Any good anti-pigeon ideas?

[kipper]

I'm told that they either ignore your plot, or ruin them. Save putting string frames around everything, or buying a gun, does anybody have any advice on keeping them away?

They seem to go for brassicas more than anything else. I left a brussells sprout plant unprotected. Within an hour it looked a comedy fish attacked by sharks with just the skeleton left.

Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.

[Two_Sheds]

You have to keep all your brassicas under net, all the time. There's no other way

[organic]

Assuming you're not a vegetarian and are growing your veg at home... why not a gun?
Pigeon meat is quite highly regarded. Fresh veg with fresh meat. Can't go wrong.

Obviously you can't be there all the time an in that case... I'll be following Two_Sheds' advice... but keeping numbers down would be useful.

[northepaul]

Assuming you're not a vegetarian and are growing your veg at home... why not a gun?
Pigeon meat is quite highly regarded. Fresh veg with fresh meat. Can't go wrong.

.

Organic....have you been watching River Cottage again?!?!
I was going to say exactly that!
Pigeon in the pot = best thing for the stupid things!!

[organic]

Not seen it in ages...
...I do, however, see the grey squirrels and wood pigeons in the garden and think "food".

Of course, one has to be careful not to break any laws and even more careful that there's a reliable backstop to ensure misses/ricochets can't hit anyone or anything you don't intend to hurt/damage/kill... but I'd hope anyone who owned or bought a gun of any kind would know that already.

[flighty1]

Hi organic, rather than look at the squirels & think "food" why not go the whole hog & trap your own ingredients for a wonderful brunswick stew.
also with regards your comments about shooting may I say that shooting at anything with the intention of hurting it is totally wrong
The intention when shooting any animal/bird is to kill it as humanely as possible. The idea of shooting to hurt is totally unacceptable to any self respecting hunter. Sorry

[organic]

I've never even heard of a Brunswick stew before now. I'll have to try that some time - probably when my tomatoes come good this year (assuming they will).

I wouldn't mind trying it now, but squirrels aren't exactly at their best on the way out of winter (though they've been reasonably well fed by stealing from bird feeders). Maybe I'll have a go in late autumn.

[sauzee]

If you are netting your brassicas make sure it is at least 18in above the height of the plants.Last year i covered mine the net was too loose and about 20 pigeons landed on it.The weight of the birds made the net sag and they took it in turns to devour all the heads of them

[kipper]

Thanks for all the advice

I'll get some nets then. I don't think they'd be worth eating. They're not usually wood pigeons, but the nasty city centre pigeons. Flying rats is probably a better description. Any more advice welcome, but thanks so far.

[FB.]

I favour such things as airguns for control of small pests.
However, you need to consider.......

Your airgun and your age (or the age of anyone using it) must comply with UK laws, which get progressively more strict.
You may need to demonstrate that other methods of control have failed.
You must have permission from the landowner to shoot on their land.
You may not shoot vermin on land that you don't have permission for.
You must not shoot within 50ft of a path or road, if there is a risk of upsetting members of the public.
Missed shots should not leave your boundary if you miss.
When shooting tree-dwelling creatures, you must be aware that taking a shot at them while they're up in a tree, if you miss, that shot is going to travel a long way into the distance.

Therefore, on public allotment plots, many of the above make it difficult to perform pest control with an airgun.

[Two_Sheds]

Therefore, on public allotment plots, many of the above make it difficult to perform pest control with an airgun.

... and a good thing too. We had a 'trigger happy' soul on my old site who'd take pot shots at anything, including at pigeons in the trees on the housing estate over the fence

He never seemed to consider that there might be a person within range. He'd also take pot shots at the tin cans that some of us kept as cane toppers. Flippin eejit.

If he actually managed to hit something, he'd just leave its dead body on the ground where it fell, to attract flies (maggots) and rats. Nice.

[mrdinkle]

Wood pigeon is delicious.

Leaving dead *anything* to attract flies etc is very wrong. If you kill something like a rabbit or wood pigeon you should at least use it for something constructive (eg, Eat it yourself or cook it up for your pets).

[bubblewrap]

How about one of these?

[organic]

Therefore, on public allotment plots, many of the above make it difficult to perform pest control with an airgun.

"Public" - therein lies the rub.
To the best of my knowledge, you generally can't shoot anywhere the public have access - even with payment of a fee. I assume that applies to allotments too.

I certainly won't be using one on mine - even as in favour of hunting as I am.

[Rixy]

No need for rolls and rolls of netting that will invariably get tangled during the off-season and bring about much wailing and a gnashing of teeth when you come to next use it. I plumped for the following on the advice of several of my fellow plotholders after all my Savoy cabbages where gobbled up by the woodies last year.

Go to Morrisons instead and invest One hard earned English pound on ten of their finest used flower buckets. Cut the bottom two inches off the bucket and you now have A: A saucer to stand your plants on so you can bottom feed them and B: A rather useful "collar" to put over your brassicas.

The collar is high and wide enough to allow your brassicas good growth whilst preventing the pigeons from getting to them until they are well established and best of all, they all stack inside one another when the season is over, are easily washed and with care can be used over and over again for many years to come.