Rav4 Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Does anyone know the laws on shooting pigeon magpies crows etc in your garden with an air rifle? i thought the general license says they can only be shot to protect crops.I know pellets must not stray into adjoining properties unless you have the neighbours consent but not sure about this. I seem to have more pigeons in the garden than on the land i shoot over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 The terms of the general licence are the same for your garden as they are for your other land , they can only be shot if they are causing a nuisance or crop damage . So unless you have a veg patch they are getting stuck into chances are you would not comply You may be lucky like me and have land you can shoot run right up to your garden in which case you could have cause to shoot them for instance if they were damaging crops on the land then flying back to your garden I normally get a few in my garden but have never felt the urge to shoot them , if they are over the fence tucking into crops then its a different story! With the magpies and other corvids you could shoot to protect any nests you have in the garden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I too get loads of pigeon in the garden ( something to do with feeding them maybe ) but same as collared doves just couldn't bring myself to shoot any. I have also so far resisted the temptation to shoot squirrels because they don't appear to be causing any damage. The odd rat does get the wake up call though as did the crows that kept sitting right at the end of the garden peering intently into the shrub for hours at a time until I realised they were waiting for song bird fledglings to move so they'd swoop in and kill them. They had caused a lot of damage to the lawn by then by pulling out great chunks of grass and making holes for some reason. It got to the point they absolutely couldn't be convinced to move on by hand waving and clapping hands so one was despatched by air gun and the manic cries of "good shot" have so far kept them at bay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I too get loads of pigeon in the garden ( something to do with feeding them maybe ) but same as collared doves just couldn't bring myself to shoot any. I have also so far resisted the temptation to shoot squirrels because they don't appear to be causing any damage. The odd rat does get the wake up call though as did the crows that kept sitting right at the end of the garden peering intently into the shrub for hours at a time until I realised they were waiting for song bird fledglings to move so they'd swoop in and kill them. They had caused a lot of damage to the lawn by then by pulling out great chunks of grass and making holes for some reason. It got to the point they absolutely couldn't be convinced to move on by hand waving and clapping hands so one was despatched by air gun and the manic cries of "good shot" have so far kept them at bay. They were perhaps doing you a favour on the lawn by digging up leather jacket grubs I would think, shame they like to include chicks and eggs in their diet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubby Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 all birds, even those on the pest list/general licence are protected species, the GL just gives the option to remove certain species for land management/health and safety etc, so wood pigeons in back garden is really a no feral pigeons maybe if you can prove it's for health reasons magpies and crows a no, (if you were raising poults then it would be a yes, as it's protecting your livelihood, but you cant saay, they may harm that bird nest in my garden, as that's nature but squirrels and rats a yes, as they are pest species all year round just read up on the country and wildlife act and you'll see we all live in the real world and know that lots of species get shot when they shouldn't, the big difference is whether the shooter just gets on with it, or starts putting up pictures etc onto open media sites on the internet for anyone to see, they like to think for some reason they can bend the law, but anyone standing in a court of law in front of a judge for shooting protected species without a valid reason, cannot use the excuse "I didn't know" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rav4 Posted April 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 The terms of the general licence are the same for your garden as they are for your other land , they can only be shot if they are causing a nuisance or crop damage . So unless you have a veg patch they are getting stuck into chances are you would not comply You may be lucky like me and have land you can shoot run right up to your garden in which case you could have cause to shoot them for instance if they were damaging crops on the land then flying back to your garden I normally get a few in my garden but have never felt the urge to shoot them , if they are over the fence tucking into crops then its a different story! With the magpies and other corvids you could shoot to protect any nests you have in the garden Thanks for the info will stick to tin cans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 all birds, even those on the pest list/general licence are protected species, the GL just gives the option to remove certain species for land management/health and safety etc, so wood pigeons in back garden is really a no feral pigeons maybe if you can prove it's for health reasons magpies and crows a no, (if you were raising poults then it would be a yes, as it's protecting your livelihood, but you cant saay, they may harm that bird nest in my garden, as that's nature but squirrels and rats a yes, as they are pest species all year round just read up on the country and wildlife act and you'll see we all live in the real world and know that lots of species get shot when they shouldn't, the big difference is whether the shooter just gets on with it, or starts putting up pictures etc onto open media sites on the internet for anyone to see, they like to think for some reason they can bend the law, but anyone standing in a court of law in front of a judge for shooting protected species without a valid reason, cannot use the excuse "I didn't know" While I agree with what you say, I must admit that if crows or magpies were seen regularly in my garden, I would not be sparing any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I have trouble with all sorts of wildlife in the garden out here- The wild turkeys eat Mrs Kitchrat's bird food but are out of season until next week, at which time they will have left, Deer eat Mrs Kitchrat's plants but are out of season and I don't have a .243 or the inclination to eat them, the black bears eat the grapes and apples, but shout at them and they run off, the cougars ate next doors cat, the woodpeckers eat the window frames, the elk eat the apple trees,and, finally, the mountain hare ate Mrs Kitchrat's plants, but he WAS in season and he DID eat well. NO pigeons at all, except clay ones..... Tough life but I'll be back in the winter..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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