HUNTING GROUND: Looking peaceful in this week’s spring weather, this intersection, between State Highway 2 and Waimana Valley Road, is reported to be the hunting ground of a crazed magpie. Photo Sven Carlsson OB1783-01
REINFORCEMENTS are being called in to deal with a dangerous Waimana magpie.
Waimana farmer Terry Raerino said efforts by a hunter called in to deal with a crazed magpie over the weekend had so far been unsuccessful.
“He had a few goes at it, but we’re now getting in reinforcements,” he said.
“We’ve got another couple of guys coming up now.”
The decision to take action against the magpie was taken after Mr Raerino was attacked while on his motorcycle.
“He was so busy trying to fend off the bird,” his wife Glenys Raerino said.
“He came off the bike and almost ended up under a tanker.”
Mrs Raerino said the couple has been on the farm for six years and did not own a gun themselves.
The magpie was attacking people near the intersection of State Highway 2 and Waimana Valley Road, she said.
Cycling tourists, farm workers and council staff looking at road-work plans had all been attacked in the magpie kill zone.
All motorcycle helmets used by farm staff had scratches on them.
“It’s only one bird doing the attacking,” Mrs Raerino said.
The bird had taken a “personal dislike” to one farm worker, who had since left.
“It used to attack him all the time,” she said.
Over the past fortnight, the Stuka-bombing magpie had “lost the plot”.
“It used to be that you could just give them a wide berth,” Mrs Raerino said.
“Anyone who goes down there now is fair game.”
Whakatane District Council community regulation manager Graeme Lewer said nesting magpies were a problem in many places at this time of year.
“We have exactly the same situation at the BMX track in Whakatane,” he said.
“The magpie lines people up and goes on the attack.”
Mr Lewer said he had put the Waimana couple in touch with a duck-hunting farmer, who visited them over the weekend.
“It is a real concern when a magpie creates a traffic danger like this,” he said.
“When you get too close, they will attack.”
While hunters with guns could solve a magpie problem in the countryside, the council faced a more difficult situation around the BMX track.“It gets tricky in town, in built-up areas,” Mr Lewer said.
Swooping season
MAGPIES attacking people is a problem in both New Zealand and Australia.
Wikipedia says magpies were introduced into New Zealand to control agricultural pests, and were therefore a protected species until 1951.
“It is currently illegal to breed, sell, or distribute the birds within New Zealand,” the website says.
The birds are infamous for swooping and attacking people who come too close.
The advice is for cyclists to dismount and walk if traversing known magpie territory.
In Australia a special website has been set up to track and report magpie problems.
People can visit the www.magpiealert.com website to inspect the danger lever in their area.
Red marks are used for attacks that resulted in injury, and yellow marks for the rest.
BIRD BOMB: An aggressive magpie lines up cyclist Maria Klaassen in Whakatane’s Warren Park. Photo Louis Klaassen D2631-03