This winter if you visit the city of Rochester in the state of New York, USA and see snow. Watch out, because it might not be snow… but bird droppings. These white patches of slime all over the sidewalk weren’t even spring swallow droppings, they were crows, tens of thousands of crows invading the city.
Around the beginning of winter every year, flocks of crows in North America begin to migrate. They fly from Canada to the southwestern US state of Pennsylvania, where there are open areas where grain, nuts and even small animals are readily available.
Along the way, the crows will stop by New York, where they put on a macabre show that lasts for weeks. During this time, you can see from 20-30,000 crows flying in the sky. The scene resembles that in the Alfred Hitchcock horror film The Birds.
Tens of thousands of crows flew over the city, leaving behind piles of white slime.
Hollywood filmmakers love that and often come here when they need a scene of crows. But the people of Rochester do not, they say that crows bring a creepy feeling of death. They are an obsession with young children, the elderly and with hospital patients looking out the window.
Crow droppings fall like rain
Rochester is a city located between the Genesee River, the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario, just above the Finger Lakes region. There were tree-lined riverside corridors, which the crows liked very much.
Maybe that’s why they often choose this as their stopping place. Rochester also has forests within reasonable range of the crows, plus an abundant food source, night light that allows the crows to be wary of predators, and the inherent warmth of the city.
Part of the crows even abandoned their journey to settle here forever. They also spread to other suburbs in New York, such as Amsterdam and Watertown.
Richard Miller, an engineer in the city of Amsterdam, said crows often park in large numbers along the city hall parking lot. He said there are times when bird droppings fall from above.”like rain.” “That’s gross, but it’s true.”
Every winter, tens of thousands of crows migrate through Rochester, and they stay there for several weeks.
Ornithologist Kevin McGowan of Cornell University said that more than a century ago, people in upstate New York reported the appearance of large flocks of crows. Native crows that encounter migratory crows form a noisy gathering around the clock.
Gatherings of crows often have a social purpose. “It could be a way for crows to meet potential mates or connect with individuals they haven’t seen in a long time.“, said Kaeli Swift, an instructor at the University of Washington.
However, the meeting of crows brings trouble to humans. The main conflict occurred when the crows decided to perch on the large trees that lined the streets of the city. The US Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Service had to send a team of specialists to chase them away.
Strange job: Those who specialize in chasing crows
Also in Rochester, but a city in the state of Minnesota (in case you don’t know, there are 19 Rochester cities in the United States like New York, named after Nathaniel Rochester, a colonel who participated and had great merits. during the American Revolution 1775-1783), Don Yust drove slowly along a street lined with popular restaurants and bars.
There, he discovered a perched tree full of crows. Yust is an employee who works in the city park, but at night he will join a group called “Crow Patrol“. The city of Rochester budgets this task force $40,000 a year just to do the task of repelling crows.
“It was a hot spot last night“, said Yust. They drove the crows out once here yesterday, but they seem to have returned in full force. The US Department of Agriculture has a guide to a toolkit for crow patrols like the one in Rochester. .
First, Yust will turn on a loudspeaker that records a series of crow calls. If the crows followed the car, he could steer and lure them out of the city. But this time, the loudspeaker seems to have lost its effect.
With a body over 40 cm long and a wingspan of over 90 cm, crows are considered one of the most intelligent animals in the world. They are rarely fooled more than a few times, so if the crows’ chirping doesn’t work, the experts from the Department of Agriculture will instruct Yust to use headlights and lasers, the purpose is to blind the crows.
This time, the lights worked, but still only a handful of crows flew away from the tree. The last resort that Yust had to resort to was a pistol equipped with exploding bullets, meaning that the bullet only made a noise without firing a bullet.
With only a few pellets, the whole flock of crows flew away, except for one that remained.
“Usually, you will find some very stubborn crows. They won’t fly away no matter what you do.”, Yust said. “It’s like it wants to talk to me. “I’ve found my home for tonight. Leave me alone.”
Similar methods were used in the city of Rochester in New York state, but they were on a tighter budget. The amount of money spent on chasing crows here is only about 7,000 -21,000 USD/year.
Under US law, crows that migrate through their cities are protected as a migratory bird. This means that people are not allowed to hunt or harm them, unless they get a federal permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
And even if you do get a hunting permit, it’s usually only valid during the day. The crows only started raging in the city after sunset.
In the Minnesotans city of Rochester, an innovative way to control crows has been devised. They release into the wild birds that hunt crows, such as hawks or great-horned owls.
However, with tens of thousands of crows invading the city each year, releasing the natural enemies doesn’t work on a large scale either. That’s why they still have to maintain the Crow Patrol in the city.
Sally Vehrenkamp, a female employee at the Rochester Crow Patrol with a laser device to keep crows away.
Every afternoon when it was dark, they hit the road with pickup trucks scattered throughout the city. “We’re armed with lasers, we’re equipped with crow speakers, and an explosive shotgun“, said Sally Vehrenkamp, a female officer at the Rochester Crow Patrol.
The goal is to help clean up the city and make Rochester a more livable place. “You know, in the city center there is a hospital of the Mayoclinic system that attracts a lot of patients from all over the world.”, Vehrenkamp said.
“If the crows are left here, the patients will find it disgusting when they come in. They’ll have to step over piles of crow droppings.”
Refer Fieldandstream, Npr
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