Re: Help! - peregrines are eating all my brother's doves.
ship
> "ship" <ship...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:9e89e947-7f90-4033...@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
> On Jun 2, 5:42 pm, "Phil Wilson" <philip.wil...@talk21.com> wrote:
>
> > ship wrote:
> > > Hi
>
> > > Yikes - Peregrines are eating all my brothers white (fantailed?)
> > > doves.
> > > We could shut them indoors for a few days, but there isnt much room
> > > and it's not a good long-term solution.
>
> > > How can we stop it?
>
> > Keep Peregrines instead.
>
> Are you serious?
> Would keeping a peregrine scare off other peregrines?
>
> What about sticking a stuffed peregrine on the roof of the house?
> Or having a loud speaker broadcasting peregrine calls at rather large
> volume?
>
> That would probably scare away any wild pigeons, perhaps making the falcons
> more likely to prey on the domesticated doves.
I'm not completely convinced by any of the arguments here.
One thing I should explain is that the doves live in a courtyard
and are quite tame. Therein could lie their one chance. The peregrines
are extremely shy - albeit determined. Hence something like loud
speakers
might well scare off the peregrines. Afterall the peregrine nest is a
few miles away
and there would be plenty other food nearer them.
Also have you ever tried eating chickens that have been fed kippers?
They and their eggs taste disgusting - so I reckon it's worth a shot.
A long-shot I agree. But all these doves are very distinctive - and if
the peregrine came to associate white doves with rather a nasty
breakfast you never know - it might encourage it to better tasting
food.
As to the ideas that peregrines have poor taste - does anyone here
KNOW this for a fact? I do know that they die if they eat just rabbit.
Perhaps someone from alt.falconry could comment...
Ship
BAC
"ship" <shi...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8175eee6-9ae3-4af9...@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
On Jun 2, 7:51 pm, "BAC" <cassw...@NOSPAMdircon.co.uk> wrote:
> "ship" <ship...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:9e89e947-7f90-4033...@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
> On Jun 2, 5:42 pm, "Phil Wilson" <philip.wil...@talk21.com> wrote:
>
>Also have you ever tried eating chickens that have been fed kippers?
>They and their eggs taste disgusting - so I reckon it's worth a shot.
>A long-shot I agree. But all these doves are very distinctive - and if
>the peregrine came to associate white doves with rather a nasty
>breakfast you never know - it might encourage it to better tasting
>food.
>As to the ideas that peregrines have poor taste - does anyone here
>KNOW this for a fact? I do know that they die if they eat just rabbit.
>Perhaps someone from alt.falconry could comment...
I don't know whether peregrines have a poor sense of taste, but I do know
they do not feed exclusively on pigeons, nor even on birds. They have even
been reported to have scavenged dead fish carcasses, so, if they're hungry
enough, I doubt whether a taste of kipper would put them off.
Nevertheless, I understand the UK Raptor Working Group was working on
evaluating means of deterrence of peregrines and sparrowhawks in the
vicinity of pigeon lofts, but I don't know whether the 'kipper' method has
been under investigation.
There was consideration of the effectiveness of various means of 'loft'
deterrents published in
http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/PIGEONS_RAPTORS_REPORT.pdf
(an interesting read in its own right)
but I regret I don't believe you will find the 'results' very encouraging.