Netting wood pigeons on my own land

A number of extraordinarly plump-looking wood pigeons have been visiting my garden lately, and I understand they're made of meat.

I have a big piece of string netting (a goal net offcut) which I'm sure I could fashion into some kind of trap.

Am I within my legal rights to net pigeons in my own garden, then kill and eat them?

Jonnyboy

I have no idea, but an air rifle may be more productive.

Brownbear

Not sure if netting pigeon is an approved method of pest control, but I would have thought some sort of firearm would be more productive. Pigeon are frightfully observant creatures, and unless you have some sort of rocket-towed net arrangement, I fear your endeavours would be bootless.

LynneA

Train a cat to hunt & retrieve?

Treacodactyl

I think technically you can't kill them purely for the pot but you can kill them if they're a pest and then eat them provided you've tried other means of scaring them off. No idea about netting them.

chez

You could borrow my MIL to try to scare them off. She's got Pigeon Tourettes ... sits in her chair on the patio and when they settle she leaps up, waving her arms and swearing. If you bribed her with enough white wine and soda she'd probably even sit there and snipe at them for you. Possibly only verbally ... but it would be worth a try.

Atomic Shrimp

I don't think shooting them, even with an airgun, would be appropriate - it's a fairly small garden and although overlooked by a convenient window, there wouldn't really be any way to do it without attracting the attention of neighbours (and that would be a problem, with some of them).

The kind of thing I had in mind was either to spread the net (it's a coarse string net made of soft green polyester cord) out on the lawn, baited with bread or something, with some kind of sprung or counterweighted rapid lifting mechanism, to pull it up at the corners.

Or something that would flip it over quickly onto the baited area of ground.

Both would have to be triggered by me remotely, but that's all operational detail, and I'm sure I can rig something.

richierobins

How about a trap made from two bits of string and some sticks?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=9iR_3zWd0hA

Loum

You may wish to read this, which is a general licence to take certain birds. If you don't comply with the licence it against the law.

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/conservation/wildlife-management-licensing/docs/WML%20Gen-L05.pdf

Sorry not good at doing the link bit.

Brownbear

Atomic Shrimp wrote:

The kind of thing I had in mind was either to spread the net (it's a coarse string net made of soft green polyester cord) out on the lawn, baited with bread or something, with some kind of sprung or counterweighted rapid lifting mechanism, to pull it up at the corners.

Or something that would flip it over quickly onto the baited area of ground.

Both would have to be triggered by me remotely, but that's all operational detail, and I'm sure I can rig something.

Atomic Shrimp

Loum wrote:

Thanks - that looks like the information I needed.

jamanda

Actually BB, from looking at Atomic Shrimp's website, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he tried that. Laughing

jag_clarke

yeah i dont know if it still stands but the manor would own and keep them in a dove house / dove cote. you would get in truble for killing them. i dout it still stands but sometimes these old manorial laws still stand. we have two dove houses but no doves just a barn owl Smile

. i cant imagine netting being suckseful unless you scared them into a fixed netted box then closed entrance.

vegplot

jag_clarke wrote:

. i cant imagine netting being suckseful unless you scared them into a fixed netted box then closed entrance.

I'm sure they wouldn't be considered wild and be treated like any other bird raised for meat.

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