Sparrow Plague

[Ned]

My house in rural Chiang Mai is being taken over by sparrows, slowly but surely. I'm going to carry out my own cull as I worry about the tons of potentially flu carrying bird crap that is falling from the sky daily. What is the best freely available poison I can use. Thanks for any advice.

ps Have tried firecrackers but the critters come back when all the noise is over. Have put up bird wire in many places but the shitters fill the trees and have moved to the garage.

Hitchcock. Come on Down!

[Gazza]

Not sure that it's a good idea introducing poison into a food chain.

Have you tried one of those wind toys. You know, a plastic or wooden bird on a string that you hang up and it flaps up and down when there's a breeze. Normally, the bird looks like a white dove or seagull, but if you re-painted it to look like a bird of prey and then hang it up somewhere high, then who knows? It might scare the little buggers away.

[VanZam]

Slug gun, perfect for bird control, hours of fun for the whole family.

[350torana]

Get a cat or two. A fake bird of prey might work, but i always thought sparrows where to nimble to be bothered by them . Maybe set up bird houses away from the house, if u have a large garden .

[Thaicoon]

They have a habit of making nests in the valleys of the roof, if you do not watch this you will have ceilings come down, the nest blocks the water outlets, every couple of months i get a couple of guys in the village to go in the loft and clear any debrie and all the valleys, catch it when you can and you will not have any problems with the house, the only problem i have is the same as you, getting rid of the sparrows.

[bina]

the guy that works with me is great with a sling shot; we have a huge sparrow problem so...

every day he brings a whole lot down, some go to our small carnivorous mammals, and some go to us, roasted on a fire, they're a great between meal snack...issan style

after a week or two, almost no sparrows, and when those that are left see him lift his arm, they take off...

now we have a crow problem, and the thai workers here wont eat them (they say they are 'bad' birds bad luck whatever)

[astral]

Don't worry, they are only tourists.

They will leave again in the Spring.

In the meantime a cat might help.

[kurgen]

Try laceing a loaf of bread with dynamite,problem solved

[Thaicoon]

Sparrows the bigest problem, another problem regarding Wildlife, not snakes at the moment, but these red ants, have a bench in the garden, when sitting down reading the paper they bite me to ######, if any of you have the same problem , i think i have found a cure, spray vinager where they are, the problem solved, then you can use some to put on the fried sparrows, tasty

[MaiSonJai]

In my case, it is not sparrows, it is pigeons.

One of my neighbours keeps a house for them only (and when I say a house, it is really a house, two storeys...)

There is a few dozens of them and they keep dirtying EVERYTHING.

My other neighbour is so fed up that he just tries to kill them.

Any other way?

Is there anything pigeons really do not like?

[pnustedt]

these red ants, have a bench in the garden, when sitting down reading the paper they bite me to ######, if any of you have the same problem , i think i have found a cure, spray vinager where they are,  the problem solved

I did have ant problems - I found the small tins of powder you can buy from the supermarkets works. You need to put small heaps in a dry place along the ant trails. The little buggers take the powder back to the nest and it kills them off - both the large and the small ants.

Sparrows aren't a problem for me - the locals eat as many as they can catch.

[Ajarn]

My paint ball gun shoots 13 rounds per second at 300+ feet per second

Like not lethal to the birds, but certainly annoying to them

[Ajarn]

but these red ants, have a bench in the garden, when sitting down reading the paper they bite me to ######, if any of you have the same problem , i think i have found a cure, spray vinager where they are,  the problem solved, 

How long does the vinegar last before they come back- and they always will, in my experience, even when I spray them with chemicals likely to give me cancer in 5 years...

The chemy stuff is oil based, and very effective for about six months in my case. I wonder about the effect continued use of vinegar might have on the finish, too.

Those little ###### red ants are annoying!

The BIG red ones though, I show proper respect. Strong, and very aggressive when ###### with. So far, our understanding is one of 'live, and let live'. Once, I teased one with the edge of my business card- and he yanked it out of my hand!