Swooping magpies

spiz said:

Moved in to a new are and sick and tired of being swooped. Short of moving home does anybody have any suggestions?

Wait till breeding season is over? (Should ease off by November). In the meantime, wear a helmet and you may consider a bandanna that covers your ears.

I'm sure there are people with Hitchcockian stories of rogue magpies causing all kinds of serious injuries... I think that means I've been lucky so far by being swooped and occasionally tapped on the helmet.

Ritch

ritcho said:

I'm sure there are people with Hitchcockian stories of rogue magpies
causing all kinds of serious injuries... I think that means I've been
lucky so far by being swooped and occasionally tapped on the helmet.

It's weird. Last year, yeah, I got tapped on the head, usually by one at
a time. I could deal with it. This year, had blood drawn, and get
attacked by 3 at a time. Now go the long way home to avoid the [censored].

--
..dt

"spiz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Moved in to a new are and sick and tired of being swooped. Short of
moving home does anybody have any suggestions?

Shotgun and #4 birdshot.

Fraser

Fraser Johnston said:

"spiz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Moved in to a new are and sick and tired of being swooped. Short of
moving home does anybody have any suggestions?

Shotgun and #4 birdshot.

Cool, you carry this when riding? Where do you ride?

--
..dt

spiz said:

Moved in to a new are and sick and tired of being swooped. Short of
moving home does anybody have any suggestions?

If you live near Pro Hart borrow the homemade bazooka he used to blow
paint everywhere. Its the only way to be sure.

I had a mate confess that as a child his one last use for his favourite
gollywog (can people say that still?) was to hide it under his jump
until a maggie can close then wallop it. Satisfaction in a juvenile sort
of way.

Another mate thought that he got along well with the local maggie
family, he even had photos of him and then sitting next to each other in
the garden, them on rungs of his ladder playing and so on. At the next
breeding season they were the most vicious feathered [censored] he ever
met and even cowering under his bike on the side of the road didn't work
as they still swooped, snapped and pecked at him. Morale: don't
encourage them.

Don't carry a mini pump, carry something tall and easily extendable like
a Zefal HP and flick it out over your head as you ride through divebomb
territory. If you have to. And if you're in a group of riders forget it.
Hope the maggie goes for the sacrificial yellow-helmetted guy.

Always easier to go another way home. Do you want to teach the new batch
of maggies to swoop you when they get old enough next season? They do
learn and they learn it from the current generation. Morale: don't
encourage them.

And swatting at maggies while trying to control your bike in traffic and
terrain is just pushing it a bit. I have an old car-doored injury and
forgot this when I swatted absent-mindedly at a maggie swooping in off
to one side of me, result was a popped shoulder and a satisfied (I'm
sure of it) maggie. Lucky there wasn't a semi or bus passing when I
swung out. Morale: sometimes the bird brain has more brains than the
velobeast.

We live longer than maggies, we win the war, we don't need to win every
battle.

spiz said:

Moved in to a new are and sick and tired of being swooped. Short of moving home does anybody have any suggestions?

Just smile and be thankful you don't cycle near Halwill juction in Devon in the UK where a BUZZARD has been dive bombing cyclists (reported in Cycling+ August 2005).

(The Buzzard is a species of hawk which grows to 43 to 53 cm tall and can have a wing span between 1.2 and 1.5 metres - and it has a serious beak for ripping flesh apart!)

Suddenly magpies look attractive.

SteveA

spiz said:

Moved in to a new are and sick and tired of being swooped. Short of
moving home does anybody have any suggestions?

A tennis racquet works nicely.

Wear a bandanna. The flapping material at the back of the head seems to
prevent contact between magpie and head. I've only had one magpie actually
hit my helmet this spring, and I've lost count of the number of times I've
been swooped.

Nick

"spiz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Moved in to a new are and sick and tired of being swooped. Short of
moving home does anybody have any suggestions?

SteveA said:

Just smile and be thankful you don't cycle near Halwill juction in Devon in the UK where a BUZZARD has been dive bombing cyclists (reported in Cycling+ August 2005).

(The Buzzard is a species of hawk which grows to 43 to 53 cm tall and can have a wing span between 1.2 and 1.5 metres - and it has a serious beak for ripping flesh apart!)

Suddenly magpies look attractive.

SteveA

I just read some articles about that Buzzard... geesh! we have it easy out here.... taking chunks out of helmets and ripping bits of flesh off...... sounds almost as bad as mountain biking over in the california bush and having to be aware of Bobcats and the like.

spiz said:

Moved in to a new are and sick and tired of being swooped. Short of
moving home does anybody have any suggestions?

Greetings,
Attach a couple of large cable ties to the rear of the helmet. It
doesn't stop them bombing, but when they get close enough to hit you, it
confuses hell out of them and they break off the attack. Or at least
that's the theory. I'm not sure, a few bombed me this season, but not
severely, so the jury is still out on that one.
regards,
Ray.

"dtmeister" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Fraser Johnston said:

"spiz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Moved in to a new are and sick and tired of being swooped. Short of
moving home does anybody have any suggestions?

Shotgun and #4 birdshot.

Cool, you carry this when riding? Where do you ride?

Nope. Go back at night. ; )

Fraser

Ray Peace said:

Greetings,
Attach a couple of large cable ties to the rear of the helmet. It
doesn't stop them bombing, but when they get close enough to hit you, it
confuses hell out of them and they break off the attack. Or at least
that's the theory. I'm not sure, a few bombed me this season, but not
severely, so the jury is still out on that one.

Nah, doesn't work. I thought it did, coz the regular swooper didn't come close after I put them on, but then I went riding on a different route and a different bugger was dead set on trying to kill me. I do have a nice marty the martian look though :o

Just use them as sprint training 😉

Peka said:

Nah, doesn't work. I thought it did, coz the regular swooper didn't come close after I put them on, but then I went riding on a different route and a different bugger was dead set on trying to kill me. I do have a nice marty the martian look though :o

Just use them as sprint training 😉

l wonder if leaving tasty treats on the top of these cable ties to stop them striking your face,some nice rump steak or worms mmm (you could spike the food :eek: )

Just saw this article if anyone is interested:

http://www.bicyclensw.org.au/news0509d.htm

--
Bean

Remove "yourfinger" before replying
"spiz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Moved in to a new are and sick and tired of being swooped. Short of
moving home does anybody have any suggestions?

--
spiz

spiz said:

Moved in to a new are and sick and tired of being swooped. Short of moving home does anybody have any suggestions?

Every year at this time - the same old post. Must be the most discussed topic on cycling pages in Aus.

Spider1977 said:

Every year at this time - the same old post. Must be the most discussed topic on cycling pages in Aus.

Spider and evry year the same reply......