Spring is a wonderful time of the year, what with the blooming flowers, the bees, and well, it just about seems as if everything’s coming to life after the winter chill. Even magpies, all the way from the depths of hell itself. And while the mention of Satan’s season may bring forth a looming sense of dread, safety measures can help survive the angry birds’ rage. Here’s how to protect yourself from swooping magpies this spring.
Luckily for us, NSW Department of Planning and Environment has whipped up a handy guide on how to protect ourselves from magpies.
Magpies will usually only attack within their ‘defence zone’, which is the area within 110 – 150m of their eggs and babies.
It’s usually male magpies doing the swooping, anytime between July and November each year to protect their newly hatched chicks.
Now if you’re in the middle of one of these magpie war zones, we feel for you, we know your pain.
Avoiding ‘defence zones’ altogether is obviously the best case scenario, but if you can’t, there are some safety measures you can take to stay safe from swooping magpies, such as wearing a broad-brimmed hat and sunglasses to protect your face from a swooping. Watching magpies constantly when walking through ‘defence zones’ has also proved effective as has carrying an open umbrella, stick or small branch. Although avoid swinging it at the magpie as this might provoke an attack.
“I’ve got my eye on you, Barry.”
If a magpie nest becomes a real threat to human safety, you can also contact your local council to see if they will remove the nest. But here’s hoping it doesn’t have to come to this.