Snaking around the parakeet problem | Letters
Stephen Pound on using rubber serpents to deal with greedy, ring-necked parakeets. Plus letters from Dr Andrew Bodey and Nigel Walker The curse of the ring-necked parakeets so vividly described in your report certainly struck a chord with me and, no doubt, with many more Londoners (Rapid expansion of ring-necked parakeets in UK sparks concern, 2 January). Whether the green beasts escaped from the set of the African Queen or from Jimi Hendrix’s garden matters not to me but I did object most strongly to the flashmobs that descended on my bird tables and whose rapacious greed drove away many of the native species. However, all was not lost when I calculated that the parakeets were of tropical origin and held within their DNA an atavistic fear of snakes. Draping my feeders with realistic rubber serpents achieved an almost instant absence of the greedy greens and allowed my long established west London avian neighbours to regroup and enjoy their new year feast of suet and seeds without suffering the egregious emerald assaults. Stephen Pound London Continue reading...
Stephen Pound on using rubber serpents to deal with greedy, ring-necked parakeets. Plus letters from Dr Andrew Bodey and Nigel Walker
The curse of the ring-necked parakeets so vividly described in your report certainly struck a chord with me and, no doubt, with many more Londoners (Rapid expansion of ring-necked parakeets in UK sparks concern, 2 January). Whether the green beasts escaped from the set of the African Queen or from Jimi Hendrix’s garden matters not to me but I did object most strongly to the flashmobs that descended on my bird tables and whose rapacious greed drove away many of the native species.
However, all was not lost when I calculated that the parakeets were of tropical origin and held within their DNA an atavistic fear of snakes. Draping my feeders with realistic rubber serpents achieved an almost instant absence of the greedy greens and allowed my long established west London avian neighbours to regroup and enjoy their new year feast of suet and seeds without suffering the egregious emerald assaults.
Stephen Pound
London