On Sun, 3 Nov 2002 11:00:23 -0600, "cat daddy"
wrote:

have a grackle problem, so I like them, too. Does UT still fire guns to try
to scare them off? It was ever so much more pleasant to hear gunshots while
strolling the campus at dusk rather than the grackle

They shot off one of those grackle guns outside Painter one day,
during the middle of an afternoon guest lecture. The startled face on
the poor visitor, looking around to see if it was time to duck. From
the back of the hall someone says, "Not to worry. It's just Texas."

The noise did get rid of the grackles, or should I say moved them
around temporarily. The guns were pretty controversial as I recall.