"Al Hanke" wrote in message
. com...
| Grackles are both intelligent and tribal. When I was in college in
Dallas
| there was a mature stand of japanese ligustrums that ran down the
south side
| of my house that was just full of them. They were a major nuisance.
Most
| places they become a nuisance because of their great numbers. They
defecate
| all over the place covering anything and everything from cars to
concrete.
|
| They also become brave. There is a Taco Cabana on S. Lamar at
Riverside
| where they have been a real problem. Its the same with any outdoor
| restraunt. I've been eating at a Sonic and had them try to steal my
fries.
|
| They are dirty and nasty but they are smart. I've heard of using
large
| painted owls and such swinging in the wind and also shiny metallic
pie tins.
| But they get used to it after a while. I used to shoot them in
Dallas. I
| used an old .22 caliper rifle. It was pretty quiet and where I
lived was
| fairly remote. I made sure to keep the gun aimed well above the
horizon.
| The first time I shot one they raised hell. Boy were they confused.
The
| bullet went right through the bird and knocked it out of the tree
but didn't
| kill it. It made a lot of ruckus telling the other birds it was
hurt. I
| had to switch to hollow points to take them out with one shot.
|
| They learned real fast and got to where they watched for me. When
they
| would see me come out of the house they would all high tail it for
another
| stand of trees a few hundreds yards away. Then they would send
female
| scouts out on fly overs to look for me. If they saw me outside they
would
| stay away. When I went in the house they would eventually return.
Then I
| started shooting them from my window. They picked up on that real
quick
| too. If they saw that rifle barrel come out of the window they'd
set up a
| chattered and be gone in no time.
|
| I hated those birds. I worked at night while I finished school and
they
| would NOT let me sleep in the mornings. The males make this sound
like
| someone with nine inch finger nails dragging them across a chaulk
board. I
| used to wake up to this pleasant sound daily. And they would
destroy my
| tomatoes without fail.
|
| I battled those birds for several years but eventually it was me who
moved,
| not them.
|
| A fellow i know that used to have a house in The Woods of Barton
Creek had a
| problem with deer and used a sonic device that was triggered by a
motion
| sensor. It was effective until the deer figured it out. I expect
it would
| be the same with the grackles if something like that was effective
with them
| at all.
|
| The best approach is to develop a strategy that combines the
different
| suggestions made here previously. Be persistant like the one
woman's
| husband who chases them away. Use shiny spinning pie plates or
something
| along those lines hanging from trees but move them around so they
don't get
| used to them. Watch thier patterns and don't feed them. (Avoid
feeding
| dogs or cats outdoors as this will attrack them every time) Develop
a
| tolerance level of what you can put up with.
|
| Good Luck
|
| Al Hanke

The main thing is to never, never let them roost. We don't take pots
with pecans from slingshots around the branches where they're perching
when we know that there's a big natural feast of some kind. The
parking-lot pests are never interested, but the "wild" grackles are
happy to eat bagworms, whatever are those little green "inchworms" in
the spring, and whatever's around when the pecans are in bloom. But
make sure that they move on and don't settle in for the night and
begin a new roost. When the City sends contract tree crews through to
hack along the powerline easements, there are always roosts that are
displaced and looking for a new home, so be especially vigilent at
those times, when you've heard chainsaws and chippers and when the
sun's getting low in the skies.