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crows - 100's of them!!
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Message 1.Â
Posted by dotz (U13763755) on Saturday, 17th July 2010
Help! I have suddenly been invaded by 100s of big black horrible crows. They have taken up residence in some trees in my garden. They are noisy, dirty and swarm around at daybreak and in the evening. The garden is littered with black feathers and bird droppings. I have lots of little birds who nest in the garden and stay with us all winter. I think the crows will be detrimental to these birds and perhaps even pinch all the food. Is there anyway I can discourage them being here and politely suggest they move on.
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Message 2
Posted by poshHebeJeebie (U9319867) on Saturday, 17th July 2010
Get up a rooking party. If you are in a rural area, there will be plenty of guns. And a twelve-bore is probably the best remedy. Rooks/crows can be a pest, and there's no point in being sentimental.
I prefer the little garden birds any day. There is a large (getting larger!) rookery at the end of the village. Locals + shotguns sort it. (Not to eradicate - but to maintain a level of control)
PHJ -
Message 3
Posted by dotz (U13763755) on Saturday, 17th July 2010
Sounds good to me but is it permissible to shoot them or will some do gooder say they have to be preserved at all costs - like urban foxes!!
I stay on the edge of a village but next to a golf course so any stray shots might take out a few golfers!! -
Message 4
Posted by mummyduckegg (U8437139) on Saturday, 17th July 2010
Maintaining a level of control then, dotz?
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Message 5
Posted by poshHebeJeebie (U9319867) on Saturday, 17th July 2010
Depends how keen you are on golfing, Dotz! If the current TV coverage is anything to go by, I'm off to B & Q tomorrow to get some paint so I can watch it dry
The demise of the odd golfer could be seen as a bonus when rooking
There will always be some who want to preserve at any cost (tell that to the farmers!). But unless it's vaguely cute - preferably furry (and I know that crows aren't) they don't give d**n. No-one out there calling for protection for the adder atm - but they've had a pretty hard time of it this winter.
Ho hum. All a matter or perspective. Cull and control is better than over-population of any species with attendant threats of disease imo.
PHJ -
Message 6
Posted by Berghill (U2333373) on Sunday, 18th July 2010
Just remember a crow in a crowd is a rook.
Rooks may be shot as they are classed as pests. they eat seeds etc. so do a lot of damage to crops. Crows eat carrion or occasionally hunt for live prey. They are not a pest and should be left alone to rid the countryside of rotting corpses from road kill. -
Message 7
Posted by Logissimo (U14020652) on Sunday, 18th July 2010
Clearly Berghill doen't like rooks.
Let me try to redress the balance, rooks must eat tons of wireworms and leatherjackets, admittedly more in farmland than in gardens but they are generally beneficial birds but not greatly convenient if you have a noisy rookery at the bottom of your garden particularly over where you park your car.
Crows scoff soft fruit, I am always chasing crows away from my cherries and they know when smaller birds are nesting and I have seen them taking goldfinch chicks and regularly see the after effects of their work destrying nests(along with jays and magpies)
Farmers have a saying about seeding,
One for Rook, one for Crow,
One to rot, one to grow.
Think before you act, but do get the full and correct story; Rook pie on the other hand might be worth a try! -
Message 8
Posted by Jasmin (U14270220) on Sunday, 18th July 2010
A strong (good firing range) water gun has a good effect on a pair of collared doves who insist on pinching all the sunflower seeds I put out! Takes a couple of goes, but then that vanish for a couple of days. Don't know whether a water gun might work on the rooks / crows?
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Message 9
Posted by dotz (U13763755) on Sunday, 18th July 2010
I have checked - these are rooks. I also read that it is unlucky if they leave their home (ie my garden) as they sense death. Not sure if that is theirs or mine!!
Oh what a quandary as I hate having them at such close quarters.
Would someone else come in and dispose of them, would one dead bird discourage the rest from hanging around?
RSPBA website says they can be spectacular when wheeling around in the sky before roosting. I dont think so! -
Message 10
Posted by Berghill (U2333373) on Sunday, 18th July 2010
I do not dislike rooks. And yes crows will take small birds etc. but I have never seen them taking fruit, they are generally speaking regarded as being meat eaters. Jackdaws will take fruit, that I have seen.
We have all three, plus Jays (biggest takers of fledglings after magpies) near to us. The crows we encourage as they chase the magpies away.
Rooks I would hate to have in the trees in our garden, the noise they make all night is tremendous. Phillip Schofield (TV presenter?) was on a programme a few years back asking how to get rid of the flocks which live in the trees by his house. Not sure if he ever got an answer.
Round here the farmers organise shoots for the reduction in numbers of rooks and pigeons.
I often wonder why they are called scarecrows when they are more to scare rooks? -
Message 11
Posted by poshHebeJeebie (U9319867) on Sunday, 18th July 2010
Interestingly, crows will, of course, eat carrion (hence the name: Carrion Crow) but will also east small mammals, wounded and small birds, eggs, frogs, toads, molluscs, insects, worms and vegetable matter, chiefly grain, fruits and seeds.
Rooks eat predominantly vegetable matter - cereals, potatoes and other roots, fruits, seeds and berries but will also eat insects, worms, molluscs, millipedes, spiders, carrion, small mammals, young birds and eggs.
Rooks are more gregarious, whereas crows are more likely to be seen in pairs or small flocks (rarely more than two or three dozen).
Distinguishing between the two is not easy - especially since the young of a rook is easily confused with a crow.
But if you have a flock in the garden, it is more likely that they are rooks than crows. And it is an old country tale that says a dead rook hung on a branch will deter others (which may be the claim about their association with death?)
Their flocking nature gives the collective noun: a building of rooks. But it is a murder of crows!
PHJ -
Message 12
Posted by Global_Worming (U14532104) on Monday, 19th July 2010
We had the same problem, a good .22 air rifle with t/scopic sights and pointed slugs has solved it, after we shot 7 or 8 (go for a chest shot, the feathers are soft so you get a clean kill) they just fly over now!Hang the corpse from a tree just like the mole catcher did with moles, what a joke! all you do is increase the bluebottle population, take it to a good spot, bash it with a spade and wait for his relatives, the fox then comes to clean up.
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