Attracting wildlife

JonnyP

Full Member
Oct 17, 2005
3,833
29
Cornwall...
I remember once being told by a farmer that if you suck on the back of your hand to produce a squeeling sound, it will attract foxes, so a few years later I was sitting on the edge of a woodland one evening, when I remembered this, so I started sucking on my hand and sure enough a young fox came running my way, but soon shot off when it saw me. Got me thinking though, What do you do to attract wildlife....................Jon
 
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Abbe Osram

Native
Nov 8, 2004
1,402
22
62
Sweden
milzart.blogspot.com
When I started to hunt forest chickens I bought a wistle making the sounds of that bird. It works really well, they answer fast and come nearer but there is still a job to be done seeing them as they are very small.

cheers
Abbe
 

Wenie

Forager
Aug 4, 2005
119
3
40
S. Wales valleys
I think I saw on some Bill Oddie show the other day that making a rustling noise is the way to attract squirrels... Haven't tried it out though, so I'm not sure it'll work... :dunno:
 

tomtom

Full Member
Dec 9, 2003
4,283
5
38
Sunny South Devon
you can by a lot of hunting aids from ebay very cheap, fox calls (does the same thing as back of hand trick) deer calls and lots of birds..

personaly on a quiet night i like the jump over my back wall and hoot untill i see the tawney owl swoop in to a tree on the opposite headge!
 
Jon Pickett said:
I remember once being told by a farmer that if you suck on the back of your hand to produce a squeeling sound, it will attract foxes, so a few years later I was sitting on the edge of a woodland one evening, when I remembered this, so I started sucking on my hand and sure enough a young fox came running my way, but soon shot off when it saw me. Got me thinking though, What do you do to attract wildlife....................Jon
i believe this noise you described is the sound of injured prey,thats why the fox comes.. ;)
 

Longstrider

Settler
Sep 6, 2005
990
12
59
South Northants
As a child I was once told by an old 'keeper that the best way to catch a rabbit was to hide behind a bush and make a noise like a lettuce. If you think about it, it makes sense :rolleyes:

Calling foxes in quite close can be relatively easy. The squeeking, squealing sound you are trying to imitate is that of a mortally wounded rabbit. Anyone not familiar with this would probably be amazed at just how loud and piercing a rabbit can squeal when in this situation. The fox comes close to investigate the possibility ofan easy meal. Methods I have known to work include sucking hard whilst pursing your lips in a "kiss" fashion, sucking against the back of the hand or forearm, or the most effective way I've seen is to scrape a section of expanded polystyrene packing foam along either the bodywork of a vehicle or the side of a polished gun-stock.

The squirrels coming close to Bill Oddie when he rustled his nuts in a bag (ooh-er missus! :) ) only did so because they were used to being fed by people. Try it in woodland where the quirrels are more used to being persecuted by the 'keeper or forrester and you won't see one for days.

I have managed to call magpies in close enough for a shot by shaking an old fashioned wooden matchbox hard whilst it contained about half a box of matches. It makes a sound veryt much like the "Chak-a-chak" call they make as either an alarm signal or whilst mobbing something. Other magpies will often come closer to investigate, especially if there is an owl or crow decoy on a fence post close by or a dead rabbit laid out on the ground.
 

pumbaa

Settler
Jan 28, 2005
687
2
50
dorset
I was shown by a local old boy how to attract owls by Cupping your hands (like you would when useing a grass leafas a read whistle) and blowing the owl sound . it works too . Will show you next time i see you if you like!
Pumbaa
 

JonnyP

Full Member
Oct 17, 2005
3,833
29
Cornwall...
pumbaa said:
I was shown by a local old boy how to attract owls by Cupping your hands (like you would when useing a grass leafas a read whistle) and blowing the owl sound . it works too . Will show you next time i see you if you like!
Pumbaa
Would love to see owls come in close to me by hooting. Round my local nature reserve I quite often imitate different birds and the only ones I seem to get a response out of is wrens and robins and sometimes woodpeckers, most birds will call back but come no closer or clear off totally. I like the idea of attracting magpies with a box of matches. I was once working somewhere where they had a magpie trap that contained a live magpie which attracted others into a trap. They caught 30 in 2 weeks. Abbe, I never realised that there were still wild chickens about, have you any photo's, I would love to see one. Wolf, we have lots of roe deer in the woods nearby, how does a squeeky toy attract them...................Jon
 

Abbe Osram

Native
Nov 8, 2004
1,402
22
62
Sweden
milzart.blogspot.com
Jon Pickett said:
. Abbe, I never realised that there were still wild chickens about, have you any photo's, I would love to see one. Wolf, we have lots of roe deer in the woods nearby, how does a squeeky toy attract them...................Jon

Well, dont know if they are the mother of chickens but we call them forest chickens, "järpe" I guess they have nothing to do with the farm chickens.
Here is a picture:
jrpe.jpg


cheers
Abbe
 

JonnyP

Full Member
Oct 17, 2005
3,833
29
Cornwall...
Abbe Osram said:
Well, dont know if they are the mother of chickens but we call them forest chickens, "järpe" I guess they have nothing to do with the farm chickens.
Here is a picture:
jrpe.jpg


cheers
Abbe

Abbe,
Are you sure that is not a cuckoo in fancy dress. What do the eggs taste like..................Jon
 

