| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 1:41:10 PM | I know some of you will find this a somewhat comedy subject but after a week of sleepless mornings it has got to me to thinking I can't be alone.
I have a cat as many of you will know. She is also a keen hunter and will stalk anything, including the local squirrel population who are probably bigger than her.
Well she found a new object to pursue in her hunting recently, magpies. One landed on my balcony railing so she saw this as prime opportunity to have a pop. Out she goes and of course fails. Well, five minutes later there are about 8 more magpies, I kid you not, all squawking at her from the tree which is about a meter from my balcony. They only moved on when I went out there. About 20 minutes later the cat is in the garden and I am left open mouthed as this magpie lands about about 2 meters from her and starts squawking while slowly moving closer to the cat! It was squaring up to her!
Well now, every morning, at a very unholy hour, there are squawking magpies out side my flat for a good while. Even when the cat is curled up in bed with me and nowhere near them!
Has anyone else experienced something like this? I'm getting rather annoyed with the disturbed sleep to be honest 
So come on, spill any stories you have about rogue wildlife and any efforts you have made to alleviate the situation. | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 1:50:52 PM | Crows nesting in next doors chimney pots as they have no wires on them and they also roost on the telegraph wires out the back the noise they make is unreal, didnt realise what the noise was until my neighbour pointed this out, now I know what it is its bugging me, but thankfully its only usually in the early evening..
Also have cows in the field at the back and hear them lowing in the night but I find this quite comforting | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 1:54:09 PM | Magpies squaring up to a cat?? Wtf does this look like, Looney Tunes?!?
Sounds like you have a case of zombie-magpies.
...... Who you gonna call?????
(Answers on a postcard) | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 1:56:24 PM | My bedroom has a flat roof......it's amazing how noisy the birds can be walking over it at 4am!!!
love the sound of the woodpigeons though, very comforting | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 2:06:10 PM | they can become very territorial during breeding ( july to december) and will attack if they feel threatened but suprisingly they do not see humans as a threat ( have been known to swoop but very rare)
and taken from a bird site
In the spring, large numbers of Magpies often gather to resolve territorial conflicts and social standing. These gatherings, called parliaments, probably gave rise to the many nursery rhymes and poems about Magpies, such as:
One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a wedding, four for a birth,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret not to be told.
Eight for heaven, nine for hell,
And ten for the devil's own sel'.
Or more commonly:
One for sorrow, two for joy;
Three for a girl, four for a boy;
Five for silver, six for gold;
Seven for a secret, never to be told;
Eight for a wish, nine for a kiss;
Ten for a bird that's best to miss.
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 2:22:07 PM | Have you thought about putting up a scare crow wearing a wig with
purple hair on your balcony Dancer?...It would frighten them away for sure......
PS..Why did the scare crow win the nobel peace prize?...He was outstanding in his field! | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 3:14:18 PM | AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH
I just watched hitchcocks the birds, and now you are talking about physco magpies and I won't be able to sleep tonight.... | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 3:24:11 PM | Magpies are strange birds, that is why we have that saying about them, 1 for sorrow 2 for joy etc...
did you know they mate for life.?
anyhow a couple of summers ago I was walking through a field and I saw about 15 magpies squalling and fussing & i'm thinking 'whats going on here'.
so i stopped still, dead quiet to see how it unfolds, and then I see a fox come out through the wheat with a hungry look on her face.
whatever she had an idea of eating (magpie probably) it was not on that days menu.  | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 3:26:10 PM | Your story reminded me of an incident a few years ago with my cat.
2 magpies ganged up on her. she was sitting on a fence
when 1 sat in front of her and as she started to go towards it,
it flew over her to get behind her and then pulled her tail.
Another one then flew down to land in front of her,
so she had one in front and one behind her tormenting her.
I had to go out and rescue her. | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 3:31:24 PM | Last January, my SO & I went camping & found our food under attack by a squirrel - he was obviously well fed considering his plumpness but was overly interested in our container of chicken. Where ever we put this chicken (& the container was of the sealed nature like tupperware) this squirrel would pounce on it (often within only a foot or two of us as we set up our camp)... I have one pic of him in action in the semi-dark. Overnight we stored the chicken left-overs in one of our coolers (the zippered, soft-sided kind) & the little b@st@ard chewed the zipper completely off the cooler... its something that we enjoy a good chuckle about despite having to replace the cooler...lol
I'm not surprised by the magpies taunting your cat...lol... I've often seen birds barn-storm cats & knew of a partially blind cat who was tormented by the birds in the area with strikes on his butt from the air... in my experience, the cats & birds have had a history of sorts...lol
cata | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 4:03:19 PM | I rescued a magpie years ago, i came across it whilest out riding. it was being ganged up on by 2 crows... i picked the magpie up and headed home. had to put the horses reins in its beak as it was trying to peck chunks out of me! by the time we got to the stables there were loads of magpies all swooping at me and squalking loudly. it was badly injured and the farmer wrung its neck and chucked it on the bonfire then proceeded to lecture me about magpies being bad luck and pests etc etc. until that day there'd been few magpies visiting the stables, after that day there was a huge flock of them daily right up until the day the yard closed down and was bulldozed!
