Mockingbird Driving Me Insane

[irockalltherocks 55]

So for the last 2 weeks, there has been a mockingbird on my property singing all night. It starts around 9:00 p.m. and goes until sun up. It flies from the roof to a tree to a neighbor's tree and back again. If I go into the backyard, it flies off. I'll stand in the backyard with a flashlight, locate the bird, shine the light on it - nothing. Just keeps on singing. Meanwhile I'm getting eaten by mosquitoes and losing sleep. I assume it's a male mockingbird looking for a mate, which I don't want it to find as that will just lead to more mockingbirds in my area. I never had mockingbirds around my house until they showed up last spring, when they started to perch on my fence and harass my dog. Is there anything I can do to get this bird to stop singing at night?

I realize it's illegal to shoot a mockingbird as it's the state bird and some book says it's a sin. Also, I already asked my husband.

[South Austin 52620]

 

[irockalltherocks 55]

Yea if this keeps up I fully expect to find myself in a dog van full of strangers singing.

[gyroprotagonist 2595]

lure a hawk into your backyard?

 

[irockalltherocks 55]

22 minutes ago, gyroprotagonist said:

lure a hawk into your backyard?

 

I spent part of Monday night walking around my backyard playing red tailed hawk sounds on my phone. No joy.

[Jerry Callo 8731]

Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.  They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.  That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.

[phdhorn 6224]

It's saying "this is my fucking territory."  Mockingbirds are notoriously aggressive territorialists, and once they establish a domain there's not much you can do but get a bigger bird to chase it away.

However, I would consider climbing up the neighbor's tree and pissing all over it.

Oh, and post pics.

[Victorious1 166]

You ever catch yourself yelling at clouds?

[Sandman 3414]

Would you say that this bird is....mocking you?  Interesting.

[RollLeft 5045]

[gyroprotagonist 2595]

or maybe tear your fence down akita-style.  that will surely assert your dominance.

[HornOnTheBayou 8947]

I would go to Barnes and Noble or the library and ask for a book on how to kill a mockingbird.

[Sbbruin 21894]

2 hours ago, South Austin said:

 

I had already copied this for posting before clicking on the thread.

[irockalltherocks 55]

Monday night was walking around playing hawk sounds. Last night was using my son's super soaker water gun, blasting the yaupon tree where I thought the mockingbird was. Also trying to shoot water at the bird when it was on my 2nd story roof, resulting in drenching an upstairs window. So I guess yelling at clouds isn't far behind.

[HouTex 1894]

Mockingbirds are a nuisance.  They loved to destroy my Dad's tomato crop--we'd see them do it.  Big mistake making them the state bird.  They should be treated like other non-game, non-shore birds in Texas, i.e.  fair game.

[orange dream 1256]

Three 'S' rule applies in this situation...

Shoot

Shovel

Shutup

[Armybrat 40918]

Years ago one of those mean little shits kept dive bombing me from a neighbor's tree whenever I walked out the front door my house, then it would sit on the peak of my roof and mock me (/Trump).

So I got my old Red Ryder BB gun to shoot that little bastard and stung him in the ass with one shot.  It did the trick, and he stuck over on the neighbor's side of the street for the rest of the summer after that warning.

Can't hear birds singing anyway, my tinnitus drowns them out.

[Jerry Callo 8731]

1 hour ago, HouTex said:

Mockingbirds are a nuisance.  They loved to destroy my Dad's tomato crop--we'd see them do it.  Big mistake making them the state bird.  They should be treated like other non-game, non-shore birds in Texas, i.e.  fair game.

Mockingbird is not protected because it is the state bird, it's protected because its a song bird.  The only unprotected birds in Texas are European starlings, English sparrows, pigoens, Ring-neck doves, and a couple of waterfowl.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

Go hide inside the house, in the room with yellow wallpaper.

[Mikey4 2476]

Just shoot it with a bb gun. I know, I'm evil. But I like sleep.

[irockalltherocks 55]

For that I would need a night vision rig to find the damn thing. Then a laser sight/flashlight mounted on my son's BB gun.

(Can't see shit at night.)

[HouTex 1894]

34 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

Mockingbird is not protected because it is the state bird, it's protected because its a song bird.  The only unprotected birds in Texas are European starlings, English sparrows, pigoens, Ring-neck doves, and a couple of waterfowl.

As Judge Roy Bean would say, "that's a bad law" as he rips the page from the book.

