Can you shoot crows?

Issue these to anyone being hassled:

Could you buy some cap guns and give those to the affected staff?
A few bangs and a whiff of gunpowder should persuade the crow to desist.

I asked this coupla years ago and Cougar has beaten me to the best reply back then.

You can TRY to shoot a crow. But the crow will know fine well and scarper quick sharp. Clever birds like.

Indeed. If you do shoot one all it’s mates will gang up on you.

Just get in the sea.

I can, but I don’t

I’d quite like a pet magpie

I had two pet crows. Pretty intelligent birds!

I had one as a pet once, too.

Briefly.

I’d rescued it off the cat, or something with an injured wing. I had it hopping around on the grass outside our house one day with a long piece of string tied around its leg so it wouldn’t escape (it still couldn’t fly). Our elderly neighbour was chatting to my mum over the wall and saw the crow. He asked me if he could have it – I must have assumed that he wanted to hold it, or something, so reeled it in and gave the poor bird to him. He immediately wrung its neck and said “Thank you very much!”.

He wanted it to hang in his veg garden pour encourager les autres.

(This was the reason crows used to get hung up around where I lived – they are very clever – seeing a dead one keeps them away. Once they have been shot at, even the sight of a gun would make them bugger off.)

My granddad, as a child, used to go out after thunderstorms and shove dead crows up sheep’s bottoms. Shropshire folk, what can I say (and I live here now) ?

You could always do this, and leave one outside the office to scare the crows off. Might attract the Welsh crows having said that…….

All species of bird are legally protected in the UK. However, certain generic licenses apply which allow you to trap and dispatch, or shoot particular species such as crows is certain conditions apply. I think you need to prove that they are causing damage to crops, forestry plantations or are posing a direct threat to human health.

Crows are cool. Leave them alone. Shoot Pigeons, they’re nothing but pests with wings.

They’re birds, for chris’sakes, not bloody pit-bulls! Stand up to them and hit them with your hand, they’re relatively fragile creatures and can be easily damaged, that alone will make them back off.
As has been said, corvidae are very smart birds, and quick learners.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/crows-may-be-as-intelligent-as-apes-scientists-say-20150624-ghw6zy.html

I know it’s nature, but crows are evil bastards. FiL loses quite a few lambs due to crows.

They must ether be really small lambs or massive crows.

Not really.

They’re very intelligent birds who can recognise easy pickings.

It happens a lot.
Anecdotally, at least.

My granddad, as a child, used to go out after thunderstorms and shove dead crows up sheep’s bottoms. Shropshire folk, what can I say (and I live here now) ?

😯

Yes you can

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General licences are issued by government agencies to provide a legal basis for people to carry out a range of activities relating to wildlife. By definition you do not need to apply for general licences but you are required by law to abide by their terms and conditions.

General licences are renewed annually in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These general licences are made available on the websites of the relevant government agencies and include those general licences relevant to the all year round control of ‘pest birds’ such as carrion and hooded crows, magpies and woodpigeon. Control methods allowed under general licence may include shooting; the destruction of eggs and nests; and the use of cage traps such as larsen traps, larsen mates and multi-catch traps.

In regards to stuff hung on fences many moons ago as others have said it was to prove the gamekeeper was doing his/her job and was known as a ‘gamekeeper’s gibbet’.

Back in the day when I first started gamekeeping we still used them but within 2 years they were phased out due to the fact

A) They stank ALOT!
B) As more townes moved out of the cities and either bought or rented houses on estates they did peoples heads in with their constant complaining about them, so we just cut them down and buried them for an easier life. 🙂
C) It saved you lugging dead stuff back to hang it up. Foxes etc get quiet heavy after a while when you on foot and several miles from base

That’s my personal take on it anyway.

They must ether be really small lambs or massive crows.

They peck the eyes (and bumholes) out of lambs. I know it’s nature but cute lambs trump evil crows.

If your company is looking for sensible suggestions, there are falconry firms who will bring a much bigger bird to scare away crows, gulls etc. Used over a number of days they are effective.

Or just place a plastic owl/bop on a window ledge/roof and that will deter the crows from coming near the building.
A cheap humane solution.

