My Favorite Self-Propagating Target: European Starlings!
Yep, it's that time again. Hunting season for small game is over in my part of the world, big game season has been over for quite awhile, and I'm zeroing in on my favorite target.....the European starling.
I've written a few times about this pest that comes in enormous numbers. Introduced into the United States in the late 19th century/early 20th century, is has become an ecological phenomenon, replacing and/or competing with our native songbirds and cavity dwelling avian species.
Starlings are well-equipped to be called the Vikings of the Bird World. They swamp their competition in numbers, raid nests and take over nesting sites, and quarrel with just about everyone else in the bird world. Like a plague, they descend on food lots, feeding troughs, dog pens with food left out....anything edible they will target. Their droppings leave unsightly and unhealthy spores and bacteria that can cause histoplasmosis and other potentially threatening diseases.
This time of year, the starlings are beginning to look for potential nesting sites. They will spend the early part of a morning cruising tree lines, old buildings, and abandoned houses, as well as inhabited buildings, for the cavity they desire to nest in. Hollow trees, the eaves of a house that has a small entrance, metal telephone poles at intersections....anywhere there is a cavity, they will set up housekeeping.
I spend a little time each morning that I can waiting on my front porch for the starlings to come swooping in. They explore the old-growth trees on my property for places to nest, and I often get a shot or two in if I am patient enough. Each starling that I take out of circulation is one less starling to compete with my beautiful bluebirds, woodpeckers, and other cavity-dwelling species that I try and help in my area of the neighborhood. Is it a losing battle? Perhaps, but the effort still needs to be made. And the incredible number of targets that starlings present gives me some out-of-season pleasure, as well as keeps my targeting skills up-to-date for when game season opens.
At Compasseco, one of my favorite starling guns is the TF-78 and its cousins. CO2 operated, this gun has more potential for pest control than most folks give it credit. It is incredibly accurate, accepts a variety of scopes with its 3/8" dovetail grooves on the breech, and likes a variety of ammo. The trigger group can be tweaked to provide a very nice trigger, and the bolt-action is reminiscent of the classic centerfire rifles that so many hunters grew up with.
If CO2 isn't your favorite type of airgun powerplant, consider the economical line of Tech Force-branded spring-piston guns. They come in different styles of cocking mechanisms, break barrel, side-lever, and underlever, and offer some of the most economical choices for airgun fun from any vendor on the internet.
Whichever type of airgun you choose for pest control, I hope you'll remember to help out the native species in your area and assist the Department of Natural Resources in your area by knocking off a few of my favorite targets....the European Starling!
I've written a few times about this pest that comes in enormous numbers. Introduced into the United States in the late 19th century/early 20th century, is has become an ecological phenomenon, replacing and/or competing with our native songbirds and cavity dwelling avian species.
Starlings are well-equipped to be called the Vikings of the Bird World. They swamp their competition in numbers, raid nests and take over nesting sites, and quarrel with just about everyone else in the bird world. Like a plague, they descend on food lots, feeding troughs, dog pens with food left out....anything edible they will target. Their droppings leave unsightly and unhealthy spores and bacteria that can cause histoplasmosis and other potentially threatening diseases.
This time of year, the starlings are beginning to look for potential nesting sites. They will spend the early part of a morning cruising tree lines, old buildings, and abandoned houses, as well as inhabited buildings, for the cavity they desire to nest in. Hollow trees, the eaves of a house that has a small entrance, metal telephone poles at intersections....anywhere there is a cavity, they will set up housekeeping.
I spend a little time each morning that I can waiting on my front porch for the starlings to come swooping in. They explore the old-growth trees on my property for places to nest, and I often get a shot or two in if I am patient enough. Each starling that I take out of circulation is one less starling to compete with my beautiful bluebirds, woodpeckers, and other cavity-dwelling species that I try and help in my area of the neighborhood. Is it a losing battle? Perhaps, but the effort still needs to be made. And the incredible number of targets that starlings present gives me some out-of-season pleasure, as well as keeps my targeting skills up-to-date for when game season opens.
At Compasseco, one of my favorite starling guns is the TF-78 and its cousins. CO2 operated, this gun has more potential for pest control than most folks give it credit. It is incredibly accurate, accepts a variety of scopes with its 3/8" dovetail grooves on the breech, and likes a variety of ammo. The trigger group can be tweaked to provide a very nice trigger, and the bolt-action is reminiscent of the classic centerfire rifles that so many hunters grew up with.
If CO2 isn't your favorite type of airgun powerplant, consider the economical line of Tech Force-branded spring-piston guns. They come in different styles of cocking mechanisms, break barrel, side-lever, and underlever, and offer some of the most economical choices for airgun fun from any vendor on the internet.
Whichever type of airgun you choose for pest control, I hope you'll remember to help out the native species in your area and assist the Department of Natural Resources in your area by knocking off a few of my favorite targets....the European Starling!
posted by Randy Mitchell at
8:58 AM
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