Indian Myna Control & Death to 2020

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Flaviemys purvisi

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Hi all, today was a bit of a slow day, slept in a bit later than usual, then moped about a little pondering whether to mow the lawn a 4th time after all the recent rain. Definitely feeling that Sunday afternoon feeling you get when your weekend is all but over and you have to go back to work... well I've been on holidays since December 17 but I'm back to work this coming Monday and the time has FLOWN by. I've pretty much done everything I'd set out to do while on my break except one thing... break out my home made myna traps and dispatch the 5 new unwelcome guests that flew in to terrorise the neighbourhood about a month ago. (I do this every year). I wish more people did.

This morning I went into the shed and grabbed 1 of the 2 traps I built specifically for mynas back in 2016 and set it up And baited it... as of right now I have secured 4 of the 5 rats with wings. Daylight is fading fast here and I'm not optimistic I'll get the 5th by dusk but I'm confident I'll get it by dusk tomorrow.
This little project gave me some satisfaction today, helping the natives in my immediate neighbourhood air space breathe a little easier as we roll over into 2021.
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Speaking of which, if any of you enjoy a good chuckle, there's a new release on Netflix called Death to 2020. I watched it this arv and it was GREAT! Definitely check it out if you find yourself scrolling and undecided as to what to watch.
Here is the official trailer... a little sneak peak...

Hope you're all keeping well.
 
Hi all, today was a bit of a slow day, slept in a bit later than usual, then moped about a little pondering whether to mow the lawn a 4th time after all the recent rain. Definitely feeling that Sunday afternoon feeling you get when your weekend is all but over and you have to go back to work... well I've been on holidays since December 17 but I'm back to work this coming Monday and the time has FLOWN by. I've pretty much done everything I'd set out to do while on my break except one thing... break out my home made myna traps and dispatch the 5 new unwelcome guests that flew in to terrorise the neighbourhood about a month ago. (I do this every year). I wish more people did.

This morning I went into the shed and grabbed 1 of the 2 traps I built specifically for mynas back in 2016 and set it up And baited it... as of right now I have secured 4 of the 5 rats with wings. Daylight is fading fast here and I'm not optimistic I'll get the 5th by dusk but I'm confident I'll get it by dusk tomorrow.
This little project gave me some satisfaction today, helping the natives in my immediate neighbourhood air space breathe a little easier as we roll over into 2021.
View attachment 330462

Speaking of which, if any of you enjoy a good chuckle, there's a new release on Netflix called Death to 2020. I watched it this arv and it was GREAT! Definitely check it out if you find yourself scrolling and undecided as to what to watch.
Here is the official trailer... a little sneak peak...

Hope you're all keeping well.

well done on the illegal immigrant capture, wish more people did it !!!
 
Great job on the mynahs!

Here in the states, especially eastern states, we have two invasive species birds that are particularly destructive:
European Starling
House Sparrow (also called 'English Sparrow', and actually a type of finch)

Both intentionally introduced species are cavity nesters and will drive native birds off their nesting sites. Small native cavity nesters like Bluebirds, Purple Martins and small woodpeckers are among the regular victims. Many people who foster bluebirds by providing nest boxes continually battle house sparrows, who will kill a bluebird on the nest and built their own nest on top of the carcass.

As kids when this area was much more rural, we hunted gamebirds in season and we were also encouraged by our elders to shoot starlings and house sparrows on sight, especially starlings near the martin box. No one seems to bother them anymore and any urban/suburban bird feeder will be filled with both nuisance species, which will drive off native birds. Many misguided people put out unsupervised bird boxes, which will be used by only house sparrows, and the same uninformed group will keep feeders full all winter and pat themselves on the back for feeding 'the birds', when all they are really doing is assisting in the demise of many native species.

I have an elevator-style sparrow trap that will capture 30 at a time, but I can't use it here in the community because of our bleeding heart neighbors all around. It's nothing anymore to see flocks of 75-100 house sparrows descend on a feeder, clean it out, them move to the next yard/feeder site. Same with starlings...huge flocks anymore everywhere.

We have a full share of feral house cats too, another invasive species, which some misguided souls will feed, while others will catch, neuter and release back into the wild to prey on small animals and birds. There is an abandoned, deteriorating house nearby that is full of feral cats. A couple old people come by every afternoon and put out feed, and the cats just live there and multiply and these do-gooders continue to make the problem worse. Dispatching a cat here is a high crime, because they are cute and furry.
 
I hear you. As I have a pack of Jack Russell Terriers in my back yard I am unable to trap there with any success so any trapping of Indian Mynas or wandering cats that I do, I do on the front lawn facing the street. As I live in a really quiet neighbourhood tucked up in behind 2 major thoroughfares I only get local traffic coming past my house... anywhere up to 5 or 6 cars a day but because of this peacefulness, I get a lot of elderly morning walkers and young kids on bikes coming by and to both... a wire cage with a pile of "popr birds" does get some reactions... yesterday I was sitting in my sunroom observing the myna trap when a woman and her young daughter came walking past and they stopped and were looking at the trap and the little girl says while pointing "mummy look at the poor birds" to which mum replied "I know honey just keep walking"... I can imagine what they've gone and told anyone and everyone down the street about me. Last year I actually had an elderly woman walk onto my lawn one afternoon straight up to the trap and she, if she'd of known how would have opened it right there and then and released the half a dozen mynas it held. I walked out the front, being (fake polite) "hi there can I help you?" She questioned immediately "what are you doing with those birds?" I handed her a flyer I'd printed off... I have about 8 a few of which I'd intended to laminate and put out by the traps on a stake, (still haven't done). She glanced at it, handed it back with a huff and turned on her heels with a dismissive wave.
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That's the sort of people I deal with when I start doing my bit for the wildlife around here and those sorts are everything that's wrong with the world. For now, I peg my myna traps to the ground with 6 tent pegs so making off with one would be no quick pick up and run and I lock the hatch through which trapped birds are removed with a couple of zip ties to thwart any brazen do-gooders attempts to "save the poor things."

