Didn’t know that crows were such bars*****

Wife noticed a pigeon in the garden, according to her it looked ill so she gave it some grain, bread and water. The thing was, in my words “mincing” around the garden all day, walking around the garden and then hiding under the planters.

No sympathy for the thing from me, last time we had a supposed “sick” pigeon it followed her into the garage, wouldn’t come out and it was then left to me and my youngest son to get the bloody thing out and that time after air raiding our heads a few times it flew off with nothing that we could see wrong with it.

Come dinner time, couldn’t see it anywhere so checked the cams and discovered something akin to the Discovery channel except it was a fight to end between a crow and the pigeon!

Have to admit, hadn’t given the life of a crow a single thought but googled to find that they will literally go after anything they can.

Can’t seem to upload a video to my Dropbox but will update when I can but be warned, the video is not for those that are easily upset.

Blimey that was a palava to get uploaded, bloody work laptops and their rules [emoji3] https://www.dropbox.com/s/ccf96d6zuw...D8842.MP4?dl=0

Wait until you see what crows do to lambs.

(Yes I know nature blah blah. Same applies when they meet me :smug:)

I was just about to post about all corvids and lambs, it’s pretty grim and causes a real headache for farmers.
They also cause major issues for smaller birds, eating their eggs and young. Nature can be cruel sometimes

That whole family of birds are nasty from what i see in my bird feeding garden.

Magpies are seriously nasty.

I throw food into a field for Red Kites and the crow family of birds have the guts to fight a 70 inch wingspan bird of prey lol.

We have a Sparrowhawk here which does the same.

Chase a pigeon out of the sky straight into the back bedroom window. Thought next door hit a tennis ball at it full pelt, massive sound.

Half an hour later my wife was screaming from downstairs and I saw this. Back up in the bedroom there was a dusted white imprint of a bird.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6fe724e5f7.png

Cats do the same to mice, it's nature at its purest.

I have a long garden with lots of tall trees close by and last summer I was literally plagued with pigeons, the buggers would sit up in the trees waiting for me to go indoors on an evening and would then proceed to invade the lawn, I`ve had a dozen at a time! Pigeons produce a lot of shit in relatively large blobs so we spent a lot of time clearing the lawn..........every morning!

Suffice to say that pigeons are public enemy no 1 in our neighbourhood, there's simply too many of them although this year hasn`t been as bad. I strongly suspect a few neighbours are adopting a 'final solution' strategy, everyone's sick of them.

Local cats are useless, they're too well-fed! Years ago I had a couple of cats who were good hunters (too good!) and they would've had the problem sorted.

If crows would get rid of the pigeons bring 'em on.

I have a long garden with lots of tall trees close by and last summer I was literally plagued with pigeons, the buggers would sit up in the trees waiting for me to go indoors on an evening and would then proceed to invade the lawn, I`ve had a dozen at a time! Pigeons produce a lot of shit in relatively large blobs so we spent a lot of time clearing the lawn..........every morning!

Suffice to say that pigeons are public enemy no 1 in our neighbourhood, there's simply too many of them although this year hasn`t been as bad. I strongly suspect a few neighbours are adopting a 'final solution' strategy, everyone's sick of them.

Local cats are useless, they're too well-fed! Years ago I had a couple of cats who were good hunters (too good!) and they would've had the problem sorted.

If crows would get rid of the pigeons bring 'em on.

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Originally Posted by walkerwek1958

I have a long garden with lots of tall trees close by and last summer I was literally plagued with pigeons, the buggers would sit up in the trees waiting for me to go indoors on an evening and would then proceed to invade the lawn, I`ve had a dozen at a time! Pigeons produce a lot of shit in relatively large blobs so we spent a lot of time clearing the lawn..........every morning!

Suffice to say that pigeons are public enemy no 1 in our neighbourhood, there's simply too many of them although this year hasn`t been as bad. I strongly suspect a few neighbours are adopting a 'final solution' strategy, everyone's sick of them.

Local cats are useless, they're too well-fed! Years ago I had a couple of cats who were good hunters (too good!) and they would've had the problem sorted.

If crows would get rid of the pigeons bring 'em on.

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If well fed cats are useless, buy a few cats and keep them hungry.

Gulls in Glasgow seem partial to killing and eating pigeons.

They grab hold and shake them till the neck breaks

Pretty grim to watch. Some of the gulls are big enough to demand your wallet though

Crows have not bothered my sheep but last week took eggs that a neighbour had left for us. I caught them as they were just taking the last one.

