# Shocking example of Parental Neglect!



## Diwundrin (Sep 30, 2013)

How stupid are Plovers?  

My friend had to drive back down with the brick and lay it there out of the car door because they were dive bombing her for trying to save their eggs from getting run over. 
 I can't believe she spotted them there, must have better eyesight than me.
They don't go to a lot of trouble building a nest do they?


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## That Guy (Sep 30, 2013)

Had a dove lay an egg in a birdbath once.  I read they just drop 'em anywhere . . .


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## nan (Sep 30, 2013)

Silly Plove, even the nest is nothing to be proud of,just a couple of twigs here and there.
The owners of the property are more caring than the mother Plover.


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## Jillaroo (Sep 30, 2013)

_We have them here with babies all the time, and yes they are stupid, have often thought that a touch of lead poisoning would fix 'em_


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## Diwundrin (Sep 30, 2013)

I sorted out the hostilities here by using the garden hose on full bore as a peace negotiation compromise. 
Worked a treat, better track record than the UN.
They stopped dive bombing Belle and I in the yard,  and I stopped blowing them out of the sky with a water jet.  

We have achieved 'detente'.  I don't have to even turn it on now, soon as they see me pick it up they head for the ground and run about in the grass squawking.   Fine, they can yell all they like from ground level, that ain't scary at all.



The cousin, that's his farm in the photo, just dashes out and catches a chick to freak them out then lets it go and they decamp with it to further, safer, pastures.   I'm too slow for that trick but the hose works fine. 



PS. He has used lead injections on a flock of Indian Mynah Birds with a fair degree of success though, but shhhhhh about that.


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## SifuPhil (Sep 30, 2013)

... and now a few words from the Opposition Party ...


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## Diwundrin (Sep 30, 2013)

Yeah, yeah, same old scripted waffle, heard all that before. 

 Constantly!  Day and night!  For years!


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## SifuPhil (Sep 30, 2013)

Awww, I think they're cute. I was watching a few YouTubes of them attacking people, but for the most part the "people" were stupid kids (and a pair of stupid adults) that were teasing the poor things, running back and forth and flapping their arms and screaming, trying to get them to dive-bomb them.

Then when they did they would screech and giggle and laugh, then turn around and do it all over again.

Once again, animals prove their superiority over humans.


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## Diwundrin (Sep 30, 2013)

They may appear pretty harmless, and usually are but they have a spur on the wing which if aimed right can take an eye out.
They are fun to tease though.


They're all bluff and bluster but it can be damned annoying to hear them whizz past your ear.  Not as bad as Magpies though, they click their beaks at the point of closest proximity to our auditory extremities and it makes a sound like a gun cocking.


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## SifuPhil (Sep 30, 2013)

Spurs on wings and gun-cocking magpies ... I'll say it again: you folks down-under have the DAMNEDEST critters roaming the land!

All we have here are birds that go "TWEET-TWEET", cats that go "MEOW" and dogs that go "WOOF-WOOF".

You guys have kamikaze razor-winged pterodactyls and snakes that stand up on six legs, spread their arms and say "TIME TO DIE!"

I never would have made it this far if I had been born in your country. I guess I should be thankful for small blessings ... 

Cracked.com did *a spot-on article* about the subject ...


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## Diwundrin (Oct 1, 2013)

> What do you hate? Traffic? Physicals? Sure you do. But that hatred is a  small, pitiful thing next to the batshit, boiling rage that fills a  magpie's tiny brain every time a bicyclist rides past.



:lofl: We love that funny stuff, and yes we do laugh at ducking and dodging tourists.  (and neighbours)

The Magpie blitzkreigs sure can seem psychotically vindictive but most of us have had 'pet' wild Magpies.  My pair would sit, one on each knee, and peer over the book I was reading and do that begging  'eye thing' that dogs do for a free feed.  I probably helped them raise around 30 to 40 chicks over the years and not one of them ever pecked me.

They are very smart and like all stand-over extortionists the attacks will stop if you give them something.  It's only the wild ones in new territories where they've had no previous business dealings with humans in the free food handout industry that take us for predators and swoop. 

They 'urbanise' almost instantly when they see us throwing them a grub or the end of a sausage or anything organic other than vegetables. They aren't picky, and they aren't stoopid.  The first flight the chicks make is from the nest to the door of the nearest human soft touch, the parents call them in.



Those Koalas are another matter. Wild ones scratch bite and scream at you. But then so do family cats. 


 Even the tame Koalas can sink half an inch of several claws into your shoulder without even thinking about it, it's just called hanging on to them. 
They're also riddled with some variety of venereal disease that's slowly wiping them out but hey,  they're pretty cute right?


