Magpies - a guilt trip…

[20-250]

Okay.
What actual harm do maggers do between now and next February?

I’ll grant you that they’ll take whatever late broods they find, but peak nesting season is over, most birds are finished breeding and they wont be having any measurable impact on breeding success from now on.

Any Magpie killed now can't kill anything next year, so what's the problem with killing them whenever possible?

 

[hunter243]

They’re not exactly doing a lot of harm at this time of the year, so why bother?
Leaving them to die off over the winter all on their own and start trapping again in February/March saves a bit of work

I doubt if many 'die off over the winter' anymore. There's an abundance of food including road kill, bird feeders etc to keep them going until springtime when they eagerly return to predating eggs and chicks.
Leaving them alone simply means there's more to catch later.

 

[Dunwaters]

And is that not reason enough ???????

Not really, they’re mostly on their second broods.

I doubt if many 'die off over the winter' anymore. There's an abundance of food including road kill, bird feeders etc to keep them going until springtime when they eagerly return to predating eggs and chicks.
Leaving them alone simply means there's more to catch later.

So do it when it does make a difference, next February/march .

Any Magpie killed now can't kill anything next year, so what's the problem with killing them whenever possible?

As above.

You can’t really argue that they’re not doing a lot of harm from now until next spring.
Which was my point from the start.
Kill them if you want, but let’s not delude ourselves as to why we’re doing it.
You enjoy it.
Nothing wrong with that, but don’t build yourself a defence based on protecting birds from predation when it’s not a factor

 

[jall55]

Not really, they’re mostly on their second broods.

So do it when it does make a difference, next February/march .

As above.

You can’t really argue that they’re not doing a lot of harm from now until next spring.
Which was my point from the start.
Kill them if you want, but let’s not delude ourselves as to why we’re doing it.
You enjoy it.
Nothing wrong with that, but don’t build yourself a defence based on protecting birds from predation when it’s not a factor

Yep - you have no idea

 

[Nickb]

Yep - you have no idea

People like him are the reason you cant shoot them in Wales. Closet antis I say

 

[Foxyboy43]

Annoying thing is I gave my original bird which I had for over a year to a pal as we were going away - he still has it and the (ex-)one he gave me this week was no.26 of his catch thus far - with my sodding bird!
Is magpie rustling an offence…..

 

[jall55]

People like him are the reason you cant shoot them in Wales. Closet antis I say

Not sure about an anti - but certainly seems to have a bit of an idea about the countryside but only a bit