Magpie Attacks



Dancier said:
That magpie got me twice on Tuesday, on the way down to Portsea he dive bombed me and brushed his beek along my back. On the way back I looked around and could not see him but when I was not looking he got on the helmet.

That bird has become an expert at getting us cyclists, he probably works overtime and gets every cyclist passing by because I spoke to a few guys and they said they were hit as well.
Went out yesterday did my first 100k's, managed to meet this fine fellow .. my first magpie swoop(s). Thanks for the heads up though .. I didnt pay heaps of attention to the exact location, but when it came i was thinking "Ahh .. so this is where they were talking about"
 
Try sticking or mounting some sort of image of a face on top of your helmet - preferably one with big eyes and an agro look. We used to do this as kids.... In the days before helmets we would draw one on the bottom of an ice cream container and put that on our heads.

Good Luck Jay.
 
Dancier said:
That bird has become an expert at getting us cyclists, he probably works overtime and gets every cyclist passing by because I spoke to a few guys and they said they were hit as well.
Yeah I've been wondering about this; in present day times there are not all that many pedestrians, while cars are too fast and perhaps too big anyway. So guess who cops it all.

Magpie swooping season is from July to November; but individual ones are active for a few weeks while the chicks are small.
 
jur said:
Yeah I've been wondering about this; in present day times there are not all that many pedestrians, while cars are too fast and perhaps too big anyway. So guess who cops it all.

Magpie swooping season is from July to November; but individual ones are active for a few weeks while the chicks are small.
I've justbeen looking over some stats and it's worse than I realised. Cyclists get attacked the most (see previous post for possible explanation), and many cases reported have fallen and sustained a fractured limb.

Also, eyes are targeted in numerous cases, suggesting putting eyes on your helmet may have the opposite effect.

On bikeforums someone suggested that the extra little antennae confuses the bird,not actually touching as a result.
 
jur said:
Does helmet color have any effect?
I wondered if helmet colour makes a difference. I went through the one spot 4 times recently with various other riders, and the maggie picked on me each time. (Made it easy for everybody else!). I thought it might be the blue/ silver helmet, but everyone else said it was the "safety yellow" cycle shirt...

By the way, the 50km/hr idea is true. The other favorite spot I get bombed I lose him when I get up speed. It is just a pity it is on the top of a hill, and so there is still plenty of time to get hit all the same.
 
SteveWoll said:
I wondered if helmet colour makes a difference. I went through the one spot 4 times recently with various other riders, and the maggie picked on me each time. (Made it easy for everybody else!). I thought it might be the blue/ silver helmet, but everyone else said it was the "safety yellow" cycle shirt...
I also have a fluoro yellow shirt and get swooped.
 
jur said:
I've justbeen looking over some stats and it's worse than I realised. Cyclists get attacked the most (see previous post for possible explanation), and many cases reported have fallen and sustained a fractured limb.

Also, eyes are targeted in numerous cases, suggesting putting eyes on your helmet may have the opposite effect.

On bikeforums someone suggested that the extra little antennae confuses the bird,not actually touching as a result.
On my ride to work this morning I saw a woman with 3 cable ties sticking up from her helmet. Looked a bit like my favorite martian. Didn't have chance to ask if they stop magpies. They might stop them hitiing you.
 
johnv said:
On my ride to work this morning I saw a woman with 3 cable ties sticking up from her helmet. Looked a bit like my favorite martian. Didn't have chance to ask if they stop magpies. They might stop them hitiing you.
Cable ties! Why didn't I think of that?

<goes off to nick some cable ties from the production area>
 
Thankfully magpies are an introduced species (and considered vermin) here in NZ, so a call to your local regional council will send out a pest control officer to nail the little buggers with a shottie. We have had a group of very aggressive magpies up one rural road near where I live that have been dispatched this year. They were attacking on a long climb out of a gully, so you got hit in both directions - grrrrr!
 
