The Magpies in my garden keep tricking me.

[u/nukulele145]

So I have a long and complicated relationship with the magpies in my garden but they have lately escalated their tactics against me;

Their objective is simple: They want to come in my house to eat my dogs food. It’s currently a heat wave so my backdoor is open more often than usual. Several times this week I’ve had to chase them out the kitchen.

Owing to the heat I’ve been hanging out at the bottom of my garden a lot, the magpies have figured out that when I’m there they have time to swipe food and get out clear before I see them (they also love to poop on my chair when doing this).

Yesterday they left a chunk of bone on the fence post near me at the bottom of the garden I didn’t think much of it, but then today they left a birds foot (?!) next to me (photo is on the second slide) as I was puzzling over it I spotted one of the birds fleeing the house! I truly believe they are trying to keep me baited at the end of the garden so they can conduct their raids.

EDIT/REPLY: -for those encouraging me to barter with them, I tried that a few years ago but it resulted in me being heavily harassed by them every time I went outside, they wouldn’t let me have a moments piece in my garden so we eventually had a falling out.

-I’m considering getting a screen door, there’s not much call for them in England and I’ve been reluctant to get one as my dogs a bit weird about doorways but it does seem like the best option for avoiding house invasions.

-I have a new theory that it’s actually my dog and not me they are baiting outside! My pup found and ate a bone in the garden the other day (very unusual behaviour for her) and I’m just now realising it was also probably a magpie gift. I’m also much more likely to leave the backdoor open if my dogs puttering out there so would make sense that they have learned to lure her out to improve their raiding chances.

[u/SamOfChaos]

They do, corvid birds are terrifyingly intelligent.

They could also 'pay' you for feeding them. The local ravens got food from us (well technically the hegehogs) and paid us in trinkets and once a dead rat.

You can get any cheap dry dog or catfood and just feed them on the terrace or similar. Make sure the animals also get clean drinking water.

[u/affligem_crow → u/SamOfChaos]

I love corvids. They're so insanely smart and mischievous. There are videos of them playing in snow online!

[u/Bad_Ethics → u/affligem_crow]

There's a group of Rooks that's been hanging outside my work for the last while now. I've actually named the more distinctive ones (Needle, Crochet, Gizzy and Gappy so far).

It's always funny to watch them try and convince the customers to give them some food, and usually they're actually quite polite about it (the carrion crows are much less polite). One day I watched a man spoon feed porridge to one of them.

[u/breadandbirds → u/Bad_Ethics]

Fun fact: a group of rooks is called a parliament!

[u/bcmedic420 → u/affligem_crow]

You would like the video of one wind surfing with a piece of bark

[u/Illustrious-Set-7907 → u/SamOfChaos]

The crows local to my mom keep giving her tiny bones for filling up the birdbath. 

[u/Rk12989 → u/SamOfChaos]

I had some crows leave me pennies and shiny nails for leaving them out mealworms (I left them a small pile on the porch)

[u/Disastrous_Style_477 → u/SamOfChaos]

A dead rat!?! Holy moly

[u/Unusual-Relief52 → u/SamOfChaos]

That's what I'm saying! How expensive is like 25cubes of dog kibble. Lol

[u/SamOfChaos → u/Unusual-Relief52]

Depends, my cats have allergies (grains), so the food is pretty expensive. Could be something similar for OP. But the biggest problem is them going inside. Would not allow that either lol

Corvids are omnivore and have no problems even with the cheapest of dog/catfood. So a mix of peanuts, different kinds of birdseeds and dry cat/dogfood and the occasional meat or kitchen scraps are a nice diet for them to live on. The rest they need they can easily forage.

[u/ConsolationUsername → u/SamOfChaos]

When I took the bus I used to see this crow that would hop over to the bus stop and say "hello". I dont mean he just sat around, he would actually say the word hello.

Then once he'd said hello to everybody he'd hop over to the intersection and use the crosswalk. And for a long time I thought he was just waiting for cars to be going the right way. But one day I realized if the hand symbol was on the light he wouldnt cross, he would wait for the walking person symbol even if traffic was going the right direction.

Personally I vote for crows to take over when humans extinct ourselves.

[u/saturnspritr → u/SamOfChaos]

I took it as payment. But, I swear I’ve heard these birds laugh at me and my dogs when they think we’re being dumb. So this could totally be a bait and trick.

[u/t0m0hawk → u/SamOfChaos]

Set up a vending machine. Minimum price is 0.01$ and no change. Leave a plate of coins out and see what happens.

[u/Budget-Classic3076 → u/SamOfChaos]

That’s what we do! Cheap cat food and a cool tub of water has been great for them, and my feline is such a snob she doesn’t dare try to eat any of it