[lynx]

I'm nearing the end of my tether re a couple of magpies. They awaken me every morning from around 04.30 onwards.The noise and commotion they make needs to be seen (heard) to be believed and their aggression is truly unbelievable. I've tried to make life unpleasant for them but nothing is working.

Any suggestions?

[Crocodile]

I believe the law provides for magpies to be shot as pests.

[Miss Chief]

Get a cat or two.

[Julie]

Originally Posted by crocodile

I believe the law provides for magpies to be shot as pests.

Sad to say it's true.

http://www.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk/D...rol/Magpie.pdf

[lynx]

I have no issue with shooting them but the two air rifles i have are not up to the job and the last thing i want is an injured magpie flopping around a residential area - which also rules out a shoty.

Two near neighbours have cats which have been on the receiving end of the magpies.

[IronGiant]

We nearly had them nesting in a tree overhanging next doors shed, and they make an unbelievable racket, particularly when they found next doors cat sitting in their half built nest waiting for them, after 2 hours of squawking at the cat they decided to move on and build it elsewhere. I sympathise with your plight lynx...

[emmiller]

lynx
where in sunny lanarkshire are you from i live in hamilton and could arrange a mafia style assassination for you

martin

[lynx]

I'll pm you later.

[oakie]

You need this guy.

YouTube - Carolina Camera: The Sling Shot Man

[nheather]

If they are on your land and can be shot easily without risk of pellets crossing your boundary then you are free to shoot them.

You have already mentioned that your air rifles are not up to the job - if so contact your local club (contact a gunshop if you are not sure) and you will have to beat off talented shooters with a dirty stick. They will be able to provide references of their ability - so no unnecessary cruelty.

Cheers,

Nigel

[stormchaser2005]

Originally Posted by nheather

If they are on your land and can be shot easily without risk of pellets crossing your boundary then you are free to shoot them.

You have already mentioned that your air rifles are not up to the job - if so contact your local club (contact a gunshop if you are not sure) and you will have to beat off talented shooters with a dirty stick. They will be able to provide references of their ability - so no unnecessary cruelty.

Cheers,

Nigel

You cannot simply go out and start shooting magpies. You have to be licensed and you can ony kill them for certain reasons, waking you up in the morning is not one of them

[nheather]

You cannot simply go out and start shooting magpies. You have to be licensed and you can ony kill them for certain reasons, waking you up in the morning is not one of them

I don't believe that is true - they are classified as vermin along with rats, vermin and crows.

I really don't beleive that you need any sort of licence but you do need permission from the landowner and you have to ensure that all activity is restricted to that land.

Obviously if you are removing them from a public place then I reckon you will need a licence but that is related to the location not the quarry.

Cheers,

Nigel

[signs]

"Kill them now ,they are flying vermin" , i was talking to an old fella some time ago and he mentioned some sort of trap especially for Magpies

[Dony]

Originally Posted by signs

"Kill them now ,they are flying vermin" , i was talking to an old fella some time ago and he mentioned some sort of trap especially for Magpies

Does it involve semtex?

[stormchaser2005]

Originally Posted by nheather

I don't believe that is true - they are classified as vermin along with rats, vermin and crows.

I really don't beleive that you need any sort of licence but you do need permission from the landowner and you have to ensure that all activity is restricted to that land.

Obviously if you are removing them from a public place then I reckon you will need a licence but that is related to the location not the quarry.

Cheers,

Nigel

You do need a license. If you check the link posted earlier in the thread you will see what you are allowed to do under that license. it states:

Under annual general licence issued under the Wildlife and
Countryside Act 1981, by DEFRA, (for which it is not necessary
to apply individually), magpies may be killed or taken by
authorised persons, using permitted methods, for the
purposes of:
preventing serious damage to agricultural crops or
livestock
preserving public health/air safety
conserving wild birds.
An authorised person is a landowner or occupier, or someone
acting with the landowners or occupiers permission. It is not
permissible to kill birds for sport, or for any other reason.