i really dont like them and i sympathise with you for the problem your cat has brought on, you could be stuck with them for a long time... i have no advice really, the cats to blame lol..... maybe you could buy some ear plugs! | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 4:21:00 PM | dont care who did what or whos fault... one for sorrow... if it doesnt bring you another pretty soon .. your life is doomed !!
hope that helps  | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 4:25:44 PM | Yeah had this issue before, only 1 way to solve the problem & that is let the cat take the magpie on...because to the cat...he's having the piss taken out og him at the moment.
I bet your cat sits at the window making a really bizarre chowing sound at these magpies as if to say 'cheeky **stard...that's my fence/tree how dare you sit there you fat fk'.
Let him/her out & nature take its course.
The magpie is obviously a**** bleeder so let's see if the fat shit can fly before the cat makes sushi out of it. | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 5:24:41 PM | Magpies are nasty nasty creatures. A bit like a gang of thugs. Once they find someone to annoy they stay there until they get moved on. That sqawking you talk of sounds like a childs machine gun toy and they make a right racket.
If there are a few of them about then they will gang up on birds or other things like cats. I've even seen them try it with a dog before.
Your cat has basically challenged them to who is the boss of the area. Sadly from what I've seen go on in our back garden it won't stop until they lose the challenge.
We get magpies that annoy the crow in our garden. The crow will take so much and then pursues then until he catches them. After this the magpies get a severe pecking and left very bedraggled. Although they must be a bit stupid as a week later they try it on again. The crow always wins.
Jays will chase magpies away as well. | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 6:49:54 PM |
Magpies are nasty nasty creatures. A bit like a gang of thugs. Once they find someone to annoy they stay there until they get moved on. That sqawking you talk of sounds like a childs machine gun toy and they make a right racket.
If there are a few of them about then they will gang up on birds or other things like cats. I've even seen them try it with a dog before.
Your cat has basically challenged them to who is the boss of the area. Sadly from what I've seen go on in our back garden it won't stop until they lose the challenge.
See its much like a gang of chav's sitting on the wall & you holding your old man back....let him got...let him be free with that fire poker & give them a fekking shoeing the cants will not forget...the giro scum bay studs will nae come back guaranteed. Let the cat have his moment,....he probably won't even catch one but guess what .....if he does that little fekker aint making no more noise over than 'ow a fekking cats got me' again....and lets be right the gobby little **stard asked for it. | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 9:42:16 PM | The cat is a she and she has free uninterrupted access to the outside and the magpies. She just hasn't managed to catch one as yet. I fully expect to wake up to a lovely feathered gift one of these days!
no sign of them this morning though, maybe they rest on Sundays, unlike myself who is having a bout of insomnia. | |
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Naamah
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Joined: 11/22/2007
Msg: 18 | |
| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/14/2008 11:10:58 PM | My chickens used to have wars with the local magpies (slightly different bird here I think), which started cos the maggies went in to the chookpen during the day to steal the food. Hell hath no fury like a chicken scorned...if one of my hens saw a magpie around in the yard she'd narrow her eyes, fluff herself up, and launch at it. The magpie would get the shock of its life and fly, but then swoop back in retaliation. Then the other chooks would come running to help. The chickens had size on their side but could only manage to throw themselves a short distance into the air, so they'd all start doing that, like a bunch of midgets trying to hit a tall guy. But at least one of them would manage to donk the magpie each time it swooped until it would give up. I never saw the chooks lose a round.
Perhaps you need some chooks with a similar military mindset?
My current generation of chickens seem to have no issues with the magpies, and the Avian Wars seem to be over. For now. | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/15/2008 4:55:38 AM | Probably the biggest problem round here is my dogs!
Recently a couple were enjoying lunch on the beach only to turn and find a huge fluffy dog, roughly the size of a bear dribbling into their sandwiches....the look of shock and horror on the womans face was hilarious.
Then one day the young one made a bolt for freedom...
I am still not really able to run much, and she only slows down to make sure I am following. She ignores even the cheese...and heads straight for the main road. I am chasing her, terrified she will cause an accident... she pauses long enough to take a huge dump outside the church before belting straight across the road. I was really worried at this point...fortunately she took a detour straight into the local pub.
There was a family there enjoying lunch, until this wolf arrives and starts licking the food off the babies face!
How humiliating to run in after her drag her by her collar, only for her to sit down in the car park and flatly refuse to move.... | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/15/2008 5:29:07 AM | Okay, my flat is turning into the wildlife twilight zone 
I awoke at about 5am only to come face to face with a cat that was definitely not mine peering at me! I say hello, as you do, to which it meows at me for a bit then slopes back off outside. I'm the local drop-in centre it would appear.
Then later on I hear a whole load of birds making a lot of fuss in the garden, so I go onto the balcony to have a look at what's going on and there is my cat with one maimed but alive bird in her grasp and two other birds swooping and squawking at her. Sadly it was not a magpie. Think it was a blackbird. I think my neighbour went out and split up the kerfuffle so I'm not sure of the birds fate.
I really hope there are no more odd goings on for a while! | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/15/2008 6:15:05 AM | Sorry Dancer...
So now its killed an endangered animal? (Blackbirds and greenfinchs were 2 spieces singled out as having a rapidly decreasing population this year)
Sorry to say it but as has been mentioned before the cat is the problem.
They don't do anything to remove the pest animals (Rats, seagulls, crows, magpies etc) as domestic cats really couldn't take a gang of the inland birds a seagull or large rats.
Domestic cats are ok when kept indoors, outside they are a pest that kills native wildlife and fair game for a gun in my opinon (Mink were another speices that were given vermin status for similar reasons.)
Saw a dog eat a cat once and had to think although it was sad it was ironic because how many birds had that dog just saved? | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/15/2008 6:22:47 AM | Yes the cat following its natural instinct without a care for the fact that what it is having a pop at is an endangered species should be shot. WTF!!!!!! The cat doesn't know what it should and shouldn't kill. Oh and rapidly decreasing population does not necessarily make it endangered.
I can understand you not being a cat lover but to say that my cat is a problem and you'd quite happily see it shot is a little ridiculous.
I'd rather she didn't go out and hunt but that's what they do, along with many other animals, domestic and otherwise.
Edit: She is a year old and so far has killed one mouse and injured one bird, total. Not really depleting local wildlife numbers too greatly is she? I'd say overpopulation and development of areas with abundant wildlife forcing them elsewhere or wiping them out of that area are far more worrying than my cat killing one bird. | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/15/2008 6:23:55 AM | (=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)
(=) don't mind me just sandbagging myself in for safety for the ...... .(=)
(=) ensuing fight for and against cats ................................................ (=)
(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=) | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/15/2008 6:39:02 AM |
The cat doesn't know what it should and shouldn't kill
So by that logic anyone under the legal majority would be able to murder as long as they weren't under their parents supervison as they weren't capable of deciding between right and wrong.
Parents are responsible for their children and owners must be responsible for their pets.
A farmer will quite happily shoot a dog that is off the lead near his livestock but the natural wildlife of our country has no 'shepard' to protect it from irresponsible owners.
They let them indescriminatly attack creatures (For fun not out of hunger) that are struggling for survival with apparently no particular care or sense of personal responsiblity for the damage being caused by their animals.
And no i'm involved in a conservation project where we capture and ring chicks from nestboxes and the decline has been quite noticable in those speices, so I do know what i'm talking about. | |
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| Magpies and other problem wildlife
Posted: 6/15/2008 6:49:05 AM |
o by that logic anyone under the legal majority would be able to murder as long as they weren't under their parents supervison as they weren't capable of deciding between right and wrong.
Parents are responsible for their children and owners must be responsible for their pets.
Seriously? Comparing human beings to a cat?
She has a bell on her collar so can be heard coming. Again one mouse and one injured, not killed, bird, in a year does not make her a menace to wildlife. Whatever happened to the law of nature? Shall we go and separate all the endangered species from those that hunt them as part of nature?
I don't like the fact she hunts, I am an avid animal lover and do all I can to stop her if I catch her in the act but to say I'm an irresponsible pet owner is a bit strong. Deliberately training a dog to attack is irresponsible, letting a cat that loves the outdoors go outdoors where she may occasionally hunt something? Not irresponsible. | |
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