The other magpie post prompted me to relate this tale from long ago,
in another city. I was being monstered regularly on my commute, by
a particularly nasty specimen. I'd had previous experience with them,
but this was truly The Magpie From Hell.
One weekend, nursing a gashed ear, I bought a cheap industrial
hardhat (this was prior to compulsory helmet laws). I took to it
with jigsaw, araldite, fibreglass and bolts, and fixed onto it a metal
bracket to which I could attach a rat trap.
I now went forth with some confidence - appropriately it seems,
though not for the obvious reason. The magpie simply would never
approach me while I was wearing the rat trap! I could never figure
out how it knew.
The experiment came to its obvious end a couple of weeks later,
when in a moment of distraction I went to pick up the hat and
forgot I hadn't unset the trap .........
--
beerwolf (remove numbers from email address)