| Author | Message | ||
     Rick_a |
It's much funner being a "sniper." There's a few hundred yards of woods behind the house so a safe angle with a pellet gun is easy to do. | ||
| Ourdee |
I can not condone risking a hit on a human. Know the ranges and back stops with room for deflected shots. Shooting in some towns is not always legal. Know your birds very well. Some birds are never legal. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
I think Court may need to consult his dictionary to learn the meaning of the word "Overkill"  | ||
| Aesquire |
There is no Overkill, there is only "Open Fire" and "Time to Reload". http://store.schlockmercenary.com/ProductDetails.a sp?ProductCode=P-R37 | ||
| 86129squids |
Good call on the trap- seems the most effective approach so far. Plinking away might be fun, but too many risks... Still, I'm thinking that dropping the female out of the pairs already moving into my houses might be prudent. Then catch the colony. Anyone know the odds of the little buggers finding their way back if I drive them waaay out to the country? They DO fly, after all... The GF isn't too keen on exterminating, so I'll have to at least pretend to catch and release.  Starlings would still pretty much require a pellet/paintball gun. I'd get plenty of satisfaction blowing them to smithereens. | ||
| Sifo |
A blow gun would make it a challenge, and limit danger downrange. | ||
| 86129squids |
Ha! THAT would be kinda fun- I grew up with asthma, as I got into my 20's my lung strength got much better... So far, the trap idea seems to be the most effective and efficient. | ||
| Imadog |
My dad had purple martins before the invasion of starlings... he had a live trap on the bottom of the martin house pole for Sparrows.. Oh, BTW someone called the law on him cause he would just use a BB gun to finish them off rather than to relocate them. Too keep Starlings from taking over your Martin house I think there are special entrance holes for martins available. | ||
| 86129squids |
Yeah, the architecture and design are important... Spring will be an interesting time. | ||
| Ourdee |
there is only "Open Fire" and "Time to Reload". Don't forget "Moving". Get it wrong and someone will come along and put your head on a stick! | ||
| Just_ziptab |
MyPurple Martin house has the small entrance hole...but the starlings still get in and build a nest  I saw a blowgun video with a laser pen on it for a sight....looks like that worked great | ||
| Bads1 |
Top is a Crosman and bottom is a Benjamin/Sheridan. The bottom would be a Sheridan silver streak. That one made in the 80's if memory serves | ||
| Bads1 |
heres what I use. http://www.budk.com/category/Hunting-Shooting/Blow guns/pc/2959/2964.uts | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Could you find a starling's alarm call, to repel them but not other birds, and broadcast it through a speaker, or something similar. | ||
| Ezblast |
Save your money - all you need is this and a can on the ground to practice with - lol  Good for persuading squirrels, birds, and other varmints to relocate elsewhere - lol EZ | ||
| Aesquire |
You'll put your eye out! | ||
| Greg_e |
That rifle is cruel, not enough power to reliably do more than injure the birds or other pests. Fun to go plinking, but not for pest control! (Message edited by greg_e on February 04, 2015) | ||
| Rick_a |
Close. Benjamin-Sheridan 397P (after the merger) and purchased in the early 90's. They did call all the nickel guns a "silver streak." ...and...  | ||
| Rick_a |
This is the least powerful gun I have that can reliably get the job done. Not much bigger than a typical handgun.  I shoot it quite well. Nobody else can for some reason. | ||
| 86129squids |
Realistically, I'll be getting a trap. In addition to the 2 or 3 bird couples that are already looking to move in, there is at least one pretty big colony of these buggers hanging around every year. As much fun as a pellet gun would be, gotta be sensible about it. Thanks, all for the advice! | ||
| Etennuly |
Hang a fine net across the area. Pick the birds you don't want out of the net to release elsewhere, let the select birds loose in your area. Years ago I saw a bird feeder modified with a spring trap to keep squirrels at bay. The guy would wait for a squirrel to get into the bird feeder and pushes a button.....BAM! the squirrel is launched into the next neighborhood, bird food is saved, trap resets automatically. Should be a good program for launching unwanted birds. | ||
| Bads1 |
Rick I Live in Racine. I worked there from 1987 till 1990. I most likely is the one that for sure did the glass bead blasting on your gun. But I also worked in the plating department which was next step with one other (Ed) was his name and probably did the plating. But the guns were either Benjamins or Sheridans. They were boxed and even tested on different test lines.The owner at the time Ray Katt was a good friend of my Fathers. I left because it was sold to Crossman and was offered relocation but at that time it wasn't worth it. Nobody left withe company. If I remember maybe just maybe 75 total plant workers. | ||
| Bads1 |
Have you ever seen one of these ?? Its the 100th Anniversary we made them in 1987. Ihave one. It was offered to me by Ray Katt for my Dad. I was told after him handing me the Blanks for the build. That I could build this on my Lunch breaks or after work. Its serial number 2. I'd imagine number one was sold to Crossman because it was a part of the Museum there. http://s115.photobucket.com/user/tripleguy01/media /Centennial1.jpg.html | ||
| Reepicheep |
Very nice! | ||
| Greg_e |
Is that silver plate or chrome? | ||
| Rick_a |
Mine has "Benjamin - Sheridan" on the receiver. It was purchased at Wally World ~1993 (probably have a receipt somewhere). | ||
| Bads1 |
They all did. The Sheridan was a bit longer .025. Your gun might be made by Crossman. Greg the gun is actually polish Brass. | ||
| Etennuly |
Hey Brad.....when I was a teenager we had a problem with bats in our neighborhood. An old abandoned house had a loose board up on the top of the second floor at the peak of the roof. In summer the bats would drop down and curve around the side of the house. We noticed that bat after bat had the same path of travel about eight feet from the ground around the corner. We flipped a garbage can over and brought tennis rackets. There were at least a couple hundred bats in that house. So it took several evenings to "eradicate" the problem. This method would probably not work on daytime fliers. | ||
| Ducbsa |
I thought bats were good? | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Bats are good, but not in your house. They will wreck your attic in no time, necessitating some hazmat type cleanups. They can also spread a fair bit of nasty diseases. Although there are more conservation minded methods of eradication than tennis rackets... |
