They are all gone???`

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kmd1984

Member
Feb 20, 2016
997
14
Utah, United States
I am new to PCP air rifles and "hunting" (I put hunting in a quotation marks, because I have a hard time calling 'sitting in the bedroom window and shooting something that just sits there' hunting). Anyhow. I had some issues with prairie dogs and magpies, so I started shooting them. I probably got 8 PG and 3 MP. I figured that it would take much more "hunting" to get rid of all of them, but I apparently did?! I guess? 

That said, can someone explain what possibly happened here? I doubt that there were only 8 PG around? I know that there used to be a ton more MP around, but not any more. Did I "scare" them away? Did they get gun-shy and moved on? What is going on?

Thanks,

Kmd

p.s. I use a Marauder .25
 
We don't have P-dogs here in my part of California, but we do have ground squirrels with very similar habits. From my experience over years of hunting them they will sometimes leave an area if they are shot at enough. (sometimes once or twice will do it) The "perfect storm" of ground squirrels in 2010 was responsible for the current phase of my airgun addiction. I recently met up with a neighbor who had a very bad ground squirrel problem and it was an epic few weeks to have a target rich environment and two accurate rifles to shoot, along with the holdover figured out and charted! If you've gotten mildly addicted to the crack of a solid head shot (as I have) you may need to find some neighbors who have pest problems to keep your skills sharp.
 
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California ground squirrels almost seem to communicate telepathically-(yeah, sounds a bit out there). Once I start shooting in an area the whole environs seems to become extra careful. Could be the survivors move out to adjacent mounds and their caution is picked up on by the whole colony. For dumb animals the little buggers are pretty wise,lol! I'm still not quite sure how they recognize when you're approaching your comfortable shooting distance and do a burrow dive 10 or 20 yards further out.
The moral is: make sure you're ready the first time you shoot in a target rich spot!
 
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"JohnL57"We don't have P-dogs here in my part of California, but we do have ground squirrels with very similar habits. From my experience over years of hunting them they will sometimes leave an area if they are shot at enough. (sometimes once or twice will do it) The "perfect storm" of ground squirrels in 2010 was responsible for the current phase of my airgun addiction. I recently met up with a neighbor who had a very bad ground squirrel problem and it was an epic few weeks to have a target rich environment and two accurate rifles to shoot, along with the holdover figured out and charted! If you've gotten mildly addicted to the crack of a solid head shot (as I have) you may need to find some neighbors who have pest problems to keep your skills sharp.
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Once or twice, huh? Amazing. 

Some of my neighbors mentioned that they have PD problems. However, I just moved here and don't know them that well... I have to wait until I run into them again, and that's when I am going to ask if they want me to take care of the problem. 

Thanks,

Kmd
 
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"bill_dd97"P-dogs can start to get gun shy. Magpies are very smart and will avoid danger. I read somewhere that they are the only bird species that can recognize themselves in a mirror.
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Whats the definition of "gun shy"? I remember reading that the sound of rim fire guns will make them gun shy, but I use an air rifle (obviously), and would think that they are not getting annoyed by the sound?! So it must be something else. However, I have seen PG's getting shot right next to other PG's and none of them cared. So I doubt they put one and one together, ha ha. 

Thanks,

Kmd
 
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"JohnL57"California ground squirrels almost seem to communicate telepathically-(yeah, sounds a bit out there). Once I start shooting in an area the whole environs seems to become extra careful. Could be the survivors move out to adjacent mounds and their caution is picked up on by the whole colony. For dumb animals the little buggers are pretty wise,lol! I'm still not quite sure how they recognize when you're approaching your comfortable shooting distance and do a burrow dive 10 or 20 yards further out.
The moral is: make sure you're ready the first time you shoot in a target rich spot!
Click to expand...
Wow, very interesting!
 
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"Alan"Grackles are smart too. Keep shooting them in one close knit area, and fairly soon you don't see any. And funny thing. I typically don't try for HOSPs, but they've diminished too, since I've been knocking off the collared doves, pigeons, and grackles. Maybe they're smarter that we think!
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Hmm, it really looks like that they do know what is going on...! What are HOSPs, btw?

Thanks,

Kmd
 
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"RidinLou"Grackles continue to be a limited problem, but not groups, just ones and twos.

