Magpies!

[coyoteking]

The thieving buggers are thick around here this year. Every morning I feed my dogs, and within a few minutes the magpies show up to dine on the buffet. (My dogs don’t seem to be concerned with losing their food to them).

So here’s what I’m wondering- if I shoot one and tie it up to the top of the fence near where the dog dish is, will it act as a warning to the other magpies to stay clear or will it simply act like a decoy and attract more birds to the area?

 

[the spank]

The thieving buggers are thick around here this year. Every morning I feed my dogs, and within a few minutes the magpies show up to dine on the buffet. (My dogs don’t seem to be concerned with losing their food to them).

So here’s what I’m wondering- if I shoot one and tie it up to the top of the fence near where the dog dish is, will it act as a warning to the other magpies to stay clear or will it simply act like a decoy and attract more birds to the area?

Once you get 20 or 30 hanging dead on the fence then you'll have killed enough to know if that works or not....

 

[mbogo3]

Get a Larsen magpie trap and put deer parts in it.I got 6 the first day I had it set processing moose.

 

[BrotherRockeye]

Lots of pretty simple magpie traps out there that work well. I always use a rubber dog dish and 20ga myself.

 

[Vladthepes]

...i saw it work as a warning. these birds are pretty intelligents!

 

[Titan 08]

I had a similar problem, during the course of two hours I shot seven with my pellet rifle, they just kept coming. It was like they were curious and kept coming to check out their dead compatriots.

 

[coyoteking]

Lots of pretty simple magpie traps out there that work well. I always use a rubber dog dish and 20ga myself.

I built a trap a few years ago- only problem was my Pyrenees would flip it over to get at the bait. The bait was the same dog food I put in her dish that she ignores while the magpies eat it.

I have some nearby neighbors so I’m limited to one shooting lane and shotguns are too loud- my 22 is the only option. Not to mention these birds are damn wary, as soon as I crack the patio door they take off for the neighbors yard.

 

[coyoteking]

I had a similar problem, during the course of two hours I shot seven with my pellet rifle, they just kept coming. It was like they were curious and kept coming to check out their deadbcompatriots.

Hmmm.... If that’s the case I may have a target rich environment tomorrow morning.

 

[coyoteking]

Well it seems to be working, no more magpies.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Well it seems to be working, no more magpies.

I've just resigned myself to feeding the dog indoors. Can't get rid of them fast enough and the neighborhood skunk likes to drop by as well.

Grizz

 

[HuskyDude]

Could always just bring your dogs inside and feed them...

 

[geologist]

My male on the left wouldn't do much but the little female on the right would turn them into piles of feathers and bones.