Abbe Osram

Native
Nov 8, 2004
1,402
22
62
Sweden
milzart.blogspot.com
Longstrider said:
I'm pretty sure that the photo is of an adult male Rock Ptarmigan. (Although I do like the cuckoo in fancy dress theory! :lmao: )

I looked up the latin name its: Bonasa Bonasia, we dont collect the eggs but shoot the bird. I think egg collecting is forbidden here as we want the population to grow.


here is the sound of the bird:
http://www.virtual-bird.com/sounds/bonasa-bonasia.mp3

the wistle I bought gives me the high pitched sound but I have to get the rythm right which I was surprised works very well, the birds believe I am one of them and come near, still its hard to shoot them.

cheers
Abbe
 

bilko

Settler
May 16, 2005
513
6
53
SE london
pumbaa said:
I was shown by a local old boy how to attract owls by Cupping your hands (like you would when useing a grass leafas a read whistle) and blowing the owl sound . it works too . Will show you next time i see you if you like!
Pumbaa
Pumbaa, i was trying this last night for a good hour untill i got sore lips but all i got was ....sore lips and a gush of hot breat coming out my hands. I even found this ' how to' guide http://spiritsdancing.typepad.com/monkeyseemonkeydo/2005/02/how_to_make_an_.html but i still can't do it. Iv'e adjusted my hands every which way to no avail. I wonder if you could expand on the way you were taught. I would love to be able to talk owl. :)
 

bilko

Settler
May 16, 2005
513
6
53
SE london
Abbe Osram said:
I looked up the latin name its: Bonasa Bonasia, we dont collect the eggs but shoot the bird. I think egg collecting is forbidden here as we want the population to grow.


here is the sound of the bird:
http://www.virtual-bird.com/sounds/bonasa-bonasia.mp3

the wistle I bought gives me the high pitched sound but I have to get the rythm right which I was surprised works very well, the birds believe I am one of them and come near, still its hard to shoot them.

cheers
Abbe
Hi Abbe,
I watched the film Jeremiah Johnson yesterday and the picture of the bird was remarkably similar to one in the film although not brightly coloured. Jeremiah was going to shoot it but his wife ( an indian squaw ) stopped him and threw a stone at it which killed it or at least knocked it out. I wonder if it was the same bird. Mind you, Jeremia was going to use his trusty 50 cal so there probably wouldn't have been much left to cook.
Hope you are keeping well
Ian
 

Abbe Osram

Native
Nov 8, 2004
1,402
22
62
Sweden
milzart.blogspot.com
bilko said:
Hi Abbe,
I watched the film Jeremiah Johnson yesterday and the picture of the bird was remarkably similar to one in the film although not brightly coloured. Jeremiah was going to shoot it but his wife ( an indian squaw ) stopped him and threw a stone at it which killed it or at least knocked it out. I wonder if it was the same bird. Mind you, Jeremia was going to use his trusty 50 cal so there probably wouldn't have been much left to cook.
Hope you are keeping well
Ian

I havent seen the movie so I cant tell you if its the same bird. I am hunting them with a .22 but havent been lucky yet. I saw them in my scope but swups when I am ready to shoot they are gone. I still have to learn a lot with the hunting stuff to get my belly full. ;-) I am still having to go to the supermarket. :eek:

ohh well, with time ....I hope ...I make it... :D

cheers
Abbe
 

Beer Monster

Need to contact Admin...
Aug 25, 2004
620
5
46
With the gnu!
I remember watching a program with Simon King the wildlife presenter/cameraman. At one point he saw a barn owl hunting over a meadow so he lay down on his back in the long grass and made a very high pitched squeaking noise on his hand. The Barn Owl was attracted to the noise and hovered a few meters directly over him for a good few seconds allowing him a fantastic view. Always wanted to try this .......
 

Galemys

Settler
Dec 13, 2004
732
44
54
Zaandam, the Netherlands
bilko said:
I wonder if it was the same bird.

The bird in Abbe's picture is called a hazel grouse, it is a bird of woodland in scandinavia, central europe and eurasia. North America has related birds (I know of the spruce grouse and the ruffed grouse, they're may be more species) which look quite similar. So the bird in the movie is a different species to Abbe's.

Tom
 

pumbaa

Settler
Jan 28, 2005
687
2
50
dorset
bilko said:
Pumbaa, i was trying this last night for a good hour untill i got sore lips but all i got was ....sore lips and a gush of hot breat coming out my hands. I even found this ' how to' guide http://spiritsdancing.typepad.com/monkeyseemonkeydo/2005/02/how_to_make_an_.html but i still can't do it. Iv'e adjusted my hands every which way to no avail. I wonder if you could expand on the way you were taught. I would love to be able to talk owl. :)


It is difficult to expand on the link you found with out seeing what you are doing !
Make sure you have a tight seal with your fingers and hands . Your lips should be on the knuckle half way up your thumb . Blow downwards . You will need to move the positioning about till you get a note . You need quite a gap in the middle of your hands (a smaller gap produces a higher note that eventualy you wouldnt hear) .
Hope this helps a bit
Pumbaa
 

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