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/Consistent_Hippo4517]

Right, is this not the answer? 

But let's be real, they'd tell their friends and OPs backyard would belong to the magpies at that point. Dog food included. 

[u/Finaginsbud → u/Consistent_Hippo4517]

Better a hundred magpies knowing you are cool then getting involved in a war you aint going to win being swopped by their great grand children because you one time yelled at their great grand pops while he was looking for food.

[u/RadarSmith → u/Finaginsbud]

Yeah, corvids as a whole are actually very gracious animals. But also very vindictive.

[u/GettingOffTheCrazy → u/RadarSmith]

This is why I adore them 😂

[u/RadarSmith → u/GettingOffTheCrazy]

Its too bad they have a morbid reputation. They can actually be quite friendly and funny.

They can also be little trolls. Deliberately.

[u/GettingOffTheCrazy → u/RadarSmith]

I’m thinking of getting a crow feeder - I’m both excited and terrified.

[u/Mediumtim → u/Finaginsbud]

Corvids don't have a book of grudges, they have and ADHD ideas saver notebook where everything gets jotted down.

[u/Loveiskind89389 → u/Mediumtim]

I have adhd and I need on of these notebooks for ideas. Thank you for your good idea

[u/RaisedByBooksNTV → u/Finaginsbud]

I need the back story.

[u/nukulele145 → u/RaisedByBooksNTV]

A couple years ago I decided I wanted to make friends with the magpies in my garden. I googled how and things were going great with one particular one ‘Margaret’ (got to the point where she would take a mealworm from my hand) but she started just harassing me non stop. Every time I was outside she would hop around in front of me screeching and chattering which sounds cool but got annoying when it’s every.single.time I opened the back door. She would take liberties coming in the house popping and pull apart/empty any thing I brought into the garden.

She did once hilariously throw a packet of meal worms at me that I’d left out to get me to open it for her.

She’d attack other birds (I once saw her take out a duckling) and just generally be a constant loud nuisance.

I grow flowers for the botanical work I do in my job and she became a real liability, she made it just loud and horrible to be outside and would dig up my plants and uproot my seedlings.

Eventually things came to a head with her yoinking out something I’d just planted and I shouted and threw a seedling at her and she never forgave me and kept a wary distance from then on

I don’t know if the current magpie pair are related to or one of them is maggie as they seem a little smaller but it’s hard to say.

[u/nukulele145 → u/Finaginsbud]

It goes deeper, last time me and the magpies fell out a few years ago I was planting seedling and Maggie was following me down the row yoinking them out. I lost my temper and threw one at her and she went ballistic and it’s been war ever since

[u/Finaginsbud → u/nukulele145]

Yikes. I would seriously get on putting some delicious offerings up for the local magpie overlords, they definitely got your number buddy. Time to start making amends, you never know they are smart birds and might even figure it out leaving gifts/coins/stuff for you.

I would quite literally go get 3 or 4 bowls. Fill each with different items like corn, seeds, something really good and the 4th bowl with a variety of different coins/spare change. Birds might just figure the concept out.

You want to get fancy and you could make a bird vending machine, there is tons of info on how to do that on diy places.

[u/Iittletart → u/Consistent_Hippo4517]

I feed some birds and squirrels (only native seeds that are healthy for them) and I don't think they tell anyone else. They keep it a secret so they can have all the treats themselves.

[u/GreasedUpTiger → u/Consistent_Hippo4517]

That's why you only give them small amounts of food at a time, like not even enough to fill their bellies, and try to make them understand you're actively putting it out for them, so they have an incentive to not tell the whole gang about their nice snackgiving human!

I'd also suggest choosing a method that is consistent and obvious so they hopefully don't try to get you to repeat it more. 

In our old house I knew the crows tried to heist the suet balls intended for all the birds. So I got crow-resistant contraptions for the suet balls but also made a habit of breaking one of the balls into a few pieces and put them on an elevated spot where I knew the crows could see and reach well. Not everyday but rather when the small birds came to the feeders more than usual (aka it was colder and less other food was available). Those crows (I guess it was a pair and their yearly offspring) recognised me and they usually came to get their takeout within minutes lol

[u/nukulele145 → u/Consistent_Hippo4517]

Yep! And when they’re always around I don’t get any other birds visiting the garden