# crows



## kaisa

i have a bird bath set up in the garden for the little birdies but recently some crows have decided to use it to store all their garbage pickings  not more than 10 minutes after cleaning and scrubbing it they already bring their loot and leave to go get more. 

After just cleaning it this morning I already have cubes of cheese, deli meat, bread, and mouse/fish carcuses and bones. It fouls the water so bad  my neighbour also FEEDS the crows. Every morning on her deck and around her house theres between 20-40 crows swooping all around. It's sickening. 

Any one have any ideas to stop them doing this in my bird bath? I've never had this problem before... I'd hate to have to leave the bath empty because lots of species of birds uuse it all the time


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## kelly528

My best suggestion is to leave it empty til the crows forget about it. Or alternatively, get a fountain. It will discourage them from plopping their oversized rears down in it!


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## darb

kaisa said:


> my neighbour also FEEDS the crows. Every morning on her deck and around her house theres between 20-40 crows swooping all around. It's sickening.


It could be a sign of mental illness or occult activity be careful!

You could build some sort of large wire mesh cage over it, or switch to a smaller container strategically placed in the yard. I am sure that they can probably smell water.


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## Death's Sting

get a BB gun


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## L!$A

Get a scarecrow...?


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## eternity302

Death's Sting said:


> get a BB gun


Then get a BBQ... ghostdogg luvs those bbq crows!


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## t-bore

I say Pellet gun as well! If you arent a good shot you can cover it with a dome of page wire the smaller birds have no issues getting through but the crows can't.


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## kaisa

thanks for all the good ideas  I've just been sitting on the steps with the hose and power blasting them as soon as they land in the bath  hopefully soon enough they get the idea to stay away.

I don't know what kind of crazy person feels the need to feed crows. It's probably because of her we have a bad rat problem outside around here in the summer  Crows are more than capable of finding their own food.


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## Longimanus

Um, rather illegal to shoot crows with a BB gun. Hopefully those were sarcastic posts.

Just be careful blasting them with water like that. Crows are super smart and could possibly 'hold a grudge' and decide to attack you when you go outside. I'm not sure what you can do, maybe call a fish and wildlife type # and ask for some advice?


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## ibenu

Large chicken coop wire will allow the small birds to access it without the crows being able to get in


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## TomC

kaisa said:


> I don't know what kind of crazy person feels the need to feed crows. It's probably because of her we have a bad rat problem outside around here in the summer  Crows are more than capable of finding their own food.


 Nothing crazy about it. The person is motivated by the same feelings that cause you to set up a bird bath.

Crows are super intelligent, and very entertaining. My brother feeds them all the time, and has gotten to know their individual personalities. One does a perfect imitation of a kitten mewing.


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## budahrox

Could try mounting a plastic owl on your roof overlooking the bird bath???
Cheers!!


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## AWW

get a motion sencered sprinkler and set the sensitivity so it trips when larger birds are there but not the smaller ones. my grandpa did this for racoons, it probably cost him 40 dollars all said and done

Alex


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## Theratboy_101

Longimanus said:


> Um, rather illegal to shoot crows with a BB gun. Hopefully those were sarcastic posts.


Under B.C. law it is legal to kill Schedule C animals or "pest species" last I heard a crow was a pest!

but that being said the water hose may be a better idea... people may get mad if you miss the crow and take out a window, cat, or their kid!


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## darb

TomC said:


> Nothing crazy about it. The person is motivated by the same feelings that cause you to set up a bird bath.
> 
> Crows are super intelligent, and very entertaining. My brother feeds them all the time, and has gotten to know their individual personalities. One does a perfect imitation of a kitten mewing.


No doubt about it, but a murder of crows is nothing but a public nuisance. There is actually a by-law in Vancouver prohibiting feeding birds to some effect, haven't actually see it. But I imagine it is targeted at "those people" that come along with bags of bread crumbs to feed sea gulls/pigeons/crows on other peoples property and public spaces. Naturally the birds don't get 100% of the crumbs which just attracts rodents to come along afterwards to clean up the rest. Same goes for backyard bird feeders and seed to some degree.

