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Aussies, be afraid...


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It's magpie swooping season ! :o

As this article states, all our international friends think Australia is full of dangerous critters like sharks, snakes, spiders, box jellyfish and dropbears ;) . But magpies are far and away the most likely critter to attack you in the spring.

I used to do a lot of cycling and got absolutely hammered by them dozens of times every year. I did my best to pick routes where there were no aggressive males, but it has become almost impossible as their numbers have increased.

Snakes, spiders and dropbears are soft compared to these evil bastards.

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2016/09/black-and-white-bandits-magpie-swooping-season-is-here

A couple of real-life examples:

- the end of this one is pretty funny :lol:
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I guess nobody really likes cyclists..... :monkeydance:

Our dog had an ongoing feud with a Magpie family at our old house but I can't really blame them as she took out the 3 nestlings when they were foolish enough to leave the nest for our backyard......

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I Googled a pic of an American magpie. They look like a dove with a nice little smooth rounded beak, compared to the mean buggers we have with their rapier beak.

Raymond - we have nothing across the ditch that is bigger and meaner than the All Blacks....sadly which is why we'll never see the Bledisloe Cup back on our shores in my lifetime :crying2:

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I can assure my Aussie friends that this was no rounded beak dove... At 20 inches long, the blood, sinew and feathers formed as one aerodynamic shape with a single goal in mind. As the evil prey bent over in the garden, little did she know that Hell was about to be unleashed on her. With its razor sharp talons extended - it swooped down assuming the attack position. The only thing missing was the Stuka wailing siren... The attack was relentless, the sounds primitive... The talons clutching the long blonde hair, the pointed beak thrusting at her unusually thick skull. With his talons ensnared by her tendrils - she swatted at it mightily summoning her dark demons. The pecking, flapping, swatting and cursing went on for what seemed like minutes. The mighty air warrior triumphantly returned to the tree from whence it came - victorious, but not able to fully vanquish this foul creature. The foul creature never understood that my laughter was in reality my concern for her health and well being....

The bird and I understood each other from that day on. I looked at him - he looked at me - we respected each other. God Speed Mr. Magpie, you made one day in my Hell a whole lot funnier smile.gif

Fun Fact: (For me anyway) - that was not his only attack on her. It happened multiple times - he really didn't like her... That's why I guessed about sensing evil...

Magpie_zpse8indpec.jpg

Edited by GEH737
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Yeah, I think our magpies win the wicked beak comp, but I'm impressed with the talons in the hair tactics of the US magpie. That's gotta be nasty.

We did have one particular cyclist-hating maggie on one of my routes who actually landed on the back of a cyclist and started pecking at the back of his neck (a very good cyclist incidently who is knocking on the door of Olympic track-race selection).

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I had this same sort of experience 5 years ago in our big city park...with a crow dive bombing on my head. The crows seemed to own the 800 acre park.

Then a bald eagle moved in 4 years ago.

Now there isn't a single crow left in the park and the bald eagle moved on to more plentiful hunting grounds.

It seems to me you folks need some bald eagles.

Bald_Eagle_Swoops_In_To_Claim_Salmon_And_Chase_Away_Magpie_BA105988D7.jpg

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We have Wedge-tailed eagles. They attack aircraft :o/> - but I wish they'd turn their attention to bloody magpies like your Baldies.

http://www.popsci.com.au/science/7-reasons-the-wedgie-is-superior-to-the-american-bald-eagle,380476 ;)/>

I once took an American fighter pilot (flew jets off an a/c carrier which was docked in Sydney) on a guided fly-fishing trip out our way, and the highlight of his day was seeing a Wedgie sitting on a branch about 50m from my Hilux as we drove past. He was absolutely stunned how big they are.

Edit to say, our magpies are so mean I've seen 2-3 of them actually attacking wedge-tail eagles and hunting them out of their territory. It is like a bunch of Me109s all over a B-17 in 1944. The wedgie flying pretty much a straight line and the magpies coming in from all directions.

Edited by Thommo
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Raymond - we have nothing across the ditch that is bigger and meaner than the All Blacks....sadly which is why we'll never see the Bledisloe Cup back on our shores in my lifetime :crying2:/>

:lol: true - until they start believing their own propaganda, keep losing possession and i break my voice yelling at the telly! :lol:

I remeber i thought the male huntsman was scary. ..then saw the female!!!

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It's magpie swooping season ! :o/>

NZ Magpies can be just as aggressive (also immortalised in the form of "Pew" in the Footrot Flats comic strip in the 70's and 80's). I haven't had the pleasure of being attacked while put and about, but know people who have, and keep a wary eye on them whenever they are around. I saw a pair of magpies have a go at a seagull once. It looked like something out of Top Gun. Alternating high speed passes and wing-overs on the straight and level seagull trying to get out of dodge.

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