I got a call from my wife a few years ago. Cat had brought a live magpie into the house. She has a proper phobia of birds so jumped in the car to drive home from work.

Came back to see my cat on its rear legs fighting on the drive with said bird. Also fending off swooping dive bombs from other magpies (no idea if they protect each other).

Magpie was clearly injured and on last legs and fearing for the eyes of my cat from the other birds I gave nature a helping hand. Took a good while for the other birds to calm down.

He was a tiny built cat. We always worried a hawk would swoop into the garden and take him when we saw them overhead.

I witnessed a Tawny Owl taking a kitten once.
And Kingfishers - murdeing bar stewards. Don't hit on my woman or you're dead!

That last remark is a typical statement by a Kingfisher, not myself.

Remember being woken early doors by a real stramash outside the house with magpies. One was holding the other down whilst it pecked at its eyes.

Even when I shouted to scare and split them up the aggressor flew after the fleeing one.

Mother Nature in all her glory I guess

Jim

Shouldn’t be a surprise tbh, humans (used in the loosest sense) are no different.


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The crows around here (hooded crows) aren't all that. I put out peanuts for them and they sit on the fence and watch the starlings eat them. So I put some bacon and steak out for them. They sat on the fence and watched the gulls polish the lot off.

We don't have pigeons here, we have collared doves, a bit like a posh pigeon wearing a buff. They seem to live a charmed life. Meanwhile the bonxies (great skua - evil buggers), black back gulls and gannets are dying left, right and centre from avian flu.

I wanted to "tame" the crows so that I could teach them to do something. I am not sure what, but a motorcycle display team was my first thought. Perhaps a little ambitious. Perhaps poking something with a stick might be a better place to start.

They’re fearless, on the golf course last week they keep landing on my golf bag and try to open the zip on my golf bag, with me just meters away.

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Originally Posted by Templogin

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I wanted to "tame" the crows so that I could teach them to do something. I am not sure what, but a motorcycle display team was my first thought. Perhaps a little ambitious. Perhaps poking something with a stick might be a better place to start.

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Once they've mastered the display stunts, you could hook them up to a dynamo and electric heater, get you above 12c in the winter months free of charge (not quite free, it will cost you peanuts)?

Sounds brilliant. Where do I sign?

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Originally Posted by walkerwek1958

I have a long garden with lots of tall trees close by and last summer I was literally plagued with pigeons, the buggers would sit up in the trees waiting for me to go indoors on an evening and would then proceed to invade the lawn, I`ve had a dozen at a time! Pigeons produce a lot of shit in relatively large blobs so we spent a lot of time clearing the lawn..........every morning!

Suffice to say that pigeons are public enemy no 1 in our neighbourhood, there's simply too many of them although this year hasn`t been as bad. I strongly suspect a few neighbours are adopting a 'final solution' strategy, everyone's sick of them.

Local cats are useless, they're too well-fed! Years ago I had a couple of cats who were good hunters (too good!) and they would've had the problem sorted.

If crows would get rid of the pigeons bring 'em on.

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We have this exact issue, bloody pigeon shit everywhere. Any birds that would like to kill the buggers more than welcome here. Our cat is 15 years old now so no good, she was a prolific hunter in her day as a rescue cat who had lived wild for a while, so might see if we can find another like her...in the meantime any pigeon deterrent tips welcomed (not allowed to shoot them anymore so no air rifles please!).

Are jackdaws the same family? we have those but I've never seen them do anything violent

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We have the same issue with pigeons round here, and 3 or 4 times a year witness the same as one of the posters above - a sparrowhawk ripping one to shreds in the back garden. All you’ll find a few hours later if you leave them to it is the beak, and that’s it!! - especially impressive as the 2 birds are a similar size


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Originally Posted by xxnick1975

Are jackdaws the same family? we have those but I've never seen them do anything violent

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Jackdaws are a one of the Corvid family, along with Jays, Choughs, Magpies, Crows and Ravens.

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Originally Posted by Templogin

Sounds brilliant. Where do I sign?

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Where will you get the small motorcycle helmets? Safety first and all that.

Starling's egg shell cut in half adorned with a strip of Erika's finest? To be honest the motorbikes are the biggest problem.

Corvids are extremely intelligent. Not only are they great at solving problem (in tests, faster than a dog) but they are also the only bird that will try to protect a wounded member of the group from its aggressor (as demonstrated a few posts above).
That said they are also a powerful meat eater and if carrions are not readily available they’ll make their own.
Easy to train, too, starting from chicks. Not sure with adult birds though.