Larsen traps come under the same rules with a few more added in.

This is the license:

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Ima..._tcm6-7669.pdf

There are a whole list of birds that are considered pests along with magpies but that does not mean that people can go out and shoot them just for the sake of it. It doesn't mean that they don't do it either just that it would not be legal for them to do so.

[signs]

Originally Posted by Dony

Does it involve semtex?

may well do where your from

[IronGiant]

Under annual general licence issued under the Wildlife and
Countryside Act 1981, by DEFRA, (for which it is not necessary
to apply individually), magpies may be killed or taken by
authorised persons, using permitted methods, for the
purposes of:

conserving wild birds.

An authorised person is a landowner or occupier, or someone
acting with the landowners or occupiers permission.

If you have magpies on your land they will eat and kill eggs/chicks from any nest they find on your property and terrorise the neighbourhood. I have a tiny rural garden. In it we have frogs, hedgehogs, wrens, gold finches, even the occasional bull finch and field fare. Magpies have killed/destroyed blackbirds and other nests in my garden and I consider them to be the chavs of the wildlife arena.

Dave

[GMC79]

Originally Posted by lynx

I'm nearing the end of my tether re a couple of magpies. They awaken me every morning from around 04.30 onwards.The noise and commotion they make needs to be seen (heard) to be believed and their aggression is truly unbelievable. I've tried to make life unpleasant for them but nothing is working.

Any suggestions?

who can help if ur a light sleeper? is the simple answer.
Bring on any chicks.
At 3am ish u get instant madness from all birds and if ur cant sleep because of it it's not there fault. birds most likely here on earth before us.

Chill out

[IronGiant]

An early morning cheep cheep from cute birdies is not the same as the raucous crowing from any members of the Corvid family.

Dave

[stormchaser2005]

Originally Posted by IronGiant

If you have magpies on your land they will eat and kill eggs/chicks from any nest they find on your property and terrorise the neighbourhood. I have a tiny rural garden. In it we have frogs, hedgehogs, wrens, gold finches, even the occasional bull finch and field fare. Magpies have killed/destroyed blackbirds and other nests in my garden and I consider them to be the chavs of the wildlife arena.

Dave

But that "authorised person" still has to be acting under a license for them to be legal. This isn't about what mapgies do to other wildlife but whether the OP is allowed to kill them for waking him up every day. Unfortunately for him he isn't legally allowed to do it and neither is anyone else. Cats also take wild birds. Hares can do a lot of damage so from a farmers point of view are also considered pests.

[stormchaser2005]

Originally Posted by IronGiant

An early morning cheep cheep from cute birdies is not the same as the raucous crowing from any members of the Corvid family.

Dave

No it's not but that doesn't mean you can go out and shoot them because they are loud and not as cute as other species. I was woken every day by a male chaffinch when I visited my mother recently. He sat outside her house singing the same old tune over and over, I wanted to throttle the little git after two days, after the remaining 5 in the absence of a gun I was hoping the neighbourhood cats would get him

All jokes aside though. If the OP wants to get someone to kill a couple of magpies even if they were licensed it would not be legal for them to do it for the reasons he has given. Nor would it be legal for him to do it himself. It would however be wise if he didn't discuss with too many people what he may or may not do about them. Personally I like magpies no matter how loud and annoying they may be

[brian s]

Originally Posted by lynx

Two near neighbours have cats which have been on the receiving end of the magpies.

Wimps.

There are magpies in my area but they don't come anywhere near my household. Whether that's good luck or my three cats I couldn't say but I'd bet on the cats.


Bri

[paul_w]

Originally Posted by stormchaser2005

But that "authorised person" still has to be acting under a license for them to be legal. This isn't about what mapgies do to other wildlife but whether the OP is allowed to kill them for waking him up every day. Unfortunately for him he isn't legally allowed to do it and neither is anyone else. Cats also take wild birds. Hares can do a lot of damage so from a farmers point of view are also considered pests.

