Police shoot hundreds of crows

[donheld]

RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) - Beset by huge flocks of crows for the past several weeks, Riverton officials have given city police orders to shoot to kill.

Police officers began shooting crows in the downtown area last weekend. As week's end neared, the Riverton Police Department counted nearly 800 crows killed.

Mayor John Vincent declared a state of emergency last weekend regarding the crow infestation. His declaration authorized only police to shoot the birds. A city ordinance still prohibits anyone else from discharging firearms within the city limits.

The crows settled in trees in the center of town several weeks ago. Since their arrival, they have coated trees, buildings, vehicles, sidewalks and streets with their droppings. They've also reportedly broken hundreds of branches from trees.

City officials say they haven't determined whether the shooting program is a success. On Tuesday, the City Council ratified Vincent's declaration of an emergency.

Vincent said the shootings are the culmination of the frustration the community feels toward the birds.



http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=5f2582db-0abe-421a-00cd-0897474a3aa2&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf

[YOY]

1. {Snicker} A Murder of Crows

:evilgrin:

[rpgamerd00d]

8. Hahahaha! You "dern edumacatid librul!" :)

[YOY]

14. In RPG terms I prefer

Chaotic Good Dual Class Smartass Level 10, Peacenik Level 3.

[bowens43]

2. "Go where the crows go and you'll know what the crows know..."

[phusion]

3. Bad luck will befall that town...

There are some things you just shouldn't do...

:)

[havocmom]

9. Yeah, and shooting a gun UP is one of them, crows or no crows

Downtown? They are shooting downtown??? Hope they pay better attention to where they point their guns than Cheney does!

[Roland99]

4. Cheney's from WY, right?

:evilgrin:

[Tanuki]

5. They should deputize Deadeye Dick

He enjoys shooting birds just to watch them die, so he'd love this.

[YOY]

7. These ones are actual pests...not hand-raised for canned hunts

Crows are tough as nails and can actually do damage to crops.

They're also quite intelligent as well on the humanitarian side.

On the "eat what you hunt" side Crows are all stringy and no meat.

[goddess40]

6. Could they come and get rid of the crows in my neighborhood too.

I love animals but damn the crows are nasty pests.

[pitohui]

10. too bad, most crows have a higher IQ than our glorious leader

crows have a greater intelligence and sense of community than dogs and cats but people base their actions not on science but on hysteria, fear, and superstition

[Benhurst]

15. Thanks.

:thumbsup:

[FlaGranny]

22. Yes, but there's also

poop and disease.

[theHandpuppet]

26. Thank you

From a friend of crows and one who sadly realizes so few people know so little about them.

[gordianot]

11. You should eat what you shoot, that includes those who ordered it.

Hey eating crow is not that bad, Democrats have for the last 6 years even though they did not deserve it. Hopefully Republicans everywhere will taste crow soon and they deserve it.

[UTUSN]

12. Seriously, a non-killing solution:

This was told by my state wildlife employee.

Take two 2x4s, about 2 ft long. You can put a hinge at one end. Go out and aim at (under) the birds. Open the boards wide and-----------SLAP--------them together suddenly.

It has worked for me. And I used 1x4s that were handy and were only about one foot long.

He said it takes about 5 days and they won't be back. Of course, there are NEW ones, but more and more there are none and none.

When he described it on the phone, I pictured standing out there slapping the boards repeatedly and prolongedly and looking like a nutcase to the neighbors. Actually, ONE sudden slap usually does the trick, sometimes two.

You should wear earplugs. I haven't been and I'm noticing a little problem. Also, watch the fingers.

As for the birds in a protected status, there is an exception in my state law if the birds are damaging property, which, they are with the droppings and such. Otherwise, birdlovers might turn you in for "harassing" them.

[HereSince1628]

17. They will get used to noise over time.

I know I've tried.

I've tried to look on the bright side. The hundreds of crows roosting in the little woods on my farm didn't die last year from Nile virus.

[gordianot]

That is what puzzled me about this Crows are smart.

Usually a shot gun blast (blank) is enough to scare them off. I like your board solution. I wonder if someone in this situation is feeding them. For food they will come back.

