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A rogue magpie was culled last week after attacking people in Sans Souci. Bayside Council said they had numerous complaints and photo evidence that the bird was causing serious injury to residents. They reported it to the National Parks and Wildlife Service for assessment and the bird was later deemed as dangerous. Council applied to have the bird culled and it was approved. Just after 10am on Monday, September 11, a licensed contractor was used and the bird was killed. It is the same location where Joan Ferguson was swooped last month. Speaking to the Leader at the time she said the magpie swooped past her repeatedly. “This time it hit my helmet,” she said. “It made a cracking noise with its claws or its beak. Whatever it was it swooped on me and hit my helmet hard to warn me or push me away. It was a little too close “I got off my bike and stood still but it kept swooping on me. “You just don’t know if they are attacking you or the helmet. They could see the helmet as a helmet as a predator. “I took my helmet off and held in in the air above my head so that it would not attack me, and then I walked away backwards because they are not known to swoop at you if you are looking at them. But this one kept swooping. “Just after it attacked me it swooped on another cyclist across the road. I was able to warn her and she was able to get away avoid the magpie.’’ Alice Street has been identified as a magpie hot spot on Magpie Alert- a website designed to track and record attacks Australia-wide. Creator of the website, Jon Clarke says that he set up the website after almost falling off his bike following a magpie swooping. “I set it up back in 2013 when I was out on a bike ride. I got swooped by a magpie and I almost came off at 35km/h," he said. After getting home, Mr Clarke found there were no websites that tracked magpie swoopings so used his web development skills to build one. MagpieAlert.com allows people to log on and record where they have experienced a swooping, details about the attack and any injuries suffered. People can then check the website, find out where attacks have happened and avoid the area. Other listings include Glen Road in Oatley and Cambridge Street in Penshurst. So far this year, the website has recorded 1572 attacks in Australia with 247 injuries as a result of those attacks. Mr Clarke says some of the injuries have been quite severe. "We get a lot of people falling off their bikes. Someone sent one in with a photo showing gravel rash from falling off his bike," he said. "They target ears and cheek but if you're really unlucky, they get the odd eye." While many people are wary of all magpies, Professor Darryl Jones of Griffith University says that most magpies will leave people alone. "It's only a tiny fraction. Across the board it's around about 10 per cent of breeding pairs," he said. He said that magpies only swooped to protect their young during breeding season. "They swoop almost exclusively because they're males and they're protecting their chicks. It's always just in the immediate vicinity of the nest."

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