Almost all natural sources of water have been eliminated in urban environments, thus water can be hard to come by for creatures, especially in the summer, whereas various food sources are common.

A couple more ideas, look for a crow in distress call on the internet and blast that in your backyard and I think that I read somewhere that they are greatly disturbed by a carcass of one of their own, you could maybe put together a stuffed dead crow and hang it in your backyard.


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## kelly528

Theratboy_101 said:


> Under B.C. law it is legal to kill Schedule C animals or "pest species" last I heard a crow was a pest!


Kinda sucks... we had some neighbors (grow op actually) with pigeons roosting in their roof because of the warmth from their op. Well the neighbors complained, so one of the growers simply took some 2x4s and a hammer and started BOARDING ALL THE PIGEONS INSIDE THE ROOF!

Guess what. We complained but under the pest species act it isn't illegal to trap pigeons inside your house until they starve to death 

Just because they're a 'pest species' doesn't mean they can't feel pain! Come ON people 

I bet if you cracked one around here about shooting someone's annoying parrot with a BB gun you wouldn't get quite the same reaction.

/somewhat off topic rant.


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## Aaron

Death's Sting said:


> get a BB gun


For the neighbor.


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## Theratboy_101

kelly528 said:


> We complained but under the pest species act it isn't illegal to trap pigeons inside your house until they starve to death


I guess it matters who you complain too. Because it is illegal to deprive any captive animal or food and water.

I've learned from dealing with the guy next door that trains guard dogs in his spare time... They barked 24/7 and scared horses and other pets&#8230; That you are much better to call the SPCA or other animal wrights groups the RCMP or city hall.


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## kelly528

Oh it was the SPCA that we called, as far as can remember 

I feel for ya thought... we have lived beside some noisy dogs and it is NOT fun. Espescially when you have to get up at 6 am for work every day but your neighbors don't!


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## gimlid

how about one of those plastic owls they use on all the comercial buildings. I think they work for pigeons and crows.


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## kaisa

thats horrible kelly  pigeon nests are so disgusting and hard to get rid of. a house down the road had to chicken wire their whole little 3rd floor balcony off to keep them out after trying to evict them for a few years.

my boyfriend suggested we soak peices of bread in draino and toss it over the fence into her yard for the crows to eat. Obviously I won't let him do it but I wish we could, they're driving me crazy with the nasty stuff they keep bringing over


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## kaisa

gimlid said:


> how about one of those plastic owls they use on all the comercial buildings. I think they work for pigeons and crows.


I have a big plastic heron I could put by the bath. I wonder if it woould work the same??


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## NewGuy

Crows are one of the smartest birds. The plastic owl will work for a short while, but once they figure out that its fake they will be back. Go with the chicken wire or the motion sensing sprinkler.


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## kaisa

I wonder if the city would do anything about her feeding them. She covers her whole deck in peanuts every morning and has a huge shallow bowl she fills with scraps that they pick out of all day. I called them a while ago when I counted over 40 crows perched and swooping around our houses but they never returned my call. Now it's rat season so maybe they can do something about it

I know that the crows can get food elsewhere and bring it here but i was watching them today go back and forth.


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## NewGuy

You can look up the by-laws yourself here.


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## kelly528

Yyyeah I am leaning towards calling your neighbor out on a bylaw. Whatever you do to scare away the crows will also scare away any other bird-bathers. But you can't just put up a sprinkler til the crows decide to leave because as soon as you take it down some other crows from your neighbors yard will probably start doing the same thing!

I think crows have definitely worked into their own niche with urban wildlife but the bottom line is that they are WILDLIFE. Do we really need to be feeding them. All human intervention will do is needlessly excaberate the population and cause urban / ecological disruptions and upsets down the road. Just let Darwinism run its course. The strongest & smartest crows will find enough food to eat and survive to pass advantageous traits down to future generations.


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## Ursus sapien

ibenu said:


> Large chicken coop wire will allow the small birds to access it without the crows being able to get in


good solution. also, that stiff, plastic fencing used in gardens has similarly sized holes and isn't so shiny


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## Ursus sapien

TomC said:


> Nothing crazy about it. The person is motivated by the same feelings that cause you to set up a bird bath.
> 
> Crows are super intelligent, and very entertaining. My brother feeds them all the time, and has gotten to know their individual personalities. One does a perfect imitation of a kitten mewing.


 thank you! I feed crows too. the one's at my bus stop come when I call


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## Emily

Ursus sapien said:


> thank you! I feed crows too. the one's at my bus stop come when I call


I am with you guys. Although I don't feed them, I don't harbor any bad feelings towards them. I actually raised a baby crow who was injured and she was very intelligent and entertaining. People are irritated at what they percieve as 'pests', but it is important to remember that we are the ones responsible for MAKING them pests.


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## kaisa

i've never had a problem with them either untill now that my house is swarming with them all day everyday. they loud and annoying and crap all over my yard and now i cant even fill up my bird bath without them filling it with food and rottting animal carcuses  

i caled and left another message with the city but i doubt they will do anything because feeding birds is acceptable


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## kelly528

That sucks. I get chucking some bread crumbs at a few of them but is the mass raven feeding station necessary?


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## eternity302

I don't mind those crows neither! But i can't imagine having a 100 of them crapping on my roof and in my yard! Can you imagine the smell of those poop being burnt on hard concrete by the sun? God it must stink!

Sorry to hear that!


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## Emily

kaisa said:


> i've never had a problem with them either untill now that my house is swarming with them all day everyday. they loud and annoying and crap all over my yard and now i cant even fill up my bird bath without them filling it with food and rottting animal carcuses
> 
> i caled and left another message with the city but i doubt they will do anything because feeding birds is acceptable


I don't know if it was mentioned but maybe it wouldn't hurt to try explaining your concerns to your neighbour? Maybe you already tried or they are a nutcase, I don't know. Just an idea


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## kaisa

we were thinking of going over to say something but we're scared of her. she's gone completly ballistic on us a few times for playing music outside during the day and for smoke drifting her way. she's ALWAYS screaming at her husband too, she just doesn't seem like a very nice person  maybe one day sooon i'lll see her out walking her dogs and mention it to her. 

I don't think people should be feeding birds where theres a bad rat problem. We stopped that years ago at first sign of the rats. I hope that the rats get into her house and that the pigeons who stop by for a meal start nesting by her roof. Then maybe she will stop


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## red

I've got a mom/dad crow that likes to hang around my pool. It's baby was wandering around the roof of our house too..

It's a good crow.. It takes snails from the garden, dips them in the pool, then eats em on the neighbours roof..

Good crow!!!


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## eternity302

red said:


> I've got a mom/dad crow that likes to hang around my pool. It's baby was wandering around the roof of our house too..
> 
> It's a good crow.. It takes snails from the garden, dips them in the pool, then eats em on the neighbours roof..
> 
> Good crow!!!


Are you sure you're not that crazy neighbor she's talking about? HAHAHAA!!!


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## kaisa

hopefully it doesn't start bringing garbage findings and dead mice to dip/leave in your pool... i wonder why they do that anyway


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## red

Definitely not.. I don't feed it.. It was out a couple times today munching away on snails.

I think it's fantastic.


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## darb

You will probably get more of a response for the city if you there in person, a phone message is all too easy to ignore, especially for a city worker. Just make sure that you stress your concern about rodents, dead animal carcases and droppings all over your property.

Another avenue of pursuit would possibly be with the health authority.

There is also crow distress call recordings available, you can try playing those as a countermeasure.


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## kaisa

well this is too much!!!! I just looked over in her yard and there is two big fat rats feasting in her garden at 9:30 in the morning!!!!! soo gross! calling the city back now if they dont do sh*t I will go there in person and cause a fuss... I've just counted FIVE rats now!


