Coaxing In The Canny Corvids

Careful decoying combined with roost shooting pays off for a Cotswold keeper in his quest to control corvid numbers. Paul Quagliana reports.

- P. Quagliana

A significant part of a keeper’s role is vermin and predator control. Traditionally, the gap between the pheasant and partridge season and the start of the rearing season is a time for drey poking, foxing and corvid control. Not only is it vital for a keeper to look after his game, but vermin control before songbirds start nesting can reduce the threat of predation and offer help to endangered species as well.

Alex Keeble, who keepers on an estate in the Cotswolds, has his hands full with corvid control. “The ground I am on has always held large numbers of corvids, primarily carrion crows, rooks and jackdaws,” he said. “There is a lot of livestock farming and plenty of cattle feed that can attract these birds. There is also a need to control corvids at this time of year because it is lambing time and eye-pecking of newborn lambs can be a problem.”

Alex stresses that nobody wants to wipe out vermin and predators but it is vital to keep a lid on their populations. He is particularly keen on letterbox traps and suggested: “You just need to know a bit of fieldcraft to get the best results.”  He also counts Larsen traps as a particularly useful part of his arsenal. 

However, on this dull and freezing February morning, Alex was planning to decoy corvids in daylight, followed by shooting them at roost, thus maximising the time available.

The spot he had chosen was a maize strip that formed part of a new partridge drive which had proved successful during the season. The maize had started to collapse on its dead and rotting stems and had been flattened, providing easy food for corvids and a good spot to decoy.