Missing Pennys????

[1jjpop]

My wife has a bird water in our back yard .She puts pennys [pennys older then 1981] to keep the black mold out of the water. And it worked for 6 months + - , now she has pennys missing out of the water all the time. We don't have any small children around. Birds ,deer ,crows and various birds drink the water. Could deer or crows ,be taking the pennys????? No big deal not going to break us. Just wonder whats happening to pennys ??

 

[CJM8515]

Crows or raccoons like shiny stuff

 

[firworks]

Yeah Crows like to pickup shiny stuff.
View media item 62707"You, you. Me, me, pickle-pee. Me, me, pump-a-rum.

 

[kd3pc]

although a member of the crow family, magpies as well, they like shiny things as much as crows and will take them back to nest or present

 

[larry_g]

Instead of a penny, strip back a length of copper wire and use it. If necessary tie it to a rock or something. Hot glue the penny's to the bottom of the bowl?

lg
no neat sig line

 

[jd_1138]

Me too. I love their Powr-Kraft line up, Penncraft, etc..

 

[four.cycle]

^ yeah. most Crows and some other birds have an affinity for "shiny objects".

So do many species of rodents.

Never stash your car keys under a hollow stump at the trailhead.

 

[jim faston]

Could a deer have simply lapped it up while drinking? Like above, a little hot glue should work.

 

[gnab2]

That is funny pic of the crow and steak knife. I had the same set of knives. Hell I think I still have one around..

 

[LXCam]

Den must be some cheap-cheap *** birds.








Ya i know, I'll go away now.

 

[MScott]

Crows will definitely pick up shiny objects. We used to have a pet crow that loved to pick up sockets and wrenches when my brother and I were working on our cars in the driveway. The crow would hide them under leaves or in corners. Used to drive us nuts.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Don't use pennies unless they're older than 1982. All pennies after that are 95% zinc which is toxic. Copper is toxic, too, but much less than zinc. Use the copper wire or, better yet, clean the birdbath more often and keep the pennies in your pocket. NEVER put any kind of copper into ponds or streams. It's very toxic to aquatic life.

Tommy

 

[DenisG]

Would be neat to drill a small hole thru the penny and tie a string to a camera (shutter release).

 

[bad_idea]

Friend of mine hunts. He has cameras he puts on trees to track the deer. The cameras take a picture every couple minutes or so. Not sure what they cost, but would be cool to catch the thief redhanded.

 

[Kevin54]

^^^^$100+ for a game camera, and they take pics every time something moves.

As far as the copper wire in the bird bath, I need to try that. The wife usually puts a tablespoon or two of Clorox in the water and it takes care of the mold, but with the drought we've been in this summer, it hasn't helped much.

 

[JohnK007]

Me too. I love their Powr-Kraft line up, Penncraft, etc..

Took me a minute but I got it. Nice one

 

[four.cycle]

As far as the copper wire in the bird bath, I need to try that. The wife usually puts a tablespoon or two of Clorox in the water and it takes care of the mold,

chlorine bleach in the bird bath isn't good for the birds.
birds don't care if there's stuff growing in the water. they just want water.

 

[rlitman]

Don't use pennies unless they're older than 1962. All pennies after that are 95% zinc which is toxic. Copper is toxic, too, but much less than zinc. Use the copper wire or, better yet, clean the birdbath more often and keep the pennies in your pocket. NEVER put any kind of copper into ponds or streams. It's very toxic to aquatic life.

Tommy

Pennies transitioned from solid copper to copper clad zinc in 1982, not 1962. Current pennies (with the shield back) are plated, rather than clad, and so have even less copper.

Yeah Crows like to pickup shiny stuff.
View media item 62707"You, you. Me, me, pickle-pee. Me, me, pump-a-rum.

Now I know why a group of crows is called a murder.

 

[DenisG]

Pennies transitioned from solid copper to copper clad zinc in 1982, not 1962. Current pennies (with the shield back) are plated, rather than clad, and so have even less copper.



Now I know why a group of crows is called a murder.

Yes, but wombats poop cubes -
http://www.audubon.org/news/no-its-not-actually-murder-crows

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Pennies transitioned from solid copper to copper clad zinc in 1982, not 1962. Current pennies (with the shield back) are plated, rather than clad, and so have even less copper.



Now I know why a group of crows is called a murder.

Thanks for pointing out my typo. Original post has been edited.

Tommy

 

[Kevin54]

chlorine bleach in the bird bath isn't good for the birds.
birds don't care if there's stuff growing in the water. they just want water.

A tablespoon or two is no worse than people in the city that have chlorine in there water. No difference whatsoever.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

A tablespoon or two is no worse than people in the city that have chlorine in there water. No difference whatsoever.