There was a famous incident in Missouri where the Governor ordered the Conservation Commission to shoot what he described as "Blackbirds" on the grounds of the Governors mansion. It turned out they were migrating Purple Martins, I watched this decades ago.

[UTUSN]

28. There was also this local politician

He was elderly, a total wingnut whacko, autocratic, oligarchic, union-abusing, misogynist, belittler of the Disabler-------anything else?

He was used to running the town as dictator. Well, once he created a stir-------FINALLY!, as if none of the aforementioned victims had enough to complain about-----when he ran outside his house and fired a shotgun at grackles.

[Berserker]

13. Just imagine if it said this

RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) - Beset by huge herd of cats for the past several weeks, Riverton officials have given city police orders to shoot to kill.

Police officers began shooting cats in the downtown area last weekend. As week's end neared, the Riverton Police Department counted nearly 800 cats killed.
...................................
If this were posted in DU on a Monday about feral cats we would have to wait until Friday to see a political post. :evilgrin:

[pitohui]

16. i agree

we have little concern abt actual wild animals in this country

an unknown number of crows of two species, but especially fish crows, were killed in hurricane katrina and rita, i would see fish crows over my yard every day prior to the disaster, since the disaster, i have seen only one

you don't know what you got till it's gone

[johnaries]

20. You mean like in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota?

Updated: 2:41 p.m. ET April 14, 2005
MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin residents support a plan to legalize wild cat hunting, according to voting results released Tuesday.

South Dakota and Minnesota both allow wild cats to be shot. Some estimates indicate 2 million wild cats roam Wisconsin. The state says studies show feral cats kill between 47 million and 139 million songbirds a year.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7475469/

[Clark2008]

18. Thank God they didn't ask Cheney to help kill these crows.

Half of Riverton might be in the hospital by now.

:crazy:

[pitohui]

19. tee hee you're a bad, bad person

i was thinking the same :-)

[Clark2008]

25. I know.

I'm a meanie. :hi:

[FlaGranny]

21. I have my own crow story.

I once tried to put a bird feeder in my back yard. The next day about a dozen crows showed up. The day after that there were about 50, and the day after that I looked out my back door and thought I was in Hitchcock's "The Birds." There were so many of them it scared me. As far as I could see, on every rooftop, fence top, tree branch, and power line there were crows - thousands of them - in three days! They must have come from miles around. I brought in the bird feeder and never tried that again.

Edit: I love songbirds and would love to encourage them to visit my yard, but the crows just run the songbirds off.

[gordianot]

24. You have hit on what must be happening here.

Crows will go after a food source. I suspect there is someone in this area feeding the crows others are shooting.

[FlaGranny]

30. Could be. It's a good idea

to never leave food out for critters when there are crows around, unless you want to be a foot deep in crow poop. Actually that goes for other crow-type birds, too, including ravens and common blackbirds - many times they are together. I never would have believed how many could show up. I swear I am not exaggerating when I saw it was "The Birds" revisited.

Edit: Interestingly, it was just ONE small bird feeder that drew all those birds.

[gordianot]

31. We have a neighbor who feeds squirrels.

Loves the little critters,never have convinced him to stop feeding them as they develop into a herd. They get into my attic, I have not found the hole they come in to the attic of my 140 year old Victorian home. I have killed several in the house with a 22 pellet pistol, (so far I have not Cheneyed anyone). We also live trap them and release 10 miles down the road. A Conservation agent suggested they may come back so I squirted several with orange paint on the tail provided by the Conservation Agent. Sure enough 1 came back. None we have released across the river has returned.


Yes I am guilty of feeding humming birds from time to time. They do not attack your attic, the bird droppings are microscopic.

[CornField]

23. Here in Eastern Iowa they just take dead birds, glue them to boards &

place those in the trees as a warning of impending violence.

I'm not sure which approach I find more disgusting.

[zalinda]

27. In Auburn NY, it's a hunting contest

http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2005/01/21/news/news01.txt

zalinda

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

29. Send Cheney.

[Steve A Play]

32. Come the spring thaw, when the locusts emerge

and there are no natural predators left to eat them..... OOPS! :crazy: