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A prankster dad filmed the moment he used a crow caller to entice 300 birds to peck on his neighbour’s newly seeded lawn.

Stuart Panter, 37, ‘loves winding up’ his ‘very angry’ neighbour Dez Mansell, 51, and planted the device on his shed to project a crow’s distress call.

Stuart was left in fits of laughter as hundreds of crows started gathering on Dez’s roof in Oxford – before attacking his lawn for seeds on July 7.

The dad-of-four filmed the prank and caught Dez’s furious reaction when he discovered the hidden speaker nearly two hours later.


He says the two are good friends, but Dez has now sworn revenge.



Stuart said: ‘Dez is like Victor Meldrew [from One Foot in the Grave]. I just love winding him up. He’s a very angry man.

‘He has a little soft spot for me so he lets me wind him up and his reaction is always genuine. We are friends as well.

Stuart loves winding up his neighbour and pal Dez (Picture: Kennedy News and Media) He said up to 300 birds swarmed the house (Picture: Kennedy News and Media) ‘I was in the garden and I was bored and wanted something to do. I thought about it and I literally thought about and implemented it in about five minutes. Nothing had been pre-planned.’

Footage shows Stuart sneaking to the back of Dez’s house and hiding the caller in a ladder on top of the shed, before activating it and rushing away.

He then watches as crows rush on the home of the neighbouring houses and swarm in large numbers across the sky in search of the sound.

Dez can be seen leaving his house to investigate the source of the sound before discovering Stuart’s crow caller hidden on the roof.

Peering over his garden fence, Dez shouts: ‘Stuart you’re a pr***.’

Looking down at him from a top floor window in his house, Stuart then says: ‘What’s up, Dez?’

Stuart Panter filmed the whole ordeal (Picture: Kennedy News and Media) As his family erupt into laughter and his wife gives Stuart the thumbs up, Dez says: ‘You’re a f***ing ahole.’

Dez later revealed his daughter-in-law rushed to bring in her washing off the line after the crows pooed on it.

He also bemoaned that the crows had left his newly reseeded lawn covered in patches as the hungry birds devoured the seeds.

Stuart continued: ‘I didn’t expect to get his reaction. It’s only because my wife said to me, “I think Dez is back I can hear him in the garden”, I ran upstairs because I wasn’t expecting to get his reaction too.

‘I was just expecting him to tell me I’d p****d him off [later on]. It definitely worked out better than I expected. It kept me entertained anyway.’



He added: ‘Of course, I’d forgotten that he’s seeded his lawn so when I did the crow thing it was more impactful than I thought because he was worried they were going to come down and peck all the grass seeds out.

Dez’s wife can be seen laughing as he gives Stuart the finger (Picture: Kennedy News and Media) ‘I still love the video. I swear I watch my videos more than anyone else. One thing I’ve found in life is if I can make myself laugh and smile, that’s half the battle.’

Stuart has previously pranked Dez, a huge Aston Villa fan, by pinning a sign for rival team Birmingham City round the back of his house with flashing lights, as well as hiding City stickers on his wheelie bins.

Dez admits he can never fully get Stuart back, but has a prank involving putting his house up for sale in the pipeline for the future.

Dez, who is originally from Birmingham, said: ‘I came back from being out with some of my mates, came into the house and my step-daughter told me there’s a trapped bird in the shed.

‘She had had to take all her washing in because all of the crows had been cr***ing on it and they keep swarming round.

Dez believes the crows are responsible for the patches in his newly reseeded lawn (Picture: Kennedy News and Media) ‘I lay my lawn a few months back because I had loads of weeds in it so I had to strip it and reseed it, which Stuart knew.


‘I had only just done it and I think it was another reason he did the birds, I think. He’s quick off the gun.

‘I’ve got patches in my lawn now. I think the birds pecked it out.’

He continued: ‘Instantly I knew who it was because he does it all the time. He always gets me on stuff.

‘I’ve got a few pranks in the pipeline but they’re going to be a bit bigger than his so they’re going to take a bit longer.

‘He’s a good lad but he is going to get it back. He’s cleverer than me so he dreams up some good ones.’

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