I used to have my cat traps out in plain site however I only put them out after dark now because no matter what you say or do... trapping cats gets you a lot of hate in this day and age... cats have a cult following and a world record... videos pertaining to cats are the only videos that have ever surpassed the popularity of porn on the internet. Ever watched a cat trapping video... that's allowed comments?? Lol
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We live in a modern world full of idiots but to the world in general people like me are idiots. Do I lose any sleep over it? Not at all, I just go about my business and put up with the stares and headshakes from passers-by.

I'll continue to trap cats and mynas regardless.
 
Hi all, today was a bit of a slow day, slept in a bit later than usual, then moped about a little pondering whether to mow the lawn a 4th time after all the recent rain. Definitely feeling that Sunday afternoon feeling you get when your weekend is all but over and you have to go back to work... well I've been on holidays since December 17 but I'm back to work this coming Monday and the time has FLOWN by. I've pretty much done everything I'd set out to do while on my break except one thing... break out my home made myna traps and dispatch the 5 new unwelcome guests that flew in to terrorise the neighbourhood about a month ago. (I do this every year). I wish more people did.

This morning I went into the shed and grabbed 1 of the 2 traps I built specifically for mynas back in 2016 and set it up And baited it... as of right now I have secured 4 of the 5 rats with wings. Daylight is fading fast here and I'm not optimistic I'll get the 5th by dusk but I'm confident I'll get it by dusk tomorrow.
This little project gave me some satisfaction today, helping the natives in my immediate neighbourhood air space breathe a little easier as we roll over into 2021.
20201229_170525.jpg
Haha, good job mate ?
Rotten myna's ?Good to see someone else keeping on top of them.
 
Keep it up Kev, every little bit helps
My call bird is performing well... myna #6 has now been trapped with it's partner sitting on top of the trap trying to figure out what's going on. I counted a total of 9 yesterday, 6 have now been accounted for. Mynas are one of those birds that bond/pair for life apparently so it does make trapping them a bit easier but nonetheless they're not a stupid animal... highly suspicious, wary and they have an incredible ability to learn.
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*UPDATE* Myna #7 cautiously entered the trap about 10 mins ago but took 5 mins to progress from the feed/lure cage and become trapped and secured in the holding cage. I was watching nervously as this bird would enter the transition funnel to the holding cage then reverse back out half a dozen times... until they're secured in the holding cage, they can still escape the trap the longer they sit there and sus it out.

Sigh of relief once it progressed right through. That's 2 today, 7 including yesterday's 5... 2 to go!
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#8 of the 9 mynas I counted was captured yesterday at 11:48am. Pretty happy with that. It's a frustratingly slow process outwitting these super suspicious and intelligent birds.
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#9 of 9 was successfully trapped at 11:24am without a call bird. So I'm pretty happy with that!
 
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Good work. I love cats but will happily shoot feral anything. Did you design the myna traps yourself?
Hi mate, no I didn't design the traps, I downloaded the plans off the net, bought the materials from Mitre 10 for $30 and it was enough to build 2 traps myself. The plans are from the Canberra Myna action group and they're for the Peegees Indian Myna trap which to buy is about $240 each so you can probably figure why I had a crack at building them myself. I built them in my Christmas holidays (December 2015) and to date I have trapped over 200 Mynas with them.
 
I'd like to eradicate these flying rats but my bleeding heart son thinks even feral pests deserve to live. I hate watching them attack ravens and magpies as they suspect them of egg stealing but recently I saw 2 of them attack a galah. Galahs can in no way be suspected of egg stealing so it's just proof that they are just little arseholes who hate everybody else.
 
Mynas are everywhere where I live, and I can safely say I absolutely despise them, they are constantly harassing the native birds, especially magpies and are, in general, a big nuisance. Feral animals are probably one of the biggest problems Australia is facing, along with climate change, and we really need to take more action.
 
I'd like to eradicate these flying rats but my bleeding heart son thinks even feral pests deserve to live. I hate watching them attack ravens and magpies as they suspect them of egg stealing but recently I saw 2 of them attack a galah. Galahs can in no way be suspected of egg stealing so it's just proof that they are just little arseholes who hate everybody else.

Are you saying that as a parent you knowingly let your misguided child dictate your own behaviour for the worse?
 
Personaly , i think uninformed and misguided attitudes are the biggest problem this country faces.
And pet stores. There's a big problem our country faces.
I try to not think about how many people are getting sold these stupid things...
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If people actualy did a bit of reserch before buying a snake for example , they wouldn't be getting ripped off so easily. These days there is heaps of info available.
 
I'd like to eradicate these flying rats but my bleeding heart son thinks even feral pests deserve to live. I hate watching them attack ravens and magpies as they suspect them of egg stealing but recently I saw 2 of them attack a galah. Galahs can in no way be suspected of egg stealing so it's just proof that they are just little arseholes who hate everybody else.
They're just animals...carving out a survival strategy like all the other animals native or feral alike.
 
They're just animals...carving out a survival strategy like all the other animals native or feral alike.
This attitude may seem kind, and kindness is certainly the intention, but this type of thinking, if allowed to be what our decisions were based on, would result in the extinction of countless species and the suffering of a huge number of individuals, both animals and humans. A kind heart is good but it is destructive if not given leadership by a wise mind.
 

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