Starlings flocked in early spring last year, but after a couple of multi kill days, I have not seen any since.
Somehow they passed the word as there were never this spring.
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Again, it really seems like they are communicating. Good for them, ha ha.
 
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Problem is, we are home all the time, and I am telling you right now, everything is gone. LOL. Nothing here. Nothing.

I spoke to my neighbors yesterday. The guy next to me shot 62 (if I remember correctly) prairie dogs last year, and only 6 - 7 this year. He said that for the first time in 4 years, there are flowers in his garden again... Thanks to me, he says. : )

The guy across doesn't shoot them, but he said that he hasn't seen any [prairie dogs] for a while either. His problem were more the magpies though. He hasn't seen more than one or two as of lately...

Anyhow, I need to find a new spot. : )
 
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"kmd1984"
"JohnL57"California ground squirrels almost seem to communicate telepathically-(yeah, sounds a bit out there). Once I start shooting in an area the whole environs seems to become extra careful. Could be the survivors move out to adjacent mounds and their caution is picked up on by the whole colony. For dumb animals the little buggers are pretty wise,lol! I'm still not quite sure how they recognize when you're approaching your comfortable shooting distance and do a burrow dive 10 or 20 yards further out.
The moral is: make sure you're ready the first time you shoot in a target rich spot!
Click to expand...
Wow, very interesting!
Click to expand...

If they are anything like tree squirrels, it's not telepathic. If I shoot a squirrel and miss or there are others close enough to hear, they start making a loud warning noise. It sounds like a screechy alarm and suddenly dozens run out of their hiding place and start to evacuate the area. 

Not sure how far they go or if they come back but when it happens, I am always surprised at how many more were there than I thought. They are like a plague in my area. If there is a period where it seems like they are all gone, they usually return in force if I stop hunting them for a week. 

Like most animals, they go where the food is. If they seem to stop coming, either the food source has dried up or they found a better one somewhere else.
 
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"iride"Nothing wrong with baiting them as long as its legal in your state,
I am looking into trapping some P/D and G/S and bringing them in my area,
I have seen a few tree squirrel's , But do not seem to be having in litters in my area,
Mike
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Totally legal to bait them...

BTW, I came home from work today and the tree was full of Magpies, but not for long. They recognized my car, started making some sort of "warning call" and two minutes later they were all gone! Not kidding! I told my wife about it, and she said that a couple of days ago, right as I left IN HER CAR, a bunch of them showed up! Not kidding! 

These birds are obviously smart!

Kmd
 
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"zebra"
"bill_dd97"P-dogs can start to get gun shy. Magpies are very smart and will avoid danger. I read somewhere that they are the only bird species that can recognize themselves in a mirror.
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That's a hard one to prove. I tried to ask a pigeon if he recognized himself in the mirror but he didn't understand as he only spoke pigeon English....
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I believe the Pigeon doesn't speak Zebra... : )
 
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"zebra"
"kmd1984"
"JohnL57"California ground squirrels almost seem to communicate telepathically-(yeah, sounds a bit out there). Once I start shooting in an area the whole environs seems to become extra careful. Could be the survivors move out to adjacent mounds and their caution is picked up on by the whole colony. For dumb animals the little buggers are pretty wise,lol! I'm still not quite sure how they recognize when you're approaching your comfortable shooting distance and do a burrow dive 10 or 20 yards further out.
The moral is: make sure you're ready the first time you shoot in a target rich spot!
Click to expand...
Wow, very interesting!
Click to expand...

If they are anything like tree squirrels, it's not telepathic. If I shoot a squirrel and miss or there are others close enough to hear, they start making a loud warning noise. It sounds like a screechy alarm and suddenly dozens run out of their hiding place and start to evacuate the area. 

Not sure how far they go or if they come back but when it happens, I am always surprised at how many more were there than I thought. They are like a plague in my area. If there is a period where it seems like they are all gone, they usually return in force if I stop hunting them for a week. 

Like most animals, they go where the food is. If they seem to stop coming, either the food source has dried up or they found a better one somewhere else.
Click to expand...
Interesting...

Never thought about the "food source" aspect of it. Our grass really dried up because the sprinkler system was not set right, so there are no more dandelions... I saw the prairie dogs eat those all the time... I have to google how to bait PD and go from there. I see them all over place just a block away! Maybe I can make a trail with some seeds or so, to lure them back, ha ha. 

Kmd
 
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