Pistachio Farmers Shooting Ravens on My Property

October 8, 2015

Question: I live about 50 acres away from a pistachio orchard. The owners of that orchard drive around and shoot at the ravens out of their truck. They park in front of my property and shoot at the ravens. I called the sheriff and he said to call Fish and Wildlife since the farmers have a depredation permit and so it’s out of their hands. The farmers also told the sheriff that they are shooting blanks. Since this has started happening, I have found three dead ravens on my property. One was right next to my horses’ watering trough and the other two were out our back door near our barbecue grill.

The orchard owners can see when we are home or away by our vehicles. We live on 10 acres and our house is in the middle of the property. I feel unsafe and creeped out. I came home today to find the third dead raven. Are they allowed to do this? How can I keep them away from my property? Do I have any rights or does their permit supersede my rights? I’ve been taking pictures of the dead ravens. One is even in my freezer. What is my next step? Is there a season they kill the ravens or do they have free rein to do what they want? I have a child and animals and I’m afraid for their safety. (Cindy P.)

Answer: The first place to start is to contact your local wildlife officer to report this. If you don’t have their direct number, contact your local CDFW office. A list can be found on our website at http://www.wildlife.ca.gov/regions. The wildlife officers should be able to look up the conditions of the owners’ permits and make sure they are acting within the parameters allowed by the permit. At a minimum, it is illegal to shoot within 150 yards of any occupied dwelling without the permission of the occupant. There is no open hunting season for ravens.

Search ca dfg for American crow. Season is 1st sat in Dec for 124 days. I believe farmers can cull birds year round if they are in significant numbers AND are damaging property or crops.
I believe there is something else in the hunting rules that state that shooting over someone's property across fence lines with out written permission is a no-no.
This is for Crows though, not ravens.

Hide cars... Post NO HUNTING SIGNS,  Paintball backed up with an AR or SKS in hand to make your point... Shooting over private property (yours) without permission should be (and with posted signage) probably is Illegal. Love how everyone waffles authority over this back and forth.

99% chance it's just bird bombs anyway. We use them all the time in the vineyard.

99% chance it's just bird bombs anyway. We use them all the time in the vineyard.

You are talking about the propane dealies? They don't kill the birds. He has found 3 so dead birds on his land, and seen the farmer shooting them at the fence line.

Signs. Hang the birds on the fence. Cameras if it persists. If evidence of act doesn't convince authorities,  then the mischief should ensue. 

Wow! I feel dumb... I though that the person with the crow issue might see this. These are all posts from the ca dfg site. D'oh! Newbie!
Anyway, that's what I'd do!

I've been posting responses to this stuff all day! What a moroon!

Wow! I feel dumb... I though that the person with the crow issue might see this. These are all posts from the ca dfg site. D'oh! Newbie!
Anyway, that's what I'd do!

I've been posting responses to this stuff all day! What a moroon!

Hojo's DFG posts used to fool me every time too. You have good input regardless

Please be cautious  handling dead birds west nile virus kills lots of birds. If you didnt kill it I wouldnt handle dead birds.

Just sounds like a bitchy old transplant hag to me. "Parked in front of", "50 acres away from", "creeped out by", but has a dead raven in her freezer? She should mind her own business. Poor sheriff.

I don't think it is legal to shoot ravens even with a permit, they are special you know