You mix a tablespoon of bleach into 2 gallons of water and then drink some...
Algae in birdbaths indicates infrequent cleaning and water changes. Yes, birdbaths need water changes. The more you just add water lost from evaporation, the more you concentrate the dissolve solids. The contamination gets worse over time.

Tommy

 

[gregtwojeeps]

Someone hurry and send a LOT of pennies to Rio.

 

[mds5951]

Someone hurry and send a LOT of pennies to Rio.

They did but they were robbed before they got in the door!

 

[Hornman]

When we moved into the current house, it had a concrete birdbath in the flowerbed behind the swimming pool. Since I like birds and since it gets very hot and dry here in north Texas in the summer, I would fill it with the hose every morning. When it got hot the algae grew really fast. If there was a lot of algae the birds would not drink the water. My solution was to use a high pressure nozzle and a scrub brush. Takes a minute to spray and wash the birdbath and fill with fresh water. After that it was common to see two dozen crows partaking of the water, and chasing off the little birds, and harrassing my dogs, and pooping on the pool deck, and pooping in the pool. So I took the birdbath down. Get your water elsewhere.

 

[CTyankee]

When we moved into the current house, it had a concrete birdbath in the flowerbed behind the swimming pool. Since I like birds and since it gets very hot and dry here in north Texas in the summer, I would fill it with the hose every morning. When it got hot the algae grew really fast. If there was a lot of algae the birds would not drink the water. My solution was to use a high pressure nozzle and a scrub brush. Takes a minute to spray and wash the birdbath and fill with fresh water. After that it was common to see two dozen crows partaking of the water, and chasing off the little birds, and harrassing my dogs, and pooping on the pool deck, and pooping in the pool. So I took the birdbath down. Get your water elsewhere.

Guess we won't be seeing you featured in Audubon's magazine any time soon..

FWIW....They do have an interesting web site..

http://www.audubon.org/

 

[four.cycle]

^ pretty simple solution to that:
find a dead crow. I found one laying in a ditch along the road.
tie it up by its feet to the TV antenna. (I know... who has a TV antenna on their roof anymore?)
other crows will come by and say "Oh man! That's Uncle Larry! Better get outta here!"

no joke. worked like a charm.
neighbors thought I was mad as a hatter, but it kept the crows away.

I kept a hanging feeder out in the front yard for the little songbirds, and put up a platform feeder on a pole in the back yard for the Steller's Jays and Northern Flickers. worked out great. everybody happy.

bear in mind our crows here are a separate sub-species, the Northwestern Crow (Corvus caurinus).

YMMV

 

[WVBrady]

^ pretty simple solution to that:
find a dead crow. I found one laying in a ditch along the road.
tie it up by its feet to the TV antenna. (I know... who has a TV antenna on their roof anymore?)
other crows will come by and say "Oh man! That's Uncle Larry! Better get outta here!"...(Corvus caurinus).[/I]YMMV

My neighbor shot one and hung it upside down in his garden. When his wife asked him why the other crows were making so much noise, he told her that they were going to his funeral.

 

[sscsjtcs]

 

[GRX]

^^ funny since those appear to be Ravens. Which would make it an attempted 'Unkindness'.

No surprise a dead crow works as a deterrent since they are highly social animals, and have actually been found to use a rudimentary language.

 

[va.grouseman]

Want to see something funny.---Drill a hole in a shinny penny and tie some floss to it and then to a rock.---Set up a camera and watch a crow try to take it off.---you have a crow kite.

We set up ears of corn on a nail for the squirrels but they kept disappearing.---Thought the squirrels were steeling them but the squirrels would eat right there on site.---Finally caught a crow steeling them.---They are really smart birds.---The ears were real snug on the nail but the crow would work it back and forth, pushing and pulling until it loosened up and then away he went with it.---We tied a 4 foot string to an ear and then to the post.---Sure enough, here he came, worked it loose and took off.---Got up 4 feet and fluttered there for ten minutes before setting back down, resting, and then trying it again.---Tried it 4 times before he gave it up.---Now that's funny I don't care who you are.

 

[Know Wosad]

Yes, but wombats poop cubes -
http://www.audubon.org/news/no-its-not-actually-murder-crows

So the old term " shittin' bricks" came from watching a Wombat ?
I **** a few bricks jumping cars on my old Combat Wombat a few years back
OK a few decades back.
There I went showing my age again

 

[Know Wosad]

****. Don't want to leave the yunguns in limbo. These were the days kids. BAD MOFO back then

 

[GRX]

Birds stealing quarters from a local car wash vending machine. Cannot remember how much they found stashed on the roof, but it was fairly substantial since several birds were working together.