Magpies

[Darky]

Started a new job in the leafy east last week. Gee there's a lot of magpies out that way.

Being a western suburbs boy, I'm used to see three or four magpies "own" a footy oval. On the way to work it's not unusual to see eight of the bastards sitting in ONE front-yard tree.

And they're twice as big as ours... which got me thinking...

How much meat is there on a magpie... could they be a viable food source? I doubt they'd be anywhere near an endangered species - a walk in the east of Melbourne, looking over your shoulder the whole time, you'd be able to mount an argument they are feathered vermin... millions of the pricks.

Would it be a viable solution to cull magpies as :
1. a safety measure for people
2. an possible low-cost source of poultry for domestic and export markets?

Serious discussion please... I'm not into killing animals for the sake of killing or extermination alone.

 

[Nic]

Oi!! Magpies are not a food source!

 

[Fred]

Any move to get rid of ALL magpies has my full support.

 

[raskolnikov]

Originally posted by Fred
Any move to get rid of ALL magpies has my full support.

I second that

 

[Grendel]

Dont look as though they'd have enough meat on them for human quantity consupmtion.

Pet foot maybe? Dogs and cats hunt em down anyway, just helping out our four footed friends!

 

[Mooster7]

Hey Darky,

What's the new job? Still in warehousing?

When I first started following AFL, I read up on magpies because I didn't know what the hell one was. They seem like decent birds. Keep your gardens clean of insects, and scare off ratbirds from what I remember. Good bird. Stupid team mascot, but good bird.

Peace,

 

[Spidergirl~RiCkChiCk]

I find possums more of a problem luckily my dog takes care of them. It's weird over in the western suburbs going on walks and looking up at the power lines not seeing any possies.

Had a magpie rip my sunnies right off my head once had the feeling of being winded as it really scratched my scalp and left me with a whooping headache

 

[Darky]

Originally posted by Mooster7
Hey Darky,

What's the new job? Still in warehousing?

When I first started following AFL, I read up on magpies because I didn't know what the hell one was. They seem like decent birds. Keep your gardens clean of insects, and scare off ratbirds from what I remember. Good bird. Stupid team mascot, but good bird.

Peace,

Yep still in warehousing, now working for a direct competitor of a company I used to work for.

What you may not have read is that they swoop down on just about anyone who dares to walk within 100 metres of their territory, something which crows for instance don't do.

I don't mind seeing crows around, they actually scare off magpies.

Originally posted by Grendel
Dont look as though they'd have enough meat on them for human quantity consupmtion.

Pet foot maybe? Dogs and cats hunt em down anyway, just helping out our four footed friends!

Have you been around Vermont lately mate? They're farkin huge. Twice as big as Sunshine magpies. If it was legal to cull them and sell them as food at say $2.50 a pop, I'd be a millionaire by Thursday.

 

[Grendel]

Vermont???

Geezus.. somebody is moving up in the world (well.. its outta Sunshine and Sunbury so it's gotta be up I guess).

You damn yuppie.

 

[FIGJAM]

Originally posted by Mooster7
Stupid team mascot, but good bird.

Not nearly as stoopid as this!

The Kansas City Goofball!!

[SIZE=0.5]*I know it's Capital City, but don't ruin my fun.[/SIZE]

 

[Docker_Brat]

Magpies are right bastards, they only seem to attack when you're walking away and not really a threat anyway.

Uncanny!

 

[Au_Blue#24]

I'm no bird lover, but i do have a soft spot for maggies. They're such an aussie icon. They are also highly protected species.

You'll be shat on from a great height if caught harming them in any way and rightly so.

 

[Hungry29]

If magpies do attack it's usually because they are protecting their nest and you can't really blame them for that. Sometimes other creatures will inconvenience us humans, but that does not mean we should go on a killing spree IMO.

Magpies are beautiful and should be protected, just not at the tribunal!

 

[Tormented Tiger]

My Asian freinds call them Vietnamese Free Range Chickens (another white meat)

 

[Nic]

The worse birds for me regards being swooped are those bloody plovers. Not only do they have a go at you, they try and take a dump on you at the same time.

 

[Beffery]

Walking home from work on Monday I was attacked by ****ing magpies...


They must have known I was a Port supporter Talk about rubbing it in!

 

[aggels]

I really love the gargling sound that they make in the morning, it reminds me of my grandparents house (because they were in the country, and I lived in the suburbs), and really they are a beautiful bird.


BUT I've been swooped 5 times this september, and it's never happened to me before this year. I really hate it, but what can be done? (other than wearing hats with the eyes in the back of the head.)

Meh, methinks this is an onimous sign for this weekend.