Im sorry but you are very wrong.

Just go to the BASC home page and search for general licence all the info you need will come up.
http://www.basc.org.uk/download.cfm/...1D5B8E04111389

I hope the link works. Take note of the second sentence you do not need to apply for a general licence.


As regards a larssen trap the only difficult bit is catching a live magpie as you need 1 to use as bait for others.

[Crocodile]

There's a case here of someone being convicted of unlawfully shooting a gull, so the legislation seems open to interpretation.

Before taking out a contract on them, it would probably be advisable to obtain written clarification from your local plod.

[loz]

Originally Posted by lynx

I'm nearing the end of my tether re a couple of magpies. They awaken me every morning from around 04.30 onwards.The noise and commotion they make needs to be seen (heard) to be believed and their aggression is truly unbelievable. I've tried to make life unpleasant for them but nothing is working.

Any suggestions?

earplugs

[nheather]

Im sorry but you are very wrong.

Just go to the BASC home page and search for general licence all the info you need will come up.

I was confused at first as I thought that stormchaser2005 was saying that you had to apply for a licence, which I knew wasn't true.

However, after reading the info stormchaser2005 supplied I understand.

The licence is a general one - it applies to everyone and you don't need to apply for it.

Any landowner can be an 'authorised' person on his own land, or anyone can be an 'authorised' person with the permission of the landowner.

The 'sticky' bit is that as an 'authorised' person you are required to abide by the laws of the licence. That means that you must be able to justify the cull - examples given are destruction of crops, or detriment to other widelife - be disturbed or woken up by them isn't good enough.

So a landowner is an 'authorised' person and can cull the magpies on his land without applying for any licences on the provision that he can justify the cull in accordance with the licence.

If IronGiant is confident that Magpies have devestated the blackbird population in his garden then that is sufficient to justify the cull - being woken up by them is not.

Cheers,

Nigel

[whatsupdoc]

The difference between Magpies and cats is that the Magpies take eggs and chicks, giving the parents a chance to breed a second time. Cats kill the adults, meaning they all die.

[MrFurious]

get an empty matchbox, put some pellets in it and shake it about for 5 minutes, this will atract the mags in and then take em out with your pellet gun.

I hate magpies and they have destroyed the lives of all the little birds that used to nest around my house, they are hard little swines though and your shooting will have to be up to the standard of head shots to take them out.

I,ll put my flameproof jacket on.

[Mr Noble]

Wow you are seriously going to kill a magpie , i know Newcastle United haven't been on the ball as of late but i plead with you to show mercy in our time of need

You considered stretching the spring in your 22 rifle? i did with my 177 and it can take any man , bird or beast out at 100 yards

[stormchaser2005]

Originally Posted by nheather

I was confused at first as I thought that stormchaser2005 was saying that you had to apply for a licence, which I knew wasn't true.

However, after reading the info stormchaser2005 supplied I understand.

The licence is a general one - it applies to everyone and you don't need to apply for it.

Any landowner can be an 'authorised' person on his own land, or anyone can be an 'authorised' person with the permission of the landowner.

The 'sticky' bit is that as an 'authorised' person you are required to abide by the laws of the licence. That means that you must be able to justify the cull - examples given are destruction of crops, or detriment to other widelife - be disturbed or woken up by them isn't good enough.

So a landowner is an 'authorised' person and can cull the magpies on his land without applying for any licences on the provision that he can justify the cull in accordance with the licence.

If IronGiant is confident that Magpies have devestated the blackbird population in his garden then that is sufficient to justify the cull - being woken up by them is not.

Cheers,

Nigel

Phew! I was beginning to think I wasn't making any sense! I have read back what I posted though so I can see why. Larsen traps are different though as they have additional rules, it's not as simple as just setting one up with a decoy and leaving them to it. You have to provide the bait bird with food, water, shelter and I think space to stretch their wings?? I think you also have to check the trap once a day. You can't just set one up to catch magpies because they are waking you up every day.