[pgkevet]

.. when one pheasant hen pecks at the conservatory door for attention 'cos the wife is late feeding her chickens. Nine pheasant hens waiting by the back door along with our 6 chickens and all the 'little guys' waiting in the bushes (mostly assorted finches)
The cock pheasant who thinks the back door area is his territory even tried to face up to the dalmatian this morning, won't even back off from me until i try to stroke him...

[Old Shep]

  

[ZaktheLad]

Love it! 

[in the hills]

This is a serious subject. I'm shocked  that you are all making light of the matter. 

Take the case of 'Harold'. My elderly neighbour, friend to all things feathery or furry, took great pleasure in feeding all the birds that visited his garden .... until 'HAROLD'. Harold was a great beauty. A well fed cock pheasant. Neighbour delighted that Harold waited at his cottage door for his breakfast, lunch and dinner. Until things turned nasty! Harold decided that the whole of the tiny cottage garden was his territory. Neighbour became a prisoner in his home, attacked with great vigour by Harold if he so much as dared to step outdoors.

Several people offered to 'do for Harold' but neighbour in the end fed up of constant attacks, trapped the demon and released him several miles from 'home'.

So beware!!!!     

[Womble]

We used to live in an old keeper's cottage in the woods, and invariably had a troop of 'pet' pheasants every year.
 
One year we had a cock pheasant who couldn't stand anything red in his territory. Go on, guess the colour of my car! 
 
Nowadays I take the view that since they're eating the food I put out for my hens, I can legitimately harvest a few for myself, can't I? 

[Penninehillbilly]

 
We fed the pheasants over winter, they aren't 'natural' round here, so we find them a pleasure to see close up, but the little ladies are getting cheeky, following me round and making little 'squeaky?' noises for their food.
There were 4 up to a couple of weeks ago, now only one or 2 at a time
Not got to tapping on the door for breakfast yet though 

[pgkevet]

...my story was the cheeky backdoor pheasants.. whole farm is a pheasant playground split into tiny territories.
Some years ago the guy on the other side of the valley raised a massive pheasant population for the shooting he rents his woods out for. First shot rang out and all the pheasants flew over to my sanctuary..

[devonlady]

I couldn't bring myself to shoot a pheasant, but will happily eat any that someone else has

[Marches Farmer]

"Ours" cleans up after the sparrows and finches have been at the bird feeder.  Quite useful as he likes the seeds they don't and it saves me weeding the flowerbed.

[pgkevet]

Just an update to my OH's nuttyness...
I came back from town today to find more than 2 dozen (i lost count after that) pheasants perched along the fence by the back door and kitchen.... waiting for their lunch....

[Penninehillbilly]

Just an update to my OH's nuttyness...
I came back from town today to find more than 2 dozen (i lost count after that) pheasants perched along the fence by the back door and kitchen.... waiting for their lunch....

No photo ? ? ? 

[bloomer]

Air rifle?

[Penninehillbilly]

Air rifle?

Sounds like a fairground scene

[Buttermilk]

Our local shoot deliberately put out white pheasants and a silky hen each year.  There is a £100 fine for shooting a white pheasant and £500 for shooting the hen.  The idea of the white ones is to make the guns look before they fire so that beaters and dogs do not get hit.  The silky is to mother the birds and keep them closer to the release area.

There is a bit of rivalry between local shoots and when they are dogging up will walk the others pheasants toward their own patch.  It can be amusing to see a flock of pheasants walking one way up the lane with a quad bike following and several hours later seeing another flock heading in the oposite direction with a pick up behind., or vice versa.

[Bionic]

Oh, send some my way. I would love them