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## Colin475

You should take some pictures


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## Mferko

a fake owl should do the trick (the reason crows fly east together at night is because owls hunt them at night so they all go sleep together in massive groups)
(check this link, its a sweet 10 minute video about a guy who trained crows to do some cool stuff, you might start liking crows http://blog.ted.com/2008/05/joshua_klein.php )


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## kaisa

the crows aren't much of a problem anymore....we don't really get them in the birdbath these days-- once in a while they leave a peanut shell or two but no more dead animals or cheese and breads

i got a few pics of the rats but since the clouds disapeared and the sun is shining bright most have retreated back to the wood pile- I must of seen at least 10- lots of babies. tehre hard to take pics of because at the tinest sound they scurry back to their den


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## davefrombc

I had a pet crow, and would have another if the opportunity arises .. It was by far the smartest bird that ever owned me


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## Colin475

I like crows too, but I wouldn't want a whole bunch around my house. I would put traps out for the rats though


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## neven

crows in a flock annoy me, individually or in pairs they are interesting to watch.

as for the rats, they'll be in your yard too, might aswell bait em and kill em if the city does nothing. they'll get in your home eventually otherwise. just put the dead ones on your neighbours door step as a thank you for being a nuisance to the community. I remember when my father shoveled some dog crap on our front yard an put it in front of the persons door who never picked up after their dog, no more droppings in the front yard after that.


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## kaisa

New Westminster as a city is crawling with rats for the past 5 or 6 years. Ever since they started all that construction down by the river they've headed up town and tooken over.

I have bait boxes that I'll probably put back into use for the season- I hate using poison but we can't have hundreds of rats hanging around either. I also have those heavy duty t-rex resuable snap traps but Im not sure about using them outside incase a cat gets caught. Luckily non have gotten in the house but it's only a matter of time before they find a way


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## neven

when i lived in new west, near moody park, the building ended up with a rodent infestation, so they had pest control come in and place traps in all the suites. When they recommended a full control policy including outdoor traps, the building manager was right on board with it and brought it to their corporate. He got fired over that, recommending to spend more money where it 'wasnt' necessary.

The building had 3 wings with like 10 units a wing and 3 floors, and the rent was upped to the max every year. They had plenty of money to invest. The new manager let the building go into disrepair, leaks weren't repaired, garbage not cleaned up, mold started and the rodents got worse. Ended up moving. Considering this wasn't a transglobe building, and the majority of them are, i can definately see why such rodent outbreaks (and bed bugs) go unchecked.


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## nonsans

i saw a crow trying to catcha squirrel 
it failed but crow almost had him


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## rah_rabbitry

second & third what ibenu & darb suggested


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## kaisa

I'm really starting to like the crows now that they stopped bringing food to the bath  They still come by for a drink and it's very comical to watch them try so hard to have a bath but they're way too big. 

There was 5 in there but two flew away when I was getting the camera


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## effox

A dead\fake crow carcass does work, they did this at my work to repel them from crapping all over the security cameras.

None of these options I've read seem cosmetically attractive though, beyond the fake owl which I've seen crows perched on before.


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## effox

nonsans said:


> i saw a crow trying to catcha squirrel
> it failed but crow almost had him


The squirrel was probably too close to their nest, they'll eat their eggs, and crows hold a grudge big time...


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## Mferko

near my house in kerrisdale last year i saw a raccoon sleeping in a crows nest and the 2 angry crows were flying around swooping down at him every now and then lol


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## Morainy

My mom, who has mild dementia and is in a wheelchair with lots of health problems, pretty much lives for feeding crows. We take her to the Starbucks in the Safeway parking lot and she throws bits of muffin or bread for the crows. They wait for her, and swoop down to eat it, always getting every crumb. 

Lots of people get angry with us, but it is her main pleasure. 

The only way that I can think of for you to prevent the crows from getting into your birdbath would be to make a large box around it of a mesh that is too big for your crows but not too big for your desired bird population. 

The other thing, though, would be to enjoy the crows!

Maybe you could ask your neighbour to put out a tub of water for the crows so that they can dunk their food at her house. I have not heard of crows washing their food, though we have raccoons here who like to wash things in the cat's bowl...


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