Flying rats

[Snipper]

Anyone else noticed the vast increase in wood pigeons?  They nest anywhere, crap everywhere and trash a lot of your vegetables that you grow.

Anyone got any advice about trying to counter this plague?

Snip

[cheese]

I suggest leaving them alone. 

[ciel]

1 hour ago, Snipper said:

Anyone else noticed the vast increase in wood pigeons?  They nest anywhere, crap everywhere and trash a lot of your vegetables that you grow.

Anyone got any advice about trying to counter this plague?

Snip

Put a net over your veggies.

[Snipper]

Makes the veggies a bit expensive. Also can't really net the gutters to prevent them discharging down the side of the house. 

[Snipper]

2 hours ago, cheese said:

I suggest leaving them alone. 

So I now need give up my work in the garden to feed flying rats?  We had hoped to eat the produce I was trying to grow. 

[Polar Maritime]

A dummy Buzzard or two.

[Walsall Wood Snow]

Flying rats is a turn usually reserved for feral domestic pigeons which inhabit most towns and cities, not wood pigeons which are a true wild species. Though the term is slightly misleading as i've heard they are generally disease free (though this could be wrong). It is true though that the wood pigeon population in the suburbs has exploded for some reason. Just the other day there was a dead wood pigeon on our lawn which must have been attacked by the local cats. I just left it there for the foxes to take away which must have happened as it was gone the next day with nothing left but a few feathers. There's nothing you can do about them anyway as they seem to be everywhere. The population could decline anyway at some point and there may have been times past with such high numbers which subsequently declined, so it could be a cyclical thing.

[Snipper]

Looking back (over 40 years) there are now more areas where they can nest. There are considerably more mature trees, in particular conifers, which they seem to like, possibly because they provide very good cover.  Food is in some places is easy to find as people generously spread bird food.  They bully other birds out of the way. They then decide they will have a second course by eating my vegetables.

Although I net what plants I can I find that shooting them does provide a more permanent solution. Mr Fox benefits as I chuck the corpse over the fence into the field at the back. 

The rabbit population has also exploded. Not a problem for me as I have installed metal mesh fencing. Thank goodness they can't fly.