"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
...

"BAC" wrote in message
...

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 5/8/06 23:42, in article ,
"Alan
Holmes" wrote:


"Russel Sprout" wrote in message
...

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 3/8/06 10:58, in article
,
"DB01" wrote:


"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"DB01" wrote in message
...


How do you discourage the magpies? We do get a couple trying to
enter
the
ivy covered poplar that all the small birds live

They're a pest and a pain, handsome though they are. The old
country
people
used to inject an egg with poison and put it into nests the magpies
were
plundering - or shoot them, I'm afraid.
--
Sacha

A much maligned species.

Not when they destroy other small birds.

Alan

Indeed. I've seen them do it and it's not pretty.

It might not be pretty, but predation is just a part of nature.

But when they completely destroy all the small birds, which then take many
years to recover, they need to be culled,

They don't completely destroy all the small birds, though. If you have an
open mind on the subject, please read the RSPB's take on the effect of
magpies on songbird populations,

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/m..._songbirds.asp

From which I quote :-

"To find out why songbirds are in trouble, the RSPB has undertaken intensive
research on species such as the skylark and song thrush. To discover whether
magpies (or sparrowhawks) could be to blame for the decline, the RSPB
commissioned the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to analyse its 35 years
of bird monitoring records.

The study found that songbird numbers were no different in places where
there were many magpies or sparrowhawks from where there are few. It found
no evidence that increased numbers of magpies have caused declines in
songbirds and confirms that populations of prey species are not determined
by the numbers of their predators. "


In fact, when I bought my first trap for the tree rats, the supplier
offered
me a trap for magpies, and gave me detailed instructions as to how to
catch
the damned things, he said once you had caught and killed the tree rats,
you
were to split them open and use them as bait for the magpies.


A good salesman always knows how to empathise with a customer ....