Perhaps the scatter from a sawn off would discourage the fellow in carrum. His claw marks are on my back. A tennis racket might also prove useful. He's becoming a pest and someone will be hurt
:D :D
 
fitz said:
Perhaps the scatter from a sawn off would discourage the fellow in carrum. His claw marks are on my back. A tennis racket might also prove useful. He's becoming a pest and someone will be hurt
:D :D
He's going to be working overtime on Sunday when the ATB riders go through. Hopefully he will still be asleep when I go through there.
 
Saw the woman with the cable ties on the helmet again this morning. The number of cable ties on the helmet has now gone up to 6!:)




jur said:
Cable ties! Why didn't I think of that?

<goes off to nick some cable ties from the production area>
 
johnv said:
Saw the woman with the cable ties on the helmet again this morning. The number of cable ties on the helmet has now gone up to 6!:)
I have 3 ties on mine, quite long thick ones, and I get a lot of comments and smiles (snickers?). Yesterday I went to Anaconda to pick up a jacket, walked into the store with my bike, and helmet and everything as is, just removed my sunnies. One girl in the store asked me about 'those' (cable ties). As I walked out with my bike, a bunch of about 8 sales people were standing together waiting for closing time, all staring at me. I jokingly shouted "what are ye all lookin at?!" someone answered something about the funky antennas.

But they do work, confirmed this morning. I'll be wearing them on the ATB.
 
magpies r so agressive i was riding my bike past a school yesterday about 5.45pm and a magpie began swooping me, this is the 2nd time in 5 days that the same one got me even thou i was a far way away from it. i swear it was watching me n wanted 2 get me again. however this magpie began swooping me quite violently and i speed up only to eventually turn sharply into a little road where i was flung from the bike and have got no skin on the bottom of my palms its all flesh, my knee and elbow have been cut open and grazed all thanks to a pyscho stupid bird. i guess its karma caus i always pay out my maths teacher 4 bein scared of them and now i am....
 
i hate magpies said:
magpies r so agressive i was riding my bike past a school yesterday about 5.45pm and a magpie began swooping me, this is the 2nd time in 5 days that the same one got me even thou i was a far way away from it. i swear it was watching me n wanted 2 get me again. however this magpie began swooping me quite violently and i speed up only to eventually turn sharply into a little road where i was flung from the bike and have got no skin on the bottom of my palms its all flesh, my knee and elbow have been cut open and grazed all thanks to a pyscho stupid bird. i guess its karma caus i always pay out my maths teacher 4 bein scared of them and now i am....
I'd forgotten about magpie season - time to start watching out. Maybe I'll put some eyes on the back of my helmet.
 
Have been attacked on numerous occassions, however the nastiest bloody magpies ever are in Country Victoria near Shepparton, on the way to a place called Dookie.

2 years in a row these bastards got me, tandem attack from both sides and have given both helmets some nice little scars and holes through the foam. They go at you for about 600 m.

Has anyone else noted how early the magpie season started this year ?

I have heard that placing a small mirror on the back of your helmet can deter them.

Is it true that they dont attack when there is more than one cyclist ?
 
Timbo77 said:
Is it true that they dont attack when there is more than one cyclist ?
I've been attacked when my GF was about 50m behind me, but never when anyone was right with me.
 
artemidorus said:
I've been attacked when my GF was about 50m behind me, but never when anyone was right with me.
Last time I was hit the nearest rider was about 10m behind me, close enough for me to hear the shout just before I was hit. My guess is that the others need to be close enough to look like a threat.
 
Timbo77 said:
I have heard that placing a small mirror on the back of your helmet can deter them.

That might be worth a try. Now where to find a small mirror.
 
neon said:
That might be worth a try. Now where to find a small mirror.
oh ****... I completely forgot about magpies... I"m starting road biking in about 10 days which is when I pick up my bike.... are they protected? can't I bring a baseball bat? :( I just bought a stradvarius II which is yellow haha if they damage it I swear I will wait for it to come again and cripple it :mad:

psss... what are the charges for killing a magpie? :eek: