 40 in a ladder trap though, perhaps frangible shot

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Our back yard seems to have become the "in" place for crows recently. Got about 40 there atm, any ideas what's attracting them or how we can discourage them?
It looks like a scene from a Hitchcock film and the noise is something else?


It's not food, because we only chuck out a handful of grain for half a dozen hens.

Enjoy watching their interaction, if you have the time.....
We have a good number of Corvids visit and they are fun to watch.
SS

 

[suffolksmallholder]

But you could always turn into a complete mental case and f'ing kill all that you catch in your Larsen, beating them over the head, and all sorts, preferably with 2x2 iron bars or whatever
SS

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Think your self lucky….this turned up last night in the garden and no idea where from.

Noisy f’cker!!

View attachment 971159

Chuffing things they are when they start calling. We had one turn up in the oak tree in our garden a few years ago. He sat on a bough about 20 feet high calling in the early hours of the morning.

I got an old roof lath and kept prodding him but the sod just kept dancing from side to side. I was getting a bit narky with it so picked up piece of a house brick, about a third. After a few throws I hit it square on the breast. The bloody brick just bounced off it and came hurtling back towards me!

I eventually shifted it with handfuls of gravel, but it came back the next morning. I stepped up with the lath and gave it a good larruping for a few minutes, which persuaded it about the error of its ways.

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Now here's a story and good job I'm not a corvid nutter killer.........
We really do have a beautiful spot, wildlife & etc, and at the mo no OSR to f**k things up.
We get surprising visitors of the 'Ooooh f'ing hate-it-wild-life-type for all those who like to kill.
We had a visit from a hand-reared Raven. Oh, what a pleasure to interact with such an intelligent bird.
I could go on, but for the short time he/she was with us it was truely enlightening.
For all those who'd immediately reach for the gun, strangling rope, killer stuff please turn off these insincts. My wife & I had the most enjoyable four days with this bird.
We assume the person who imprinted came along and reclaimed it eventually. Any of the above 'kill it' posts make me weep.
SS

 

[Kevtherev]

Chuffing things they are when they start calling. We had one turn up in the oak tree in our garden a few years ago. He sat on a bough about 20 feet high calling in the early hours of the morning.

I got an old roof lath and kept prodding him but the sod just kept dancing from side to side. I was getting a bit narky with it so picked up piece of a house brick, about a third. After a few throws I hit it square on the breast. The bloody brick just bounced off it and came hurtling back towards me!

I eventually shifted it with handfuls of gravel, but it came back the next morning. I stepped up with the lath and gave it a good larruping for a few minutes, which persuaded it about the error of its ways.

I had a few cawwwing about here early in morning 4.30-5 so I vaporised them with 12 gauge seems to have stopped them making a noise.

 

[robs1]

Now here's a story and good job I'm not a corvid nutter killer.........
We really do have a beautiful spot, wildlife & etc, and at the mo no OSR to fudge things up.
We get surprising visitors of the 'Ooooh f'ing hate-it-wild-life-type for all those who like to kill.
We had a visit from a hand-reared Raven. Oh, what a pleasure to interact with such an intelligent bird.
I could go on, but for the short time he/she was with us it was truely enlightening.
For all those who'd immediately reach for the gun, strangling rope, killer stuff please turn off these insincts. My wife & I had the most enjoyable four days with this bird.
We assume the person who imprinted came along and reclaimed it eventually. Any of the above 'kill it' posts make me weep.
SS

If you have watched all these corvids as you claim especially magpies you would know they are killing machines, last time we had a blitz on them a few years ago we had a huge increase in virtually all other species. . Man is top of the tree and if we want a balance of birds we have to cull some.

 

[steveR]

G

We have had a Larsen trap out for magpies for 14 days tomorrow, caught at least 16 now, took it to the bottom.buildings yesterday at 6 am, caught one there within an hour and had four since,

Good work.

 

[suffolksmallholder]

If you have watched all these corvids as you claim especially magpies you would know they are killing machines, last time we had a blitz on them a few years ago we had a huge increase in virtually all other species. . Man is top of the tree and if we want a balance of birds we have to cull some.

Wrong. You watch them for long enough things will even out.
SS

 

[Doing it for the kids]

We have had an invasion around the yard and on some barley where neighbour cut silage and they used that to land in. Shotgun but they keep coming back. Mainly jackdaws. How do people dispatch them out of Larson traps?

Always wear gloves and use a piece of rag to grab them, then hold them on the ground and belt their head with a bit of 2 by 1, instant death, not sure what you would do with 40 in a ladder trap though, perhaps frangible shot

in a Larsen, just pick your moment, pop the lid and v them behind their neck then swiftly unscrew the neck.

hitting on the back is fine but hurts a lot more if you hit yourself then a peck!

