The Highways Agency found over 200 dead crows on the M4 near Bridgend recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu. A Pathologist examined the remains of all the crows, and, to everyone's relief, confirmed the problem was NOT Avian Flu. The cause of death appeared to be from vehicular impacts. However, during analysis it was noted that varying colours of paints appeared on the ...bird's beaks and claws. By analysing these paint residues it was found that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with lorrys, while only 2% were killed by cars.
The Agency then hired an Ornithological Behaviourist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills. The Ornithological Behaviourist quickly concluded that when crows eat road kill, they always have a look-out crow to warn of danger. They discovered that while all the lookout crows could shout "Cah",
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not a single one could shout "TRUCK"
-- Edited by Redditch on Tuesday 5th of May 2015 02:43:48 PM
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If it moves and is legal but also moral, SHOOT IT !!
Uh huh! That was comical-scared me at first though.....well I discovered one day years ago that a farmer was putting out what they call "crow chex" as the problem was that bad...I should have taken his complaint more serious that crows were pulling up his small sprouting corn....I never found any of these poisoned crows but it was a serious problem...up north of here the crows are a problem so my partner sees to that given that agriculture around this county is there, but there aren't that many crows to pose a problem apparently or the farmers' help is shooting at them?
..directly west of me about an hour away i mean to clarify for other readers who know this area..otherwise the crow problem i am aware of is further north of here....but not enough for me to go have a look...2 hours away! Not for one or two crows at that distance...
Corvids in general seem to breed better in cold wet areas, whereas the pigeon breeds better in warm dry areas. Hence in Scotland, the west coast of Wales, and the west coast of ireland we get MASSES of Corvids and not so many pigeons, and in England and the East Coast and central belts of Wales and ireland (north and South) pigeons are in the majority.
My area only has probably 5% or less of pigeon, but masses of Corvids, of all types, and mostly of the larger species.
However, two species of Corvids (Jay and Raven) are protected species here, as is the collared dove (pigeon species), and the racing pigeon (feral racing pigeons not included)
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If it moves and is legal but also moral, SHOOT IT !!
Redditch, some really fine air rifles are manufactured in UK.. Daystate and AirArms.. etc, etc... do you shoot any varmints ( crows, pigeons Eurasian dove) with air rifles?
Yep, I have a SPANISH built springer (Cometa 400 Fenix) 18ft/lbs for use inside the barns, and where it's not safe to use the shotgun or the 17HMR.
My regular shooting buddy has the Daystate Ranger at 43ft/lbs, and uses that for the same reason
-- Edited by Redditch on Wednesday 6th of May 2015 09:27:56 PM
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If it moves and is legal but also moral, SHOOT IT !!
Yep, I have a SPANISH built springer (Cometa 400 Fenix) 18ft/lbs for use inside the barns, and where it's not safe to use the shotgun or the 17HMR. My regular shooting buddy has the Daystate Ranger at 43ft/lbs, and uses that for the same reason
-- Edited by Redditch on Wednesday 6th of May 2015 09:27:56 PM
I've seen some interesting You-Tube videos of Brits shooting rats in cattle/chicken barns using some pretty sophisticated airguns with nightsights. Many, many kills but it appears to be a sport that requires shooting way past my bedtime; like our guys over here who shoot feral hogs and yotes' at night.
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"Arms are the only true badges of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of a free man from a slave." -- Andrew Fletcher 1698
Yep, I use night sights on my 17hmr and 22-250, but mostly use a red lamp on the air rifle, although sometimes I use night vision on it too
When you do pest control full time, then bed is a luxury. In the summer 1-2 hours sleep is often all I get
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If it moves and is legal but also moral, SHOOT IT !!