The rules/regs might have changed somewhat, but I recall that crows and some other birds also can be taken without limit if they need to be "controlled".  IIRC, if they were a "nuisance"  you could kill them and you were given wide latitude on whether a nuisance existed. 

This is what I was thinking of:  Section 64.002(c) of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code:

(c)  A permit is not required to control yellow-headed, 
red-winged, rusty, or Brewer's blackbirds or all grackles, 
cowbirds, crows, or magpies when found committing or about to 
commit depredations on ornamental or shade trees, agricultural 
crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in numbers and 
in a manner that constitutes a health hazard or other nuisance.

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/SDocs/PARKSANDWILDLIFECODE.pdf

[kangsta 50]

44 minutes ago, irockalltherocks said:

For that I would need a night vision rig to find the damn thing. Then a laser sight/flashlight mounted on my son's BB gun.

(Can't see shit at night.)

Well, you know what you need to do.  Let us know how it goes. 

[XYZ 2154]

BB gun?

[Baboontyme 2825]

bottle rockets maybe

[irockalltherocks 55]

Time to hunt.



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[freyguy 4303]

[Sam Lin 3561]

Your gun choices suck.

[WhatTheBuck 28801]

14 hours ago, irockalltherocks said:

For that I would need a night vision rig to find the damn thing. Then a laser sight/flashlight mounted on my son's BB gun.

That sounds fun. 

[El Diablo 4232]

If it's singing something catchy like "Party In The USA" I don't see the problem.

[Hugh G. Rection 156]

They need trees to roost and build nests.  Cut down your trees.  If it roosts in an neighbor's tree, cut that down too.

[Irwin F Fletcher 3550]

14 hours ago, irockalltherocks said:

Time to hunt.



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Are you hoping for a wet t-shirt contest to break out? 

[B00M 6466]

Nerf guns to temporarily scare it away then a dildo for yourself during breaks? Nice

[kevwun 15925]

On 10/3/2018 at 11:27 AM, Jerry Callo said:

Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.  They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.  That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.

Not actually true, they used to peck the tomatoes in my grandpa's garden all the damn time.

[irockalltherocks 55]

Wish me luck guys. Hopefully no errant shots resulting in lawsuits from my neighbors.



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[TwiceHorn 31539]

Seriously, shoot the Red Ryder in the vicinity of the sumbitch.  Don't have to even hit it.  5-10 shots up in the tree 2 or 3 days running will probably drive it off.  When I was a kid, we had those type Daisys and rarely if ever shot directly at birds.  But there were no birds in our yard at all just from all the bbs whizzing around.

 

What's the break barrel?

[Errestaurants 2570]

Go post this question on TexAgs. They're experts with animals.

[SquishMitten 10441]

He wants to get rid of it, not fuck it

[irockalltherocks 55]

11 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

What's the break barrel?

Pellet gun. I've used it on rats, but the pellets go right through them if you don't hit them in the head.

[Irwin F Fletcher 3550]

13 hours ago, irockalltherocks said:

Wish me luck guys. Hopefully no errant shots resulting in lawsuits from my neighbors.



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So I take it the water guns didn't work, surprising.

[davidg 4038]

 

[irockalltherocks 55]

14 minutes ago, Irwin F Fletcher said:

So I take it the water guns didn't work, surprising.

I'm having a hard time locating his position at night, as he goes silent or flies off when I walk out to the backyard, so so far nothing has worked. The water guns work very well in daylight hours to drive the mockingbirds away from our fence.

Edited October 5, 2018 by irockalltherocks

[irockalltherocks 55]

Fired bb’s randomly into bushes and trees on the weekend. No hits and didn’t scare him off.

Installed this on Sunday to no effect:


Last night I played male mockingbird sounds I found on YouTube. That makes him stop for awhile, but then he starts up again. This sucks.


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[Jerry Callo 8731]

[TwiceHorn 31539]

On 10/5/2018 at 8:35 AM, irockalltherocks said:

Pellet gun. I've used it on rats, but the pellets go right through them if you don't hit them in the head.

Well, duh, what make model caliber?  Keep shooting the Red Ryder around him, that will probably ultimately work.

Edited October 10, 2018 by TwiceHorn

[GSU&UT 1798]

Motherfucker just chop down all your trees, boom problem solved.

[GSU&UT 1798]

And your roof

[Sam Lin 3561]

2 hours ago, irockalltherocks said:

Fired bb’s randomly into bushes and trees on the weekend. 

Noone on this thread suggested this. Interesting tactic.

[RollLeft 5045]

 

[RollLeft 5045]

or