Pheasants...damage limitaton????

[Nicos]

I recall a few Grapes have said their veg paches/lotties have been visited in the past by peasant- so I'm looking for advice please!

The farmer 'at the back' has a large wooded area and I've been hearing a pheasant calling at dawn- and having initially thought - aww..how lovely..it's just struck me that our new dug veg patches are a short flight away!!!!

So before he/'she decides to tuck in- (and bring her brood) I was wondering what sort of damage I need to consider deterring?
I know they nibble cabbages/kale etc- but what else- everything ,apart from lettuce,will go in there.

[Paulottie]

They like maize...and other grains, not really a problem at this end of the year.

I doubt you'll have too much trouble anyway.

[Flummery]

We - and the chap next door who also grows veg, have a male pheasant in regularly. He doesn't actually eat the green growing stuff but will hang about nonchalantly under the wild bird feeder to snaffle up grains.

When the chickens sidle up and say "You're a nice big boy!" he legs it out pretty fast!

[organic]

This should do the job

[Nicos]

This should do the job

Ha!!!..that's what he was bred for- but it looks like he's got free!

Last year a fox got the farmers breeding pair of pheasants- so it looks like he's tried again- and the laddy has got free somhow!

Poor thing is likely fox fodder this spring/summer- and hunted next winter if he lasts that long!

[jacob marley]

Do not worry about him they roost up in trees at night thats what all the racket is at dusk when they fly up to roost then spending the next 10 minute's calling to each other to tell them where they are...jacob

[organic]

Nicos - it's a bit of a rough deal being a pheasant when you put it like that... but then if Les Phesentes (as they probably aren't called in La France) are as well looked after as the ones over here - they have it better than just about any animal you can think of (before the beaters come through with their dogs and sticks and the shot starts flying anyway).

[poly]

They can be partial to having a dust bath in the seed bed or just as a row starts to emerge. Occasionally they trash a young cabbage or cauliflower, otherwise no problems here.

[organic]

Well not one of you has come up with a tastier answer or solution than mine.

[poly]

Nooooooo, I even count my boys and girls in during 'the season'

[organic]

To be honest - I wish I lived in an area with pheasant. They really are lovely looking birds and always a pleasure to see. The nearest we've got around here are wood pigeons and collared doves. Not that they are ugly things - but they aren't as spectacular as a pheasant. There are some owls but you rarely see them.


The other bonus of living in an area with pheasant - if you're not the squeamish type - is the frequent fresh-roadkill. I've had a couple off the road and always out-of-season too which makes it a special treat. I've yet to find one that seemed ill, beyond the whole "dead" part (I don't think hitbyacaritis is a legitimate medical condition) and it's pretty obvious if it's been there a while in which case I'd leave it well alone. Tasty too!

[poly]

Sounds like you have a host of wildlife around you. We have lots of owls too, I think the Barn and Tawny.

Yes they are beautiful and some of our pheasants have been coming for 4 years (I don't recognise them all but some are very noticeable.)They come in the morning for their breakfast, a few are really tame and will come right up to you or follow you about if your late with breakfast.

They are quite comical, but its not surprising so many are killed as I find they are a bit dim!

Not sure I fancy the road kill bit, I'm a bit squeamish anyway.

So hopefully Nikos’s ones will be trouble free to. I hope I haven't jinxed us both now!

[organic]

I don't think we've got significantly more wildlife than any other urban-but-grassy and leafy area... it's certainly not bereft of wildlife though.
We get the usual birds... tits, sparrows, swallows, swifts, robins, wrens, collared doves, wood pigeons and the likes, foxes and bushy-tailed-vermin (or "grey squirrles" as they are often erroneously known - can you tell I'm a friend of Squirrel Nutkin? )

Roadkill's not so bad. When you can spot the signs of a fresh bird and an older one it's not really any different than going to a game dealer - and there's no chance of lead poisoning this way either.

If it's been on the road a good while it'll probably be mangled beyond recognition after being run over repeatedly. If it's been there a while its eyes will be kinda cloudy and it looks really "dead". If it's got rigor mortis it's still probably fresh enough but I'd rather find it before that.
If it's still warm or at least warmer than ambient air and the ground it's on then it's pretty recent too.
Personally I approach quickly but quietly, take it by the head and pop the neck just to be on the safe side - I hate the thought of animals suffering - and assess it from there. If I don't fancy it I'll hang it on a fence - high enough for a passer-by who's braver than I to see and take it - yet low enough for Mr Fox if he decides it's OK to eat. Failing that - just on the verge of the road for similar reasons.

On the "dim" front. I believe the beaters at a shoot often have trouble getting the things into the air as they prefer to just leg it and hide than take to the wing. Can't say I blame them myself! You don't get shot at if you stay low!

[poly]

Here are a couple of my boys and some babies from last year.

[organic]

Here's how that just went.

1st pic. *click* Nice, lovely looking things.
2nd pic. *click* ... pause ... awww!

I'm not usually one for gushing - but that's such a cute shot.