Ingenious, but nasty bastards.
Will readily use tools to problem solve.
Will eat anything, dead or alive.
Have seen them disembowel a new born lamb after pecking out it’s eyes.
There’s a reason that in all post apocalypse films the only birds left are crows

But apparently they can’t count…
If Two men walk out into a field and build a hide, crows will avoid it completely.
If one of the men walks back, crows will confidently come into decoys.
So they’re clever… but not that clever ;)

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Originally Posted by SimonH

…in the meantime any pigeon deterrent tips welcomed (not allowed to shoot them anymore so no air rifles please!).

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Ironically, a good deterrent for pigeons is a hawk decoy.
Conversely, a good decoy for crows is a plastic hawk.
Crows HATE raptors and will mob them at every opportunity.
I’ve seen a gang of crows kill a barn owl.

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Originally Posted by John Wall

Ingenious, but nasty bastards.
Will readily use tools to problem solve.
Will eat anything, dead or alive.
Have seen them disembowel a new born lamb after pecking out it’s eyes.
There’s a reason that in all post apocalypse films the only birds left are crows

But apparently they can’t count…
If Two men walk out into a field and build a hide, crows will avoid it completely.
If one of the men walks back, crows will confidently come into decoys.
So they’re clever… but not that clever ;)

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Or they may be hard, but not that hard. [emoji23]

One man is ok, two are too much for them.

Anthropomorphism in full force here. Humans kill and disembowel myriad lambs every day (not to mention other humans). This morning next door's cat bit my missus. Why? Who knows? It wasn't being a 'bastard' or 'cruel', it was just being a cat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Wall

Ironically, a good deterrent for pigeons is a hawk decoy.
Conversely, a good decoy for crows is a plastic hawk.
Crows HATE raptors and will mob them at every opportunity.
I’ve seen a gang of crows kill a barn owl.

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Regularly see crows terrorising the buzzards near our house.

Crows can be quite menacing. Plenty in the high trees near us.

We get Robins, Wrens and Tits nesting in our hedges/ivy and I have seen Jays steal the young.

I know it is nature but still horrible.

The crow attacking something dead in the street tonight was no match for the reversing bin wagon, so intent on eating it didn't move, driver either expected crow to move or didn't see it, carcase dumped in wagon by binman as they collected bins before moving on.

That does surprise me as they are well known for judging distance and speed. The crows, not the bin men.

Saw four or five crows take out a wood pigeon a few years ago. Not a pleasant sight as they pecked the eyes out in front of our living room window.

Why no love for wood pigeons? They are such gentle, bumbling creatures. We get lots of wildlife in our garden including ducks, pheasants, a variety of corvids, song birds and bats at night. Wood pigeons are quite high on my list of likes.

Are the haters city dwellers, hating feral pigeons, or are you just not fond of wildlife in general?

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Originally Posted by j0hnbarker

Are the haters city dwellers, hating feral pigeons, or are you just not fond of wildlife in general?

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Wood pigeons are cute until there are too many.

Here in NW London, there are hordes of feral pigeons on the main roads but few of them in back gardens. However, there are (sometimes) lots of wood pigeons in the back gardens. Lots of wood pigeons. I say "sometimes" because their local population seems to go in waves, from just one or two (cute) to dozens (overwhelming).

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Originally Posted by j0hnbarker

Are the haters city dwellers, hating feral pigeons, or are you just not fond of wildlife in general?

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As a city dweller I can safely say I am a wood pigeon fan. They taste fantastic!!!!

We are lucky we have a massive tree in an adjacent garden, it contains numerous birds including 2 big fat wood pigeon and the ubiquitous West London Parakeets, it also contains some bats. Up until a few weeks ago we had the Crested Caracara that had escaped from London Zoo living in the local park. That kept the magpies and crows away for a bit.

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Originally Posted by Templogin

That does surprise me as they are well known for judging distance and speed.

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In this case it sounds as though the error may have been more in poor assessment of the psychological make up of the local waste disposal operatives, rather than the mechanical dynamics.

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Originally Posted by Sinnlover

Where will you get the small motorcycle helmets? Safety first and all that.

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At the small motorcycle helmet shop of course. Where else 🤪🤪

Jim

I’ve added a link to the video in the first post, not for those easily offended or the feint of heart so you weedlins have been warned [emoji3]