Caught an egg-stealing raven. Now what?

[Nambroth]

Quote:
Crows and ravens learn quickly and will teach younger generations. My friend works with crows professionally at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and is part of a decades-long research project on them, it's really neat! Where crows have been shot at (or shot and killed), if the other see it they generally will not return to the area for a long time... there are some places where they have not returned for years and years. "City" crows are generally harder to deal with because their survival options tend to be different, but in general rural flocks will take a lesson quite to heart.

 

[BlackBart]

http://www.wimp.com/ravenknows

 

[Egghead_Jr]

You might want to look up your local laws on raven shooting. It's illegal in the United States and depending on state crows have a season. Granted a homesteader has rights but that's with reasonable protection of your stock (in this case eggs) to warrant culling of nuisance animals.

 

[Dowie]

Quote:
Crows and ravens learn quickly and will teach younger generations. My friend works with crows professionally at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and is part of a decades-long research project on them, it's really neat! Where crows have been shot at (or shot and killed), if the other see it they generally will not return to the area for a long time... there are some places where they have not returned for years and years. "City" crows are generally harder to deal with because their survival options tend to be different, but in general rural flocks will take a lesson quite to heart.

Wow Nambroth, how cool! I've been following the updates about how the children many generations on are taught to stay away from a particular hazard (in this case a person wearing a mask). They recognise faces, and they remember all right.

Now I've got to work out what to do with my stupid raven I've just discovered eating my eggs. Little bugger. I'm about as handy as a lump of wood, so I don't know how to raven proof my nesting boxes.

 

[akcountrygrrl]

For all of you who are advocating keeping the ravens around... They are my single worst predator. They kill full grown Pekin ducks, half grown chickens, and steal eggs. They've even killed one of my kid goats. And, yep, they're protected. I've tried all kinds of deterrent methods without avail. They are very sneaky and very smart.

 

[Dowie]

Bugger, I did not want to hear that. I think I've got me a very sly long term enemy. That raven better not poach my neighbour's eggs though - he's got no scruples about shooting anything.

 

[Kudzu]

Great opportunity to practice your "neck ringing" technique.