Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

We have some flying rats (AKA London pigeons ) that live o/side our office (3rd floor). All very well, but they used to live inside a cupboard that wasn't used but had access to the o/side world.

After much badgering, the landlord got pest control people in they cleared the nest & blocked o/side access.

Great we thought, as stink & cooing etc going to stop

Nope - the poxy pigeons have taken up residence in an old crane just o/side on the wall BUT (& this is the problem) they keep coming in through open windows to try & get into the cupboard they used to live in

This causes heeby-jeebies for the female staff & a mess as they cr@p all over the floor & leave feathers about.

We are not allowed to install air-con (listed building) so windows have to be kept open in this weather.

Now, question is, is there anything to stop me borrowing my neighbour's kids air-rifle, taking it into work and shooting these things? Unlikely to be a danger to public as would have to shoot out the window & we are over the Thames - nearest target 1/4 mile+ away.

Thanks.

rik1471

If I remember correctly you have to be a few hundred metres away from any public area in order to legally fire an air rifle.

ChrisB

Do you?

Our first set offices were a converted warehouse with bottles kilns still present. The pigeons used to nest in the kilns and make a right mess, so the landlord got us an air rifle. Made the working day a bit more interesting

SeanG

Another solution.....could you not buy or rent some of those portable air con trolleys for the office and keep windows shut? My mate had one on a test loan for the whole summer last year then sent it back in autumn saying they didn't want one!!!!!

P1Fanatic

No chance I would say going on the location description you have given. If it was a private house etc then not to much of a problem as long as your shots dont stray outside your property. As a minimum youd need written permission from the land/building owner.

Plus I know woodpigeons are classed as vermin which means you can shoot them all year round with no licence but not sure if this is the same for feral pigeons. Dave-TS will probably know as he's a shooter IIRC.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Pest control actually shot a couple of chicks, rather than throw them in the Thames.

Sean - its 1800 sq ft!! Believe me, we've looked into it!

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

P1 - so wait 'til they come inside, shut windows & tap away?

howardb

At some footie grounds they hire falconers to let their birds fly around for a while. Supposedly puts the fear of god into all the other birds and after a while they move elsewhere. I believe this is the humane way of dealing with them.

mj

I would suggest puiing rat traps on the window ledge. make sure you tether them to something with string as they are a bit savage when they go off.

when you have caught the pdgeon with the trap you can take it home and shoot it in the comfort of your own back garden.

ps. chips are good bait.

MikesWagon

Similar to Howardb's reply, pretty sure I've seen some paper mills with decoy birds of prey ie Owls, Kestrels etc.

Seemed to work for a while.

Moles Dad

Without getting all my old shooting mags out, I think it goes like this;

Air guns are not licenced weapons but you do have to be over the age of 14 to use one, accompanied, over 17 to own and use.

Legal power limit 12lbs...after that it is classed as a firearm!

You may not use an air gun in a 'public place'

A 'public place' is deemed a place that the general public can gain access to, (suprise suprise).

What about an alternative, a form of window net/screen?
Get written permission from company/building owner to use 'pest control methods' out of hours, there is still enough light in the evening to shoot them.

The problem with pigeon is that they breed every six weeks all year, they have the ability to become 'receptive' if there brood is killed or even becomes threatened!!!

Probably no help at all, but I hope it is

Amen Corner

peanuts coated with cyanide. As recommended by Tom Lehrer

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

MD

Are you saying we're in danger of being attacked by pigeons?

These things sh@g all the time on the window ledge

Netting is a no-no as its listed building!! We can't do b'all to change the o/side appearence of the building in any way! Owners wanted to tart it up & put tastefully designed grills across teagle doors to stop people falling out - but they can't do that even

P1Fanatic

If you got permission to shoot em and the come inside then yeah shoot the bast*rds. Be warned that it makes a mess though. Id suggest a .22 calibre rifle with flat head pellets as they will kill easier at close range (dont need the penetration if your shooting indoors) and u are less likely to get an exit wound, blood etc. Aim for the chest and not the head. Probably still get feathers everywhere.

sebastian

Kill the *******s.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

However, tidier if they are sitting on the window ledge & just drop into the Thames

Dave T-S

Puff

ROFL - you don't have much success with animals/birds, do you - lucky the horse is not Pegasus next door to your garden or it might follow you to work, fly in the window, and crap on your desk!

Moles dad is basically correct, but if there is NOBODY within sight/range of your windows to see what is happening I reckon you would get away with it (i'll bring my gun over ).

Brendan Hughes

Why aim for chest and not head? Head is cleaner kill, chest is not easy to get pellets into.

Top tip - put a couple of drops of gun oil down the barrel a few shots beforehand. Apparently it works wonders for the muzzle velocity and effectively tips the gun over the 12 ft/lb limit, as they are all built to such close tolerance. As told to me by the gunshop owner where I bought my HW77K.

