Keeps happening

LoneOakMartins · Wed May 02, 2012 5:24 am

There is something goining on in Lone Oak. I heard my martins fussing and when I checked, there was another starling sitting on the gourd rack. Now this is where the story gets strange. "Somehow", the starling ended up in the cross hairs of my scope and bam, he fell to the ground kicking his little legs. I don't know how or why this keeps happening. Poor little things. That's 5 that have taken a dive head first to the ground. TeeHee

Emil Pampell-Tx · Wed May 02, 2012 5:26 am

The starlings are easy to hit, hope that you can also hit the sparrows

The sparrows hop around so much, sometimes they hop about the time that I pull the trigger, then I miss them.

TammyBears · Wed May 02, 2012 2:38 pm

That's really odd...it's been happening around hear too

I'm a new landlord and was afraid that the .22 shot would scare my martins. But with all the assurance on the forum we started taking our shots. The first time, the martins just flew up a second and came right back down. I was surprised that was the only reaction. Then the other morning there were 2 starlings, somehow

one of them fell to the ground and the martins didn't even budge! About an hour later another starling took a dive to the ground

and again, my martins didn't even budge. I got a kick outta that.

Vern1 · Wed May 02, 2012 4:54 pm

The Martins look around at all we spend on racks and stuff to take care of them, they know we wouldn't be gunning for them....at least I hope they appreciate how much time, work and money I put in their homes.

Heck, one year I had a martin that cost me over 500.00 in gourds, racks, time, etc....since he was my only resident....LOL!

Eyestothesky2 · Tue May 08, 2012 12:35 pm

Do you guys use a blind? Dress up in full camo? The starlings around here are very leery of us. My husband shot his first starling yesterday with a pellet rifle. We celebrated!! We are looking into other ways to rid our martins of these sorry vermin. I want a trap, but haven't found one that will fit Big Bo gourds.

Emil Pampell-Tx · Tue May 08, 2012 12:49 pm

A trap does not need to fit a gourd if you place the trap in a place where martins do not go, like near some bushes or trees. If you use SREH, then the starlings may try the gourds, then next they probably will go to the traps, or they may try the traps before the try the gourds.

I have my poles set up so that I can shoot at the S&S from a window. I have some camo over the windy, and if I see a scum bird, I slowly open the camo, slide the pellet rifle thru, and they hardly ever see me.

A blind works good, but they sometimes watch you go in, and then they will not go to the housing. Get someone else to walk out to the blind with you, then the other person walks back to the house, the birds cannot count!

Also a pickup if you can park it near the housing, the birds pay no attention to the truck.

Eyestothesky2 · Tue May 08, 2012 8:21 pm

Emil, thanks for your tips! I am happy to report that three more starlings took a dive this afternoon thanks to my husband's 410 shotgun. Never even saw starlings around here until a careless neighbor allowed them to nest in his attic. I tried to convince them to make repairs and evict them, mainly for health reasons (droppings, dead nestlings, etc..) but they didn't seem at all concerned. Go figure. My husband and I joked about using a blind - since hearing about your success, we may have to do the same. Thanks again for your input!

cbyeagley · Tue May 08, 2012 9:01 pm

I was a little apprehensive about using a gun to get rid of three pesky Starlings that we have. I was afraid it would scare off our first time resident Martins, but it sounds like the Martins would probably stay. We have just waited so long to get them that I don't want to do anything to jeopardize having them stay. This Forum is a great education tool as well as a great way to talk to other Martin lovers. Thanks to all for the info you post.