so your friends, the crows, can swarm-- cawing, crying, and screeching--- all over the neighborhood, hectoring residents with drowning crow calls? Maybe you are the same oddball who leaves food out for the squirrels, helping them multiply and scamper over roofs, digging claws into roof shingles trying to make nests? My point is that I suspect someone cares more for wild creatures than people, and gets perverse pleasure annoying others by attracting critters with "bait" they don't need to survive. It's less than funny, a little creepy actually.
https://n2v.paloaltoonline.com/square/print/2011/07/16/crow-cacaphony
Town Square
Crow cacaphony
Original post made by Midtown Man, Midtown, on Jul 16, 2011
so your friends, the crows, can swarm-- cawing, crying, and screeching--- all over the neighborhood, hectoring residents with drowning crow calls? Maybe you are the same oddball who leaves food out for the squirrels, helping them multiply and scamper over roofs, digging claws into roof shingles trying to make nests? My point is that I suspect someone cares more for wild creatures than people, and gets perverse pleasure annoying others by attracting critters with "bait" they don't need to survive. It's less than funny, a little creepy actually.
Comments
Posted by Outside Observer
a resident of another community
on Jul 16, 2011 at 5:47 pm
a resident of another community
on Jul 16, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Replace "crows" and "squirrels" with "bums" and "panhandlers" and you've got a description of Palo Alto's real problems.
Posted by death
a resident of St. Claire Gardens
on Jul 16, 2011 at 6:21 pm
a resident of St. Claire Gardens
on Jul 16, 2011 at 6:21 pm
crow is an unlucky bird in other culture much like a black cat in
Posted by Ken
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 16, 2011 at 6:28 pm
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 16, 2011 at 6:28 pm
Crows are predators that destroy the nests of the songbirds. Bums are the cons that try to make the rest of us feel sorry for them, while destroying our neighborhoods.
Get rid of both of them.
Posted by Not Happy
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 17, 2011 at 3:20 am
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 17, 2011 at 3:20 am
If you think crows and squirrels are bad; our neighborhood has a eucalyptus tree that has as many as 25 turkey buzzards roosting in it every night during the Winter months. Our street is white with their droppings and during the day they roost on our roofs dropping white poop everywhere.
I'll trade squirrels for turkey buzzards any day. Midtown man you don't know how lucky you are.
Posted by the watcher
a resident of another community
on Jul 17, 2011 at 5:37 am
a resident of another community
on Jul 17, 2011 at 5:37 am
I used to rent out two bedrooms in my four bedroom home. The tenants had a small dog. Every morning the owner of the dog would put the dog outside to do it's business, then tie it to the front yard tree to eat breakfast. Many morning she'd leave the dog's food bowl by the tree. The dog's dish would still have dog food in it. It started attracting not only crows, but mice and etc.
Mice as well as the very large (below building foundation) roaches creep during the night searching for food. Who ever is leaving the food out for what ever reason is doing a great dis-service to the downtown area of Palo Alto.
They may-well be creating an infestation of vermin.
Posted by EatCrow
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 17, 2011 at 11:55 am
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 17, 2011 at 11:55 am
I love that this is what people consider to be legit complains! It's awesome to read about. OTOH, I'd think that the crows get enough to eat - most of them look pretty darn well nourished and don't need to be fed by us.
As for the person who rented out rooms - did you stop what your tenant did? It's pure ignorance to think that in this area you can leave pet food outside and not attract vermin.
Posted by the watcher
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Jul 17, 2011 at 1:41 pm
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Jul 17, 2011 at 1:41 pm
by EatCrow
Q. "As for the person who rented out rooms - did you stop what your tenant did? It's pure ignorance to think that in this area you can leave pet food outside and not attract vermin."
A. Yes of course I stopped the tenant from leaving the dog food outside. It's just, I left for work earlier than her. The tree was to the far right of the driveway and I didn't discover the reason for the crows until the crows started flocking around. The pet bowl was usually back in the house (moved by her two kids) upon my return from work. Having a day off from work is how I discovered the problem.
Posted by jb
a resident of Leland Manor/Garland Drive
on Jul 18, 2011 at 11:24 am
a resident of Leland Manor/Garland Drive
on Jul 18, 2011 at 11:24 am
Crows have discovered schools also. And they are SMART. I have seen a crow stand on a cloth lunch box and pull the zipper-pull until the box was open—then take a plastic bag of crackers out and drop it from the top of the basketball standard. Sheesh! Put your boxes away, kids.
I live near a school and could tell when the crows began to discover it. Their first lesson was: Food comes in plastic bags. For a couple of months these crows were generalizing their knowledge to all sorts of plastic bags. Consequently all of us who received newspapers delivered in plastic wrappers, could enjoy the scene of crows trying to open our papers in the morning. Sandwiches!!!
