Pest control with airguns

[snIPer]

Pest control starts only when a particular species or race is determined as a "pest" or else it is just another living thing that needs to be left alone.

However in this case it is already specifed as Vermin but still is not hunted to extinction for the simple reason that it is not required.

For eg in my house I have 10 Cats and around 5 dogs, a couple of eagles and also lots of crows and other birds come along. The crows are not much of a nusiance and are thus left alone (by me and not my cats).
If they start getting on my nerves then things will be different.

So rest assured there is no genocide going around

[penpusher]

Is there any pellet made from plastic or hard rubber that would knock down lizards and not leave a hole in the wall plaster.BB guns are not that accurate for this.

[snIPer]

If it is a short range and a cheap Airgun you can use balls / pellets made from paper pulp / foil

[mundaire]

Crows are NOT I repeat NOT being shot/ poisoned in ANY kind of scale in India. The reason is simple, they don't sell as "bush meat" so the poachers/ trappers leave them well alone (no profit for them), the only people who (at all) attempt any sort of control are farmers who are well within their rights (ethically & legally) to protect their crops. However, even these farmers are very few and far between (most Hindu's are superstitious about shooting/ killing crows) - so the crows in India are in no danger of any mass scale extermination and neither is ANYONE here advocating that!

Please DO NOT confuse this with the issue of protecting vultures - the next thing I'll hear is rat control being equated to shooting tigers (it's as relevant a comparison)

Anyhow, vultures WERE NOT/ HAVE NOT been shot into extinction in India Please get your facts straight on this, I have never heard of anyone shooting them at all.... the widely accepted reason for their disappearance is the rampant use of a veterinary drug which enters the scavengers food chain through carcasses and has pretty much decimated the species. Whether people love vultures or not - they have not been going around exterminating them on purpose... it is ignorance of the side effects of using such drugs (on the food chain/ eco system) combined with government apathy (inaction even after being shown the evidence) which may finally lead the Indian vultures into extinction.

Also, I am ready to dispute the fact that crows are not overrunning Delhi. My own block has 3 small and 1 large parks - with plenty of crows roosting all over the place. Their numbers have visibly increased over the past 10-15 years, with an equally noticeable decline in the resident songbird population. At the crack of dawn, the first thing you'll hear is a crow cawing away... No, it's not a particularly filthy colony with garbage strewn all over the place - but they are plenty of the black bombers around!

Anyhow, no one is advocating shooting the chaps in populated areas - you'll most probably need prior police permission for that. If you read the whole thread, it started out with advice to Inder to locate a friendly farmer in need of some help with pest control...

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[mundaire]

AND if everyone here is so bleedin' heart "politically correct" - then how come NO ONE has come to the defence of the poor rodents? So y'all draw the line of sympathy short of including rats - eh?

[kanwar76]

Ah...quite a debate going on here..

Thanks a lot Abhijeet for links.. but you know if things go well then we will be having so many other species to hunt and Yes.....Just for FUN... just wait for some time....

-Inder

[OverUnderPump]

Anyhow, vultures WERE NOT/ HAVE NOT been shot into extinction in India Please get your facts straight on this, I have never heard of anyone shooting them at all....

I never said that Abhijeet, I even cited the National Geographic article in my post which held diclofenac as the cause of Vulture deaths. Only looking to put across the point that they are the ones who are in need of help.

AND if everyone here is so bleedin' heart "politically correct" - then how come NO ONE has come to the defence of the poor rodents? So y'all draw the line of sympathy short of including rats - eh?

And as for rats/mice, we grew up with Mickey Mouse , so I guess we owe him one.

regards

OUP

[mundaire]

I never said that Abhijeet, I even cited the National Geographic article in my post which held diclofenac as the cause of Vulture deaths. Only looking to put across the point that they are the ones who are in need of help.

Afraid I was speed reading... Sorry mate - my bad! I owe you an apology.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[OverUnderPump]

No being Sorry among friends , its all good. By the way, its been really long. Haven't caught up in a while.
Work killing you ?

regards

OUP

[penpusher]

Would these work in an air rifle?

".177 Plastic Safety Pellets"



at http://bromsports.co.uk/acatalog/Airgun_Pellets.html

[mundaire]

penpusher, don't use them in a spring piston gun - they are much too light! It would be almost like dry firing the gun and may damage the power plant. Should be OK to shoot them in pneumatic or CO2 powered airguns BUT they would most probably be inaccurate as hell and you could possibly have a problem with plastic fouling up the barrel...

[mundaire]

By the way, its been really long. Haven't caught up in a while.
Work killing you ?

Yep, been a little pressed for time lately... wanted to make it to the range last weekend, didn't work out... We'll try and meet soon

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[sudhaiob]

Hello everybody,
all thtings said and done, it is going to be a long time for us to see the end of crows. they are the cleverest birds on earth and having lived along side humans they know our habits to a t. I was once an avid airgunner of crows, however after some time the entire gang would recognise me and would always be on the lookout for me and follow me everywhere, consequently the kill rate dropped down dramatically until i lost interest in hunting them.
regs
sudhaiob

[Zafar]

Zafar wrote

if our 'rulers' find it out, even airguns would be needing an arms licence.
i know 818 members of IFG could not make much diffrence to the birds population but lets do our bit

-Zafar

Although the crow was my concern the bigger one was the gun

Do you remember the Nithari killings, Mrs Monika Gandhi used this as an excuse to ban all type of air gun, her logic : 'Mr Pandher, the accused, used to shoot birds in his childhood using his airgun. So airguns are making our kids violent'
using this as an excuse she demanded a complete ban on all type of air pellet and BB guns (may be even toy guns as 'they could also make our kids violent' )

I think airgunning is simply not downing a bird but the sheer pleasure of "Hitting what you have targeted" whatever it may have been - the bulls eye or a coke can

And regarding the govt classifying crow as vermin - they have classified themselves as public servant and you could see how good a servant they are

If my personal views are wrong in your view, please just ignore this post

-Zafar

[shahid]

On a winter afternoon, standing in the wheat and vegetable fields, it is always good sports to conceal oneself in a line of trees and shoot Crows from passing flights.

This is legal as per the Wildlife act of 1972 and some high crows offer interesting targets, particularly those dodgeing away across fast through the air.

Most of my old stock of cartridges are spent in this sport.