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Sprocker -pigeon picker, crow coward


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My 1 year old sprocker spaniel will pick up pigeons and bring them back to me all day long, but as soon as a crow/rook/jackdaw is down he runs up to it sniffs it and won't retireve it. What can it be that makes a pigeon fine but corvids not?

 

I don't blame him....get a big crow playing dead and that tough beak and strong neck will come into play....

why risk your best mates eyes on a dirty stinking worthless crow....

 

TEH

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My 1 year old sprocker spaniel will pick up pigeons and bring them back to me all day long, but as soon as a crow/rook/jackdaw is down he runs up to it sniffs it and won't retireve it. What can it be that makes a pigeon fine but corvids not?

 

My Lab will not do any corvid, Crows, Magpies, Jays and jackdaws ( I very rarely shoot rooks). Once sent him back and told him to pick it, walked a few paces back and spat it out and peed on it then walked off (never bother since).

Some obviously wont (this dog I describe is a total retriever- holic) I think he was making a point "these aint for eating boss"

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My springer, which as I have mentioned before, is as daft as a brush and retrieves anything and everything. I only send him out to what I think is dead Corvids. And you are so right about crows playing dead, he brought one into the hide last Friday and as I was taking it, the bl**dy thing had me. It put a claw into my index finger, I still have the dent in the top, it didn't break the skin luckily but I can still feel it and a bruise on the bottom of the finger. Never trust a Crow. It must have played proper dead because in the past when I have sent him out in error, he would have a battle and kill the things. This one conned him and me.

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Extra cartridge 17p. Dogs eyes priceless.

 

Your dog leans down to pick up a corvid, it turns out not to be totally dead.

One nice shiny bright dogs eye is no more and hundreds of pounds in vets bills. :(

 

Its not worth the risk. Collect it yourself and keep your face out the way too.

 

This is true, I know many who wont send a dog on a crow full stop. I now have no option because he wont! I used to use them as great "back" training aids as I can shoot them with the rifle at long range from the driveway say then send the dog back many hundreds of yards on what has to be a blind without the slightest foot trail from me for them to follow. Generally hit with a rifle you can see they are patently very dead!

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+1 on all the recommendations for pick them yourself. I know many a shooter, Gamekeeper etc that will not under any circumstance let them pick them up dead or alive and are trained not to pick up anything black.

 

As previously said a dogs eye compared to 17p for a cartridge or a short walk is priceless!!!

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Extra cartridge 17p. Dogs eyes priceless.

 

Your dog leans down to pick up a corvid, it turns out not to be totally dead.

One nice shiny bright dogs eye is no more and hundreds of pounds in vets bills. :(

 

Its not worth the risk. Collect it yourself and keep your face out the way too.

spot on

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+1 on all the recommendations for pick them yourself. I know many a shooter, Gamekeeper etc that will not under any circumstance let them pick them up dead or alive and are trained not to pick up anything black.

 

As previously said a dogs eye compared to 17p for a cartridge or a short walk is priceless!!!

 

That's interesting to say their colour vision aint so good as to tell

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I would think its the shiny aspect of the eye they go for. Most birds have excellent colour vision, better than ours. My lory won't eat the yellow food pellets just picks out the red and green ones.

Sorry, I was referring to the dog mentioned "trained" to never retrieve anything black. Corvids have some of the best vision of the bird world, think a guy with good eyes looking through some of the very best 10x German Binos and your getting towards it but still lagging behind, stalking up to crows is darn near impossible! Dogs on the other hand have very poor colour vision, better low light vision than us and better vision to track movement but sharp focus is rubbish.

Crows are far brighter than many think, I once kept one as a pet but at the same time they are uncommonly mean spirited and cruel, lagging not far behind man in these respects. I am almost 100% they will target the eye as a vulnerable and effective target for attack

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Dogs can see shades and some colour and black will be the darkest shade. Its probably the smell of corvids that would be the best training aid for the dog, otherwise they would never pick a melanistic pheasant up.

The latest testing shows birds can see a far bigger spectrum of colours than we can and they have far better eyesight. Any fly that gets in my lory's cage stands very little chance of getting out, despite him supposed to be a fruit eater.

The eye is easier to remove than more firmly attached flesh and your prey will find it harder to get away once blinded. Also it is shiny and corvids love any thing shiny. I totally agree with you they are extremely intelligent and also omnivorous just like us.

We had a magpie and a jackdaw as pets that someone had handcreared and found them very clever, they would go to extraordinary lenghs to the steal things. They used to stash them in their food pots.

The Shepherds hate them because not only will they take lambs eyes out if a ewe in the field is long giving birth, but they will also peck at any wounds on an animal and remove flesh from it.

Edited by loriusgarrulus
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Yep, see a Kestrel hover for a mouse its looking at the little trail of wee they leave (mice are a little incontinent ) Think on that they can see mouse pee at 50 yards.

 

Yes its smell, think Jays and Magpies- mine wont do them either (although he blanked his first grouse until I sent him back and he now has the idea with them)

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My retreivers wont touch them either never sent for one but have chucked them and the most they do is sniff. But would you want a mingy stinking corvid in your mouth!

The 2 terriers on the other hand delt well with a crow i clipped the other day and don't think had a chance to get a peck in!!!

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