One Halloween our neighbor wired a pair of very life-like but
bedraggled crows to the driveway gate. That year the crows gathered in a huge hoarde—one hundred individuals, at least. They flew in a wheel over the house, dipping very low over the silent crows on the gate and crowing in loud agitation. This went on for about an hour. Scary, fascinating, and utterly puzzling.
Posted by member
a resident of College Terrace
on Jul 18, 2011 at 12:02 pm
a resident of College Terrace
on Jul 18, 2011 at 12:02 pm
If your worried about crows then you have a problem. Worry about pidgeons. Worry about rats and racoons. Crows and skunks are less problematic. The humans are even much bigger problems. They don't want to take a bath. They would rather disgust you. If you want to be a liberal city the the human trash is a part of it. Homeless want to scare you and take everything you have. Show them you are not afraid of them and they will wilt. They'll try again tomorrow.
Posted by Sandy
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 18, 2011 at 1:41 pm
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 18, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Crows are corvids, as are blue jays, and they are among the most intelligent creatures around. Remember that they have as much of a right to be here ( in Palo Alto and on this earth) as you do--maybe more, as they're not such whiners. All they want to.do.is live their lives without interference, as do you.
Posted by Alphonso
a resident of Los Altos Hills
on Jul 18, 2011 at 1:47 pm
a resident of Los Altos Hills
on Jul 18, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Hunting Regulations
§485. American Crow.
(a) Shotgun, Falconry, and Archery Seasons, and Bag and Possession Limits.
(1) Season: The first Saturday in December and extending for 124 consecutive days.
(2) Daily Bag and Possession Limits
Bag Limit: 24 crows per day
Posted by Sandy
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 18, 2011 at 1:54 pm
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 18, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Do they pay you or do you pay them?gHXEb
Posted by hatepestycrownoise
a resident of Atherton
on Jul 18, 2011 at 3:02 pm
a resident of Atherton
on Jul 18, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Alphonso,
Good info....can you hunt them, in city limits, in your own yard? I guess a shotgun is out...but maybe a crossbow? Pellet guns? any thoughts?
Posted by Hmmm
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Jul 18, 2011 at 5:48 pm
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Jul 18, 2011 at 5:48 pm
jb, I loved reading your post! I love crows, their cacophony, their intelligence. I think it was about 20 years ago now that their population really grew in this area. I don't recall seeing many of them at all when I was a kid.
When we walk our dogs in areas where they congregate, they make a huge racket and notify all of the other crows. We love watching them - fascinating and entertaining.
Posted by Anna
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 18, 2011 at 10:02 pm
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 18, 2011 at 10:02 pm
Please don't feed the crows. Tpeck my wood shingles and split them. Very expensive to have roof repairs. If you need to feed the crows, please put the food out in the hills. And take the squirrels with you -- I've given up on persimmons and camelias in my yard.
Posted by Giraffe
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 18, 2011 at 10:26 pm
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 18, 2011 at 10:26 pm
Any ideas how we can encourage the crows to go elsewhere? I really like birds and crows, but not when a murder of them in nearby trees screams their lungs out at 6am. And 7am. And 8am. And....
Maybe find their nests and destroy them?
Posted by Hmmm
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Jul 19, 2011 at 12:46 pm
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Jul 19, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Feeding them seems really dumb, because they fend excellently for themselves. They dine on small animals, road kill, peoples' trash and leftovers.
Posted by TinMan
a resident of another community
on Jul 19, 2011 at 1:08 pm
a resident of another community
on Jul 19, 2011 at 1:08 pm
I think back in Kansas they make these things called "scarecrows". Google that term and I'm sure you will find some helpful descriptions. (Californians .. go figure)
Posted by Hmmm
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Jul 19, 2011 at 5:17 pm
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Jul 19, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Riiiiight, Tin Man. Like setting up a scarecrow in front of a food pile on Kipling Street is gonna work. I've seen more scarecrows than not NOT work. Plus, I gotta mention....so many people living here aren't Californians - they're midwestern imports.
Posted by Edward
a resident of Charleston Gardens
on Jul 20, 2011 at 1:20 pm
a resident of Charleston Gardens
on Jul 20, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Lets see ... Crows, panhandlers, squirrels, and mice are a huge problem but a guy with a shotgun culling 24 crows a day in his yard garners nary a mention. Shallow Altans ... get a grip. They're birds fer chrissakes. This is your biggest concern? I'm sure a hail of buckshot streaming down from the sky in all directions, unless he is a fantastic shot and can go 24 for 24, is the height of stupidity. I just hope I'm not sitting on the deck next door reading when he takes a shot at the crow sitting on the top of his fence. Lets hope the spray pattern is small. Silly, silly, silly.
Posted by Hmmm
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Jul 20, 2011 at 5:28 pm
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Jul 20, 2011 at 5:28 pm
Edward, did you think that the crow shooter was serious?
Posted by report
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 20, 2011 at 5:47 pm
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 20, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Editor,please delete the same poster using the different names so we will hear less of the crows' noise ,no need to kill birds.