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## Warrigal (Oct 1, 2013)

SifuPhil said:


> Spurs on wings and gun-cocking magpies ... I'll say it again: you folks down-under have the DAMNEDEST critters roaming the land!
> 
> All we have here are birds that go "TWEET-TWEET", cats that go "MEOW" and dogs that go "WOOF-WOOF".
> 
> ...



You forgot about the giant earthworms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxeT_GDKv9g
http://museumvictoria.com.au/discoverycentre/infosheets/giant-gippsland-earthworm/


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## Diwundrin (Oct 1, 2013)

They're the ones we use as bait when fishing for these.


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## SifuPhil (Oct 1, 2013)

Diwundrin said:


> The Magpie blitzkreigs sure can seem psychotically vindictive but most of us have had 'pet' wild Magpies.  My pair would sit, one on each knee, and peer over the book I was reading and do that begging  'eye thing' that dogs do for a free feed.  I probably helped them raise around 30 to 40 chicks over the years and not one of them ever pecked me.
> 
> They are very smart and like all stand-over extortionists the attacks will stop if you give them something.  It's only the wild ones in new territories where they've had no previous business dealings with humans in the free food handout industry that take us for predators and swoop.
> 
> They 'urbanise' almost instantly when they see us throwing them a grub or the end of a sausage or anything organic other than vegetables. They aren't picky, and they aren't stoopid.  The first flight the chicks make is from the nest to the door of the nearest human soft touch, the parents call them in.



Amazing stuff. The closest thing to a magpie I've ever experienced was our bluejays. Noisy little critters, excellent mimics too - we had one that perfectly imitated the squeaky clothesline and the screen door opening and closing. I used to hand-feed them peanuts in the shell, but they never brought their babies nor did they psychotically dive-bomb anything but the poor family cat. 



> Those Koalas are another matter. Wild ones scratch bite and scream at you. But then so do family cats.
> 
> 
> Even the tame Koalas can sink half an inch of several claws into your shoulder without even thinking about it, it's just called hanging on to them.
> They're also riddled with some variety of venereal disease that's slowly wiping them out but hey,  they're pretty cute right?



Koalas have VD? 

I guess they never watched the training films in the military. So much for those 3-day passes to Thailand.



Warrigal said:


> You forgot about the giant earthworms
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxeT_GDKv9g
> http://museumvictoria.com.au/discoverycentre/infosheets/giant-gippsland-earthworm/



Oh. Dear. Lord.

That's ... that's just wrong! Worms are supposed to be tiny little things you step on after a rainstorm, and sometimes they wear glasses if they're bookworms, but they are NOT supposed to be big enough to wrestle you!



Diwundrin said:


> They're the ones we use as bait when fishing for these.



I don't doubt it. In my younger days I would have laughed and said "Photoshop!", but now I know better - now I know that Australia harbors creatures not created by any benevolent God.


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## Jillaroo (Oct 1, 2013)

_Phil they even have maps showing where the magpies attack in the Nth East Victoria_

http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/1809739/map-show-us-where-youve-been-swooped/?cs=53


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## SifuPhil (Oct 1, 2013)

Jillaroo said:


> _Phil they even have maps showing where the magpies attack in the Nth East Victoria_
> 
> http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/1809739/map-show-us-where-youve-been-swooped/?cs=53



That's insane. And yet they're protected species.  

The only predators that get tracked over _here_ are the perverts ...


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## Diwundrin (Oct 1, 2013)

We like our Maggies.  Well, most of us anyway. 

A hairdresser opened up in an old shop among houses near us and a young Maggie in his first breeding season in the small park opposite  started bombing the clients so she'd go out with a handful of those little soft chewy dog food meaty bites things and throw them at him.  He got the message in no time and would flap and call at the door so she'd throw more at him,  but never bombed anyone again.


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## Warrigal (Oct 1, 2013)

I like my maggies too and I don't offer them any treats.
I talk to them though and I reckon they know my voice and that I'm not a threat.
They scour my lawn for grubs and enjoy the bird bath.

They never bomb anyone even though their tree is on the footpath in front of the house.
It is a very tall eucalyptus so they probably feel quite secure.


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## Diwundrin (Oct 2, 2013)

While I was pinching Cliveas from my cousin's yard because she was putting the house on sale and didn't want to take them, I had a tuxedoed supervisor drop in.  
He wasn't our 'pet' but sure wasn't shy.  
He strolled right in close and proceeded to carefully inspect each trowel full of dirt and scratch through it before I could lift it to tip it out. 
 He was no help pulling the plants up but did give the holes a good going over before I refilled them.


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