Or just place a plastic owl/bop on a window ledge/roof and that will deter the crows from coming near the building.
A cheap humane solution.

That doesn’t work.

If your company is looking for sensible suggestions, there are falconry firms who will bring a much bigger bird to scare away crows, gulls etc. Used over a number of days they are effective.

We tried that at our work. The gulls just went away on day trips to the island across the water, loaded up on chips and continued their antics once the hawks went home.

Call in Gorgeous George

Tell staff to HTFU and stop whining. Don’t go killing animals for the sake of someone getting scared of a small feathered creature.

If you see a group of Crows, they are Ravens. If you see a Raven on it’s own it’s a Crow.

+ what coffeeking said

You can’t shoot crows. A few years ago my father-in-law came back from the pub very late and very drunk. Then got his 12 bore out and started shooting the crows in the trees at the bottom of the garden. The police were around the next day to take away his guns and license.

Are you sure that the fact it was crows is the reason? I suspect not…

If you see a group of Crows, they are Ravens. If you see a Raven on it’s own it’s a Crow.

Whenever I’ve heard that before it been rook rather than raven, which would make more sense given how rare ravens are compared to rooks.

You can’t shoot crows.

Yes you can, under the general licence as quoted above.

You can’t shoot crows. A few years ago my father-in-law came back from the pub very late and very drunk. Then got his 12 bore out and started shooting the crows in the trees at the bottom of the garden. The police were around the next day to take away his guns and license.

So absolutely nothing to do with what he was shooting.

Whenever I’ve heard that before it been rook rather than raven, which would make more sense given how rare ravens are compared to rooks.

Yup Rooks are more common and appear in large groups, they’re still crows.

breadcrumb – Member
I know it’s nature, but crows are evil bastards. FiL loses quite a few lambs due to crows.

They peck the eyes (and bumholes) out of lambs. I know it’s nature but cute lambs trump evil crows.

And you know that for a fact? Corvidae are scavengers and carrion birds, they’ll be going after the afterbirth and stillborn lambs. How can you tell the difference between a stillborn lamb and a live one that’s allegedly been attacked by crows? You can’t.
If it was a live lamb that is now dead, with the eyes gone, a fox or dog got it and the crows are cleaning up.
And it’ll only be two varieties of corvidae; carrion crows, (see, there’s a real clue in the name), and Ravens.
Magpies might peck at the corpse, but they’re mostly scavengers and nest robbers, others are insect and invertebrate eaters.

If you see a group of Crows, they are Ravens. If you see a Raven on it’s own it’s a Crow.

That is total rubbish: large groups of corvidae will be a mixture of rooks and jackdaws, with a few carrion crows mixed in, carrion crows tend to be in very small groups or pairs, and Ravens are almost never seen in anything other than singly or as a mated pair; I’ve seen seven together, the parent birds and five young, but once the young disperse, the parents stay as a pair with a fixed territory.
Ravens are a lot commoner than they used to be, I’ve even seen a pair around where I live.
And there’s a pair that nest on a radio mast a few miles away that have been there for years, there are no other pairs close by. Lots of rooks and jackdaws, though.
Other crows will mob Ravens like they do buzzards and other raptors, so you are highly unlikely to see them together, I’ve seen that happen a number of times, too.

I’ve seen a weak or ill, but very much alive sheep with their eyes pecked out and tounges removed by crows. Very intelligent birds though, would know the difference between a gun and a stick from a long way off.

You’ve seen very much alive sheep with their tongues removed?

You’ve seen very much alive sheep with their tongues removed?

Well, they were alive, as in breathing, hearts beating and capable of stumbling around. Definately not dead.

So absolutely nothing to do with what he was shooting.

Yep just that he was shooting. He’d been wanting to shoot the crows for ages but knew he couldn’t.
Then down to the pub for a few pints 🙂

So although I’d say expressly – yes it was linked to not being able to shoot crows

Well, they were alive, as in breathing, hearts beating and capable of stumbling around. Definately not dead.

But not able to talk?

Clever those crows.

@ Badllama are you still a Gamekeeper now??