Forums > Social Chat > The right to kill?

Posted: 12th Feb 2004
Looper

Can you put it back in it's nest? And why is it that legally you have to kill it??

Do your best, putting something out of it's misery is humane, unessesary killing isn't.

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Posted: 12th Feb 2004
had no idea what a Mynah Bird was so did a search and found this:
https://www.au.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pests/msg020708578707.html

seems everyone wants to kill them, poor creatures

I'd still try putting it back in it's nest though, if it's parents neglect it and it starves to death then at least you won't have murder on your conscience

My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely

Posted: 12th Feb 2004
umm if you can put it back in its nest (but there is probability that the parents may reject it and push it out again.. trust me ive seen it with they mynahs we get here) then do that if it makes you feel better ... i personally would leave it ..but you said it was in your house .. so put it outside and let nature take its cours. sounds cruel but its exactally what would have happend had the nest been in a tree outside somewhere ..

she who sees from up high smiles

Patrick badger king: *they better hope there's never a jihad on stupidity*

Posted: 12th Feb 2004
I can't get your link to work Faberge

Let's relight this forum

Posted: 12th Feb 2004
It's working for me

try again..

https://www.au.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pests/msg020708578707.html

My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely

Posted: 12th Feb 2004
Nope...just says Page Can Not be Found

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Posted: 12th Feb 2004
Here, I copied & pasted some of the text:

Indian mynah birds
Posted by Wilky SA Aust (My Page) on Mon, Feb 3, 03 at 7:08


Is there a way to get rid of these pests - other than shooting? Not allowed to do that in town! They have destroyed all the fruit on my trees and are now into the tomatoes. Not even the parrots beat them this year!



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Follow-Up Postings:

RE: Indian mynah birds
Posted by: Marie_K SA Aust (My Page) on Mon, Feb 3, 03 at 19:42

I didn't think we had Indian mynah birds in SA? I hope they're not on their way here!



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RE: Indian mynah birds
Posted by: Giacomo ACT Australia (My Page) on Tue, Feb 4, 03 at 3:12

Of all the introduced birds pests, indian mynahs are the absolute worst. Even worse than filthy starlings and shitty sparrows and pigeons. Mynahs will go out of their way to displace native birds, chasing them out of their environment and stealing their nests. They have taken over the whole east coast, right up to the tropical rainforests of far north Queensland. Kill them on sight. Give no mercy.



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RE: Indian mynah birds
Posted by: Bryan_FGS Syd (My Page) on Fri, Feb 7, 03 at 20:39

They come in and eat our dogs biscuits and paint the concrete area near his bowl, and walk all over our awning waking us up. I HATE them, I tried putting a seperate bowl of dog biscuits on our roof with rat bait mixed in. The next day when I checked it they had eaten everything except the rat bait. They laugh at us too when they make that stupid noise.



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RE: Indian mynah birds
Posted by: wattle NSW Aust (My Page) on Sat, Feb 8, 03 at 2:13

There is a novel by Bryce Courtney (Mathew Flinders Cat) in how he gets rid of Indian Mynah's
Make friends with them and then proceed to place one rat poison pellet in a small pieces of bread and feed them daily and daily and daily.



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My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely

Posted: 12th Feb 2004
Thanks Fab!!

I can't beleive people are like that. Our race pretty much did the same to virtually all other mammals (including other beings like us) on this planet and when a bird does it we feel the need to wipe them out too...tut tut tut

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Posted: 12th Feb 2004
Thats the problem. It would be so easy to let the youngster live. I was a wildlife carer for three years, and if i wanted it to live, it would. But as a wildlife carer, i also love native birds and the australian ecology. Its going to grow up to do alot of damage, and i won't i be responsible for that in a way?
Thanks fo that Faberge, they sorta are the underdogs, although you can also see why?
Putting them outside is a good idea, Narr. I am all for nature taking its course. Trouble is in this case it would be straight into my (lovely but very playful) puppy's mouth. Natures a bitch eh? Plus i feel guilty about letting the parents nest under my nose for so long.
It sort of comes down to being blown away by having the power to kill something. I don;t know how judges ( ) and certain pro-war politicians think they have the right.
Thanks everyone for taking the time. I am such a librian, see both sides of any situation and just end up debating myself . It has helped hearing the opinions of people who arn't actually listening to the bird chirping.