IIRC the distance is 50 ft from a public highway. Is the Thames a public highway? Probably!

If you get permission from the building owner, I don't see any reason why you can't shoot them inside the building. Hope you don't miss though, if it's listed!

BJH

druddle

Ask Dastardly and Mutley, they should know, they spent their life chasing pigeons.....

Nimbus

.. yea, but they never caught any..

dsmith

Perhaps we should have a Scoobynet shooting hit squad. They could come and have a go at my mole then nip down the A12 and sort out Puff's Pigeon, possibly back up the M11 to finish off Puff's Horse then all into the Pub next door for a well earned pint

Deano

P1Fanatic

Brendan - I was referring to shooting indoors, whereby:

1. The head is harder to hit - increased chance of a miss an richochets around the office which aint healthy.

2. The head offers less resistance and even a low powered air rifle will obliterate a pigeon head at close range and leave you with blood and pigeon brains to clean off the wall & carpets.

As for putting oil in an air rifles barrel - from what Ive read this is one of the worst things you can do to a spring powered rifle (which most are). The problem is that the oil can work its way into the chamber and either wear the seals or ignite in the barrel under compression and cause the seals to burn and be less efficient. For the life of me I cant remember the exact term but every airgun magazine, book etc sees this as a big no-no. There are specific chamber lubes made for this purpose that are ok to use but using ordinary oil aint good.

Brendan Hughes

Deano - how about setting some devil dogs on them for good measure?

P1 - fair comment about the head shots. I find your remarks about the oil hard to believe - if you put two drops of oil into the barrel and then the pellet behind, how the hell can the oil work its way backwards to the seals and the chamber?? - but it's ages since I read on this subject (was into shooting at age 15-18, am now 34) so I'll have to defer to someone who sounds more confident on the subject.

sebastian

Ok guys what are your weapons?

mines a Weihracht HW97K, Teutonic heavyweight.

P1Fanatic

HW98k, Webley Viscount (long barrel version of the tracker) both sporting simmons 4-12 x 45 scopes. Oh and one walther and one rws C02 pistols for mucking around in the garden.

Dont use em much anymore now that I live in the sticks. Theoben are just up the road in Peterborough (Im in Cambridge) and Im having to restrain myself from going and buying one of their legendary rifles.

Me and my bro used to shoot anything that moved at our parents house (Cornwall). In fact my mum wants us back down now to cull the rabbits as they are eating her garden alive. Only thing we aint allowed to shoot are the squirrels as they are too cute LOL.

Brendan - the oil thing maybe different now with decent seals etc but when I was well into shooting everyone was of the opinion that you dont put oil anywhere near the breech or barrel. I doubt you'd really notice any increase in lb/ft. 12lb/ft is more than suffice for most peoples needs.

Neil Smalley

You shot my speckled jim!!! [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Brendan Hughes

HW77k, bought 16 yrs ago, now useless since we got two savage cats. The wildlife doesn't get a chance to grow up to do damage . Kassnar 3-9x40 scope IIRC - it's at my parents' house in Sussex, I've no use for it here. I attack our feral pigeons outside the window with a washing-up bottle full of water, as the next house is 7 ft away!

P1, don't you need a firearms licence for something CO2 powered?

Moles Dad

You only need a firearms licence for 'rifles' powered by co2, the 50' rule only applies to shotguns and high velocity rifles.
The wording of that law is from the 17th century and is basically to protect travelling folk near a kings highway

PTMW, All I am saying is that the more of the 'young' that you shoot, the more the adult birds will breed...best get them all!

Oh, and 'feral' are classed as vermin...you dont need permission to 'eradicate' vermin.

We have 'visiting' rats from time to time, basically our garden has all that they require, bird table (food), fish pond (water) and lots of 'cover'...air-rifle with scope soon sorts that one out!

I did 'do' one with a 20bore semi once...the gun was out cos we had been out shooting, the rat came out from the log pile...grabbed the 20, slowly put a cart in and BANG...one inside out rat





[Edited by Moles Dad - 7/18/2002 4:41:52 PM]

Alas

I've got a couple of horses that are sick of fishing and weasel hunting. They quite fancy a spot of pigeon stalking
I got Rentokil in to deal with similar prob in the hotel I ran. You are not allowed to shoot them. See if there is a local falconry club who will let you use their birds for a small donation. They just put them on the roof early evening & morning and the Winged rats go somewhere else. It works - believe me. You can also get balloons with eyes, which also works but you have to keep moving the location of the balloons (honest).
Other than that get Daisy & Dobbin
Alasdair

Moles Dad

Alas, Scottish law is not the same as soft southern sasanac law (sp).

You are allowed to shoot 'feral' pigeon in England.

I had a horse once....