In Effigy

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I was pleased to see the fall issue of Human–Wildlife Interactions (a peer-reviewed journal focused on human/wildlife conflicts, published by the Jack Berryman Institute of the University of Utah) included a paper by our local USDA Wildlife Services Supervisor Rod Merrell. Rod’s paper outlined some successful methods to mitigate conflicts with ravens in industrial areas.

Here’s a picture of Rod setting a snare for a bear that was killing our sheep a few years ago.

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Common ravens are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so when ravens cause problems, solutions generally involve federal wildlife officials. As an ag producer, I’ve had to call on Rod for help with ravens on my lambing grounds, but industrial companies have unique challenges when it comes to ravens at their facilities (including coal and trona mines, gas facilities, and power plants) since shooting, harassment and destruction of nests are not allowed without a special permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Nesting ravens can be very aggressive towards workers coming near their nests, which can be built on catwalks, stairwells, derricks and smoke stacks, but most raven complaints at industrial facilities involve roosting ravens. While a few ravens aren’t often much of an issue, Rod is called to respond to cases involving 150-300 roosting birds and the health and safety issues caused by their fecal material deposited on equipment, handrails, stairs, and other surfaces that workers routinely contact.

Rod’s excellent five-page paper only discusses methods he has personally used to mitigate raven conflicts, from the use of lasers, hazing, scarecrows, sirens, propane cannons, avicides, shooting, and –my favorite– effigies. The paper acknowledges that ravens are intelligent birds with remarkable eyesight, and an acute sense of smell.

Rod reports, “Based on my experience, effigies are the most effective means to keep ravens from roosting on towers, tanks, cable trays, and other elevated structures.” After experimenting with a variety of effigies (including fake ravens used as movie props, which were quickly “torn to pieces” by ravens), Rod recommends the use of actual dead ravens, hung upside down where the wind will create some movement. His paper goes into specifics about the placement of effigies (and how they must be properly disposed of according to federal permit guidelines when no longer needed), but I won’t go into detail here.

Rod also acknowledges that breaking up a roost is a process, “often time- consuming, frustrating, and requiring follow-up,” and no single technique will resolve the problem.

“One must reinforce danger with other tools and techniques or the ravens will habituate to the natural effigies with time,” he wrote.

But what I love about this paper is the endorsement of the value of effigies – a practice used by traditional agrarians around the globe. Sometimes ancient methods are proven to be the most effective. I would include the use of effigies, livestock guardian dogs, and spiked collars as ancient tools that are still proven in value today.

Here’s a scene from rural Turkey in October 2010. Turkish guardian dogs tethered, with a dead wild boar, chickens scratching nearby, and an effigy of a Eurasian Magpie hanging from a piece of farm equipment.

 

Addendum:
Steve provided these shots from our late friend Aralbai's place in Mongolia. These images were taken during Steve's first hunts with Aralbai in 1997 (adventures that involved fox, feasts & drinking). The scare magpie hung adjacent to Aralbai's corrals during the lambing season.