Magpies

[Erik]

I have a resident Magpie that tells me every morning at about 5 AM how he would like to be forcibly removed from the neighborhood or suffer a tragic fatality. How can I help him hasten his wish without contravening any bylaws or other legalities?

[Blastoff]

Pellet gun at 4:50 am

[deanmc]

Magpie trap. Followed by a little carbon monoxide.



http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3496

[Pincherguy]

Originally Posted by deanmc

Magpie trap. Followed by a little carbon monoxide.



http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3496

I caught a few with a rat trap, just like a mouse trap on steroids. Little piece of meat on it and bingo.

[super7mag]

Originally Posted by Pincherguy

I caught a few with a rat trap, just like a mouse trap on steroids. Little piece of meat on it and bingo.

Yep , you'll get one or two but they learn quick. Don't worry the hatchlings will be out soon. Lol.
God I love living in the country . My acreage is the DMZ for crows and pies.

[DAVENYK66]

just had this discussion at Wednesday wing night

[Taco]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol80Cat1dXM

[Truck Norris]

Originally Posted by Pincherguy

I caught a few with a rat trap, just like a mouse trap on steroids. Little piece of meat on it and bingo.

I got one this way but used peanut butter instead. Totally worth the $5 !

[DAVENYK66]

we have a pellet gun, 5 bucks for a pack of pellets
dam things fly away when they see the gun though

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by Taco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol80Cat1dXM

First place my head went, liked his earlier version much better though. Had a Spaniel that hated magpies, every time that song started with the magpie cawing she'd snap to attention.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by Pincherguy

I caught a few with a rat trap, just like a mouse trap on steroids. Little piece of meat on it and bingo.

Oh! I like that one. I'll have to try it!!

I have always used leg hold traps or firearms but the traps can injure dogs and cats and the firearms disturb the neighbours, (songbirds.)

Those rat traps should take care of all my concerns.
I wish I had though of that.

[leeaspell]

I like magpies. They eat my dogs crap off the lawn. They may be annoying, but it saves me poopin scoopin so I leave them alone lol

[brownbomber]

Originally Posted by DAVENYK66

we have a pellet gun, 5 bucks for a pack of pellets
dam things fly away when they see the gun though

Pop the screen out of your window and pop pop pop

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by leeaspell

I like magpies. They eat my dogs crap off the lawn. They may be annoying, but it saves me poopin scoopin so I leave them alone lol

That alone would be worth put up with the noise.

[Gorram]

.177

Drop one, the rest WILL get the message.

The mourning is a bit loud day one though...

[Wanted]

Depending on your bylaws, stop one, then wait a bit. Magpies will come have a funeral for their buddy. When they land... The fun continues...

[Kim473]

Soon Edmonton will be the Magpie capital of North America. LOL I hate those vermon. Protected in the city. LMAO. Had the chance yesterday to get three of them, but no pellet gun around. Has to be 30 of them around my hood.

[6.5swedeforelk]

An egg glued (silicone) to a foothold trap pan.
Set to hair trigger- careful, finger from UNDER the jaw.
Set it out, but hide it a bit, let the buggers think that they've found another ducks' nest!
Local cats etc ignore it.

[6.5swedeforelk]

For shotgunning... take that dead magpie out to the edge of a bluff & tie to a 25yd twine, toss over a branch. Walk in to your "blind" and let things cool down for a while. Then by yanking the line you've got that bird jumping 6ft in the air. They can't seem to ignore it !
Try setting this up with a friend, then have him leave. Lets see if magpies can count.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by leeaspell

I like magpies. They eat my dogs crap off the lawn. They may be annoying, but it saves me poopin scoopin so I leave them alone lol

Wow, you have very generous magpies. Mine chase other birds, taunt my dogs and then poop on my lawn. I have no doggie scooping magpie. They are right behind the squirrels in terms of Beagle annoyance. Hounds!

[slough shark]

Surprised Tree hasn't chimed in yet with his elaborate trapping mechanisms and suggestions... That was GOLD!

[elkhunter11]

Magpie traps work great.


http://www.docstoc.com/docs/22207305...1-The-Municipa

[a little redneck]

I caught 10 in 2 days. I then relocated them 50 km away... made it much quieter last summer. Don't leave them in the trap too long because they will figure out how to get out. Also let the first one that enters the trap stay in there for a while, others will be attracted and enter the trap.

I mounted the trap on a piece of osb that was 40" x 40"... then lifted it and the trap in my truck and hauled them away.

[mudbug]

Lola always took care of them for me Release your hounds after them

[6.5swedeforelk]

Originally Posted by a little redneck

I caught 10 in 2 days. I then relocated them 50 km away... made it much quieter last summer. Don't leave them in the trap too long because they will figure out how to get out. Also let the first one that enters the trap stay in there for a while, others will be attracted and enter the trap.

I mounted the trap on a piece of osb that was 40" x 40"... then lifted it and the trap in my truck and hauled them away.

They got back home before you!

magpie " Thanks for the ride, and the education, dummy!"

[Red Bullets]

There has been mention of gopher traps with ripe meat attached to the pan. If you are worried about cats and dogs..... I used to hang the gopher traps by the chain from branches on trees. They would dangle and sway in the wind and alot of mornings I would have a magpie either by the head or neck. Instant kills. Never caught anything but magpies. I probably caught 60 magpies this way thru the years.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by mudbug

Release your hounds after them

Such is the problem. Hounds howl at magpies. Neighbours complain. Eventually some white truck comes to take my hounds away then I am just left with magpies...or so my fear goes. Plus, I've yet to find a magpie that feels the need to relocate permanently just because of a dog.

[mudbug]

Originally Posted by Erik

Such is the problem. Hounds howl at magpies. Neighbours complain. Eventually some white truck comes to take my hounds away then I am just left with magpies...or so my fear goes. Plus, I've yet to find a magpie that feels the need to relocate permanently just because of a dog.

Feed the hounds Redbull and the magpies won't stand a chance
On a serious note though build a magpie trap and get them that way and then take care of them after they're inside the trap. They are easy to make from what I've seen and are quite effective

[mooseburger]

I cut a hot dog up in tiny pieces and then laced it with every hot sauce, cayenne pepper and haberno I could get my hands on and left it under a bush
two days later I was watching all his magpie buddies attending his funeral.

[CaberTosser]

There's some good Magpie threads on AO already. Treeguy had some great posts on the topic. I had good results from a magpie trap similar to TreeGuys, and will loan it to Calgary area AO members who have a truck to pick it up. Its a cylinder made of wire mesh with a top, and it has an entrance that's a tapered cone. They follow sparsely placed bait into the more heavily baited trap ( old fries and burger chunks highlighted by fast food wrappers worked well for me). Once they crouch down in the entrance tunnel and stand up again, they can't figure out how to crouch to exit. Its some visual cue thing I guess. Anyways, I had 6-7 in my trap, and then sent them on permanent holiday with the garbage man.

My second method (obviously done in a place where pellet guns are legal to use ) is to set a bait station visible from inside the with a good safe shooting line from a window you can remove the bug screen from. Usually this results in one shooting at a downward angle so stray shots would go into the lawn mere feet behind the offending bird. My bait station had a double layer of plywood behind it for added safety. I rationalized that the bait must be little and something they can't simply fly off with to keep a 'captive audience', so I used cat food.

Between these two techniques I restored peace to myself and our neighbors.

PM me for borrowing "Chateau Magpie"