 |
| stuffed and mounted......... |
Recently some 40 crows have suddenly realised the bonanza that is poultry food, and systematically they have stolen more food out of the very beaks of the field population than one of the pigs could have done on a good day..
I have tried screaming at them, I have thrown stones at them...I have even contemplateted the loan of an air rifle.......a twelve bore shotgun or failing this an industrial strength flame thrower!
I just cannot afford to buy food for the local wildlife who have stomachs the size of the average watermelon
My brother-in-law (an ex gamekeeper) was thinking on his feet last night, and offered me the loan of his prized stuffed hawk, (albeit after many red wines) and this afternoon we set up the rather impressive bird just above the poultry feeder.
So far we haven't seen a crow..........and strangely enough all of the birds on the field lined up to "face off" the intruder!
 |
| The whole field population lines up against a stuffed hawk (which is sat in the right foreground) |
I am looking forward to a relaxing evening catching up with all of the blogs I have wanted to catch up on this last busy week
A decoy is often a very good idea. I wonder if the crows will cotton on to it's non athletic demeanor?!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on late nights... going out after 7PM is now alien! But a gin and tonic - now you're talking!
craig
ReplyDeleteI am fucked!
Seems the hawk has the crows bamboozled - for now, you may need to move it's position every so often.
ReplyDeleteLate nights become a thing of the past, it is sad, but I will be damned if I start watching reruns of Lawrence Welk!
Great idea, but our chickens would not come out either. They set out a hawk alarm and run to hide when one flies over.
ReplyDeleteWhen I have a late night, it is simply because I can't sleep.
If they get used to the hawk, try playing a recording of one screaming every now and again. Maybe that will keep them from realizing it's fake longer.
ReplyDeleteAdd me to the list of "too old to do that late night partying." fuddy duddies. I'm with Sharon, though, and just say no to Lawrence Welk.
I know it sounds awfully gruesome but if you were to shoot some and hang them from the trees, it does stop more coming down.
ReplyDeleteIt might look a bit like one of those violent Westerns (Hang 'Em High or something)...
xx
ps
yes, I can imagine it looks like we get up to straaaaaaaaange things down here in Dorset
I hope the decoy continues to work for you, John. Maybe moving it around the feed area every few days will keep the crows away for good!
ReplyDeleteCrows are so gullible, I think. And spineless.
ReplyDeleteAs for late nights, haven't been up beyond 10.30pm for months. Very sad, except that I'm up at 6.30am and really enjoy the early mornings. Which just goes to prove I'm turning into my mother, bit by bit. She was an early bird later in life, too.
That's impressive John. There's guy up on the allotments with a huge Eagle Owl decoy on a pole that also does the job well, especially in scaring off the bloody pigeons.
ReplyDeleteI might have to get a 'Big Bird' suit from the fancy dress shop to scare off my pigeon menace...
Crows are a pain here as well...they follow the garbage routes in town, pick open all the "green" bags and spread the contents over the lawns. What a mess. I am the scarecrow on garbage and crows day...get up early and get dressed so I can run outside and chase them away. I tell my husband I'm worth my weight in crows.
ReplyDeleteThank you, John; I'm ever so honoured that you like my kitchen absolutely. And now that I am aware that you are a quality gin drinker, I like you even more absolutely than I did.
ReplyDeleteWhen there are no birds in our yard, I know a hawk is perched on some tree limb just waiting and waiting on the small wildlife I have around here. They keep everything away. Blessing sometimes, but other times when I see them take off with a bunny, not so.
ReplyDeleteSounds like your decoy might work. Good luck.
I think that's a co0l idea - be very interested to see if it works
ReplyDeleteI hesitate to say I told you so re going out after 10pm but don't say I didn't issue a warning!!
ReplyDeleteWe tried the stuffed bird technique with pigeons in the barn - it worked for a while and then they began to suss it out, but good luck.
Hey, that stuffed hawk is a good idea! John, old age doesn't come on it's own! You know you're getting old when the kids put you to bed and they go out!