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Magpies will decimate all hedgerow nesting songbirds for a short period.
Magpies will starve after decimating songbirds. Simple
Nature does not need a man with a gun.
SS

 

[suffolksmallholder]

I suppose 40 years of obeservation does not count in that NATURE always balances things out.
I've killed & killed & killed & killed but I'd rather not now and all my killing only makes me sad. I won't be drawn into the numbers game but the numbers were all in the game book and it was truely horrendous!
I get more joy from watching.
SS

 

[robs1]

Magpies will decimate all hedgerow nesting songbirds for a short period.
Magpies will starve after decimating songbirds. Simple
Nature does not need a man with a gun.
SS

Well there are ever increasing numbers of the bloody things round here so they certainly arent starving after clearing out the song birds, there is too many other food sources in the area round here, lots of houses with rubbish bags for them to tear apart etc and if they decimate the song birds where will they come from ,? Of course we all know who will get the blame for low bird numbers.
You do what you want on your bit and I will do the same on mine.

 

[Kidds]

Now here's a story and good job I'm not a corvid nutter killer.........
We really do have a beautiful spot, wildlife & etc, and at the mo no OSR to fudge things up.
We get surprising visitors of the 'Ooooh f'ing hate-it-wild-life-type for all those who like to kill.
We had a visit from a hand-reared Raven. Oh, what a pleasure to interact with such an intelligent bird.
I could go on, but for the short time he/she was with us it was truely enlightening.
For all those who'd immediately reach for the gun, strangling rope, killer stuff please turn off these insincts. My wife & I had the most enjoyable four days with this bird.
We assume the person who imprinted came along and reclaimed it eventually. Any of the above 'kill it' posts make me weep.
SS

When the public start paying me double for my apple crop because the jackdaws have eaten half of them, or if they say they will still pay full whack for all the ones that have bird pecks in them and have gone rotten I will leave them be. Or if you come and take them away so they can live at your cost I won't mind.
I had 30 ravens here in the spring, not just one. I didn't think about killing them as they were doing me no harm, probably wouldn't feel so lenient if they started taking my goslings though.
Spent my whole life killing rabbits so they didn't eat my veg crops, I don't grow veg now and have hundreds of rabbits. If they were eating my trees they'd be gone too.
I can't afford to live in your fluffy world.

 

[Kidds]

I suppose 40 years of obeservation does not count in that NATURE always balances things out.
I've killed & killed & killed & killed but I'd rather not now and all my killing only makes me sad. I won't be drawn into the numbers game but the numbers were all in the game book and it was truely horrendous!
I get more joy from watching.
SS

Bloody hypocrite!

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Well there are ever increasing numbers of the bloody things round here so they certainly arent starving after clearing out the song birds, there is too many other food sources in the area round here, lots of houses with rubbish bags for them to tear apart etc and if they decimate the song birds where will they come from ,? Of course we all know who will get the blame for low bird numbers.
You do what you want on your bit and I will do the same on mine.

Ok I'll agree with your sentiment but I will say that you'll get there in the end. I did. I enjoyed killing and killing and killing and thought it was great and had a purpose and all that stuff but now I just don't.
SS

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Bloody hypocrite!

That's not hypocritical, that's enlightenment. Who the 'F' are we to say we can kill what we chose to?
I now chose not to. End of. I am in the position of poacher turned gamekeeper in that I truely believe the killing of Corvids makes no difference in the big scheme of things and that simply watching nature do its thing is way more enjoyable.
SS

 

[robs1]

Ok I'll agree with your sentiment but I will say that you'll get there in the end. I did. I enjoyed killing and killing and killing and thought it was great and had a purpose and all that stuff but now I just don't.
SS

I dont enjoy killing anything except rats, not even owned a gun for 17 years and only had that to drive rooks of the barley, never been on a shoot in my life although quite often have a few pheasants given to me, we have at least a dozen deer on a 70 acre part of the farm and ignore any damage they do. I saw five fawns in one 7 acre field last month when mowing, I had to cut it in several odd bits to ensure I didnt kill any, We try and encourage as much wildlife as we can, we dug a pond about 30 years ago and it teems with bird life when we remove predators.

 

[suffolksmallholder]

When the public start paying me double for my apple crop because the jackdaws have eaten half of them, or if they say they will still pay full whack for all the ones that have bird pecks in them and have gone rotten I will leave them be. Or if you come and take them away so they can live at your cost I won't mind.
I had 30 ravens here in the spring, not just one. I didn't think about killing them as they were doing me no harm, probably wouldn't feel so lenient if they started taking my goslings though.
Spent my whole life killing rabbits so they didn't eat my veg crops, I don't grow veg now and have hundreds of rabbits. If they were eating my trees they'd be gone too.
I can't afford to live in your fluffy world.

My fluffy world if f'ing hard work too thank you.
All sorts of things eat what we grow but we continue and what we get at the end of the summer is what we get. We net, fence, soap spray and agonise over, but we do not resort to random killing even in what you percieve as a 'fluffy world'. If you simply can't cope then do less or diversify. Our Smallholding income is diverse enough to support two adults and one young person at university. I learned in the second F&M never ever to rely on a single income stream!
Killing all and sundry is not the way forward either.
SS