There is a world made of air, one of earth and one of water.
And there is one made of fire, and all of them fight for supremacy. They are fighting now, in my head.

Posted: 12th Feb 2004
So you run into this problem of ethics when dealing with vermin.

On the one hand, I do believe in live and let live. I'd never kill an animal that presented no threat to me of any sort (other than spiders, and that's because I'm an arachnophobic and until I get that psychiatric condition treated, I will continue to kill spiders [and have the heebie-jeebies for hours afterwards]).

On the other hand, just as you have the right to shoot a lion that is charging you, you have a right to eliminate pests that invade your home, destroy your property, and spread disease. I guess I feel that it's taking vegetarianism a bit far to say that you are willing to give up your own health and well-being to save animals.

I have had to kill. I accidently hit a bird that decided to walk out in the street right in front of my car (going 40 MPH/70 km/h) and couldn't get off the ground fast enough to escape my front wheels. I knew it was too wounded to save and that most veternary offices won't treat wild birds, anyways, so I had to go back and run it over to put it out of its pain. I felt awful, sick to my stomach, sad, and dirty for the rest of the day. It's a hard thing to do, but it must be done.

But you always have to think of yourself and your own best interests first. If those are taken care of, then you can think of the creature in question.

So. It's going to die if you release it. All that's going to accomplish is that you can dust off your hands and walk away going "at least I didn't kill it." But that raises the old philosophical question of if you shove someone off a cliff, did you kill them, or did the fall and/or resulting impact kill them? If you leave the bird out there to die horribly, are you killing it?

The other option is to kill it quickly in a manner that you feel will cause the least pain. And that option will make you feel awful, but I think it's the right thing to do.

And I'm a Cancer, not a Libra, so I have no idea what that means.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura

Posted: 12th Feb 2004
Whatever you do, it will die. So why don't make it a quick death in place of getting ripped in pieces by a cat or being deserted by it's parents?

Sounds a bit harsh, but isn't it true?

I wish you succes with it Looper.

The secret of creativity is knowing how to hide your sources

Posted: 12th Feb 2004
When I was younger my family used to take a lot of sick or discarded birds.

As nice as it is to say "put it back in the nest"...not only will the baby that you have die but also any other little babies that are nesting in that same place.

Simple reason: When a bird smells human that has been invading its home (whether it has babies or not) it will desert the nest.

So all the babies will be left in the nest to die and the parents will not come back at all.

Have you tried ringing an animal welfare line? If they have no suggestions then I suggest a quick and painless death. As bad as that is...but unless you plan on hand rearing it the baby is going to die anyway. So better to be painlessly quick than slow and painful.

Hope that all goes well.

Posted: 12th Feb 2004
Umm... The baby wouldn't die is i released it. Just wanted to do one final post to thank everyone, but i take great pride in my success rate with birds. I have raised everything from sparrows ('practice birds'- i know it sounds horrible and they are pests to humans, but you have to start somewhere) to wedge-tailed eagles (biggest birds in oz (going on wingspan, which is about 2.5m ). I participated in a tagged release program and the eagle and two owls were surviving atleast a year after they were free. I still see some of the insectiverous birds i have released occasionly, totally wild and sometimes with mates.
Putting the baby back in the nest will kill it with some species, but with some smaller species you don't even have to go that far. For example if you put a Peaceful Dove in a ice-cream container in the fork of a tree in the same garden as the nest it fell out of, the parents will almost certainly continue to feed it. I think mynah birds would be the same.
Thanks for the replies. It is good to hear other people actually put some thought into this. I live in a city of pig hunters, drives me nuts . So thanks again!

There is a world made of air, one of earth and one of water.
And there is one made of fire, and all of them fight for supremacy. They are fighting now, in my head.

Posted: 12th Feb 2004
Ever actualy stopped and listened to the call of the mynah?

It's one of the greatest mimics, and has one of the largest range of calls I have ever heard

I have seen mynahs communicate to other mynahs the whereabouts of a pool of water, and watched as they swam and sang in that water, then get out and call to another to come over and have a swim