Trapped by magpie

A FIERCELY territorial magpie has made Donna Sneddon a virtual prisoner in her own home.
The Pakenham woman is afraid to go outside because every time she does, she risks being attacked.
Mrs Sneddon said the zealously protective magpie nesting not far from her Isaac Court house had thrown her daytoday routine into disarray.
The new mum is not sure whether she can wait for nesting season to end before life can return to normal.
“I can’t hang out the washing, put out the rubbish, check the mail or take my baby (Rory) for a walk in his pram without being swooped,” Mrs Sneddon said.
“I feel like I am trapped.
“If I do have to go out, I am terrified of being attacked.
“Last Friday, I felt the magpie’s wings graze my face. It’s terrible, I don’t know what to do.
“Having a young baby is isolating enough without having to be confined to four walls.”
Mrs Sneddon is one of many local residents frustrated by nature’s annual rites of spring.
The Gazette has received several calls in recent weeks from readers nominating ‘magpie alert zones’.
Mrs Sneddon said the bird terrorising her had its nest in the carpark of the Pakenham racecourse.
“It’s a nightmare,” she said.
“I know magpies are protected but I thought I had a right to some sort of protection as well.
“I don’t want it dead, I want it relocated. Everybody I’ve called has passed me onto somebody else.
“I realise birds have no boundaries but I feel I have a right to put my rubbish in the bin, check the mail and take my baby out for a walk,” she said.
Cardinia Shire manager of governance and communications Doug Evans said swooping magpies were often a concern at this time of year.
Mr Evans was sympathetic to Mrs Sneddon’s plight but said magpies were a protected species under the jurisdiction of the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
The DSE said magpies were very protective of their young and that most swooping was a form of bluffing.
The DSE said people should try and be confident and face a swooping bird.
Wearing a hat, wearing sunglasses backwards and holding a stick or umbrella overhead were also ways to discourage swooping.
It was possible for birds to be destroyed, but only as a last resort, DSE officials said.
For more information about swooping birds, contact the DSE on 13 61 86.