ReplyDeleteI remember how my friends and I would solve the world's problems over tequila shots ... now one or two glasses of wine does me in.
ReplyDeleteHope the decoy works.
Jackdaws are the marauders in our neck of the woods. How about a really scary scare-crow?
ReplyDeleteCrows - like all Corvids - are intelligent and ruthless. I personally believe that the main reason why black crows are so hated by the rural community is that there is an inherent memory of them picking the eyes out of hanged men (sometimes loved ones) on the scaffold. They are not averse to pecking the eyes out of dying sheep either, but - for want of the ability to kill the sheep outright - I would probably do the same thing if I were starving.
ReplyDeleteIf you must go around chucking lovely food all over the place for indolent chickens to eat, can you wonder that crows and starlings fly down to eat it?
I am going to use up one of my credits for sending you that little doggie now - Put the feeder under cover, and let the chickens scratch around for anything else!!!
I have missed your patronising snippets of "know all" folklore.....especially as they all apprear from a man who hasnt even got a garden!
ReplyDeletewelcome back
ps the feeders were already inside tom
ReplyDeletesigh
Put in two 4 metre poles/posts 30 metres apart and string a wire between them supporting a falcon kite - watch the greedy buggers disappear!
ReplyDeleteNice one. I hope it goes the trick.
ReplyDeleteBy the way I was going to reply to the comment you left on my blog but I see you're 'no reply'. You didn;t used to be did you?
I'm a fully paid up member of the Countryside Alliance, John. We know everything about all this shit.
ReplyDeleteTried just feeding the hens night and morning in their houses in feeders? Before you let them out and after they go in for the night?
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever idea!
ReplyDelete10pm is the middle of the night for ranchers.
von the hens are now fed inside the coops, but the crows are now sneaking in to the coops as soon as they are open
ReplyDeleteI hope it works! I know some people with a orchard and the crows were eating all they were growing. So Mr Orchard LOL set up a lawn chair and planted himself in the shade with his gun! He did this daily for a bit. Sometimes its the only way.
ReplyDeleteJesus Christ - haven't you heard of magnetic collars for the fowl and chicken-flaps? Do I have to tell you everything? (P.S. Chicken-flaps are very tasty, but not as tasty as the real thing).
ReplyDeleteWe have a large owl decoy, it stops the birds of prey from swooping down and picking up a cat or two....
ReplyDeleteWe have to move it around every couple of days, otherwise they cotton on, and roost next to it !
We had a wild turkey roosting next to it today, she had eight babies on the ground.
Good luck with your decoy, fireworks may help..
~Jo
Hate to say this, I really don't, but Tom is correct. What should we expect if we put feed out for all to see. Hope the hawk works out.
ReplyDeleteI put a pair of duck decoys on the pool once, and ended up with half the village hiding in the bushes with their shotguns. Maybe the old idea of hanging a few dead birds around might do the trick.
ReplyDeletetom
ReplyDeleteand I thought you were the practical one.. ....
everyones' got an opinion have they not.........
Birds and animals are great at finding where the food is.
ReplyDeleteHi John
ReplyDeleteNo sympathy when itself inflicted! Lol
Hope you get sorted with the crow issue, we have starlings galore here mobbing the feeders :-(
Jane
Fascinating about your brother-in-law's stuffed hawk. I've seen fake owls on buildings occasionally, used to keep the birds away. I don't do the late night outs too much either these days.
ReplyDeleteThe farmer by us used the same deterrent to keep the crows of his organic crops this year, fooled the crows long enough to give the crop a good head start :)
ReplyDeleteThe taxidermy is stunning (well, I suppose most of the credit should really go to the hawk). I can't believe you're allowed to keep it outside! I'm glad it appears to be working much better than the plastic owls everyone has around here.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I wonder if that would work with squirrels?
ReplyDeleteOops. I mean f*cking squirrels.
ReplyDelete