How to deal with the bloody crows?

[SolarAndWood]

Our peas are making nice progress but tonight my wife notices that the crows have been pulling them out and eating the seeds. The row is 3'x100'. How would you deal with it?

 

[begreen]

My first thought would be a row cover. Crows are not easily discouraged. Have you already tried a scarecrow?

 

[heat seeker]

Crows don't like sharp, sudden sounds. I have "trained" the crows around here by slapping two slats of wood together to make a loud noise. Now they fly away if they see any movement near the house. I do this for a week or so every spring, and they stay away all summer. If you put a scarecrow out, and they associate it with the noise, you may not have a crow problem any more. However, we don't have food growing that they like, but we do have large open areas with tasty bugs throughout. Crows are pretty smart, so you may be able to "teach" them to stay away.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Have you already tried a scarecrow?

Pretty intimidating don't you think?

 

[flyingcow]

The old folks tell me to shoot one and hang it in the garden. I think that might also keep the neighbors away.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

A .22 does wonders too. They learn fast.

 

[begreen]

Have you already tried a scarecrow?

Pretty intimidating don't you think?

I was thinking something with a bit more huevos.

 

[heat seeker]

Have you already tried a scarecrow?

Pretty intimidating don't you think?

I was thinking something with a bit more huevos.

That one scares me from a distance!

 

[SolarAndWood]

He looks like he would compact the seed beds :coolsmirk: I'm going to try a roll of chicken wire over the top kind of like a row cover.

 

[woodchip]

We have problems with sparrows eating our young beetroot plants, so I put a net over them.

Sparrows are quite devious and still manage to get underneath for a free feed.

Yesterday a sparrow got caught under the net and I found Mrs woodchip setting it free.

I give up ;-)

 

[Backwoods Savage]

You might have to do what we do with fruit. We put netting over the fruit to keep the birds away. On the raspberries and strawberries we can't just throw a net over them like you do with trees so I drove some 8' t-posts and we drape the netting over that and also have it come right down to the ground else the robins especially will just walk under and gorge themselves. After the fruit has been picked we then take the netting down and put it away for another year. The netting is really cheap and is well worth saving the crop.

 

[flyingcow]

You might have to do what we do with fruit. We put netting over the fruit to keep the birds away. On the raspberries and strawberries we can't just throw a net over them like you do with trees so I drove some 8' t-posts and we drape the netting over that and also have it come right down to the ground else the robins especially will just walk under and gorge themselves. After the fruit has been picked we then take the netting down and put it away for another year. The netting is really cheap and is well worth saving the crop.

We have a 30x16ft area of blueberries(high bush) I bent 1/2 conduit into a covering to put the nets on. And yes, the netting is cheap vs the berries lost.

 

[Highbeam]

Those crows are in the act of depradation (sp). Legally can be killed on the spot any time of year in WA. Kill it dead and hang it out for its family to see. I have a nice old beeman 20 caliner pellet gun for them, or the 22, or the 12 gauge but usually the quieter and relatively safe air gun.

I've been killing starlings the last few weeks when they are depredating the worms in my grass. These are an invasive species though unlike the crows which are an actual small game species with a real season in WA.

 

[woodchip]

crows which are an actual small game species with a real season in WA.

We eat game birds here in season (like pheasants etc.), do you eat crows?
Only crow recipe I know of is crow buster pie, which needs a lot of crows ;-)


http://www.crowbusters.com/recipes.htm

 

[SolarAndWood]

You might have to do what we do with fruit. We put netting over the fruit to keep the birds away. On the raspberries and strawberries we can't just throw a net over them like you do with trees so I drove some 8' t-posts and we drape the netting over that and also have it come right down to the ground else the robins especially will just walk under and gorge themselves. After the fruit has been picked we then take the netting down and put it away for another year. The netting is really cheap and is well worth saving the crop.

Thanks Dennis. I was considering doing exactly this as we have the same issue with the fruits. Do you use that lightweight polypro stuff from TSC? The stuff they jokingly call deer net?

 

[SolarAndWood]

I have a nice old beeman 20 caliner pellet gun for them, or the 22, or the 12 gauge but usually the quieter and relatively safe air gun.

How close can you realistically fire a relatively safe air gun to someone else's property/house without pissing them off?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

You might have to do what we do with fruit. We put netting over the fruit to keep the birds away. On the raspberries and strawberries we can't just throw a net over them like you do with trees so I drove some 8' t-posts and we drape the netting over that and also have it come right down to the ground else the robins especially will just walk under and gorge themselves. After the fruit has been picked we then take the netting down and put it away for another year. The netting is really cheap and is well worth saving the crop.

Thanks Dennis. I was considering doing exactly this as we have the same issue with the fruits. Do you use that lightweight polypro stuff from TSC? The stuff they jokingly call deer net?

The netting we use is not expensive. I have not seen what TSC sells but I did pick up some from Ace Hardware. The rest we bought online but for the life of me I don't remember right now where we bought it. It is indeed lightweight but holds up for many years. We put it on just as the fruit starts to ripen and then remove it when the last fruit is picked.

On shooting, MI law says you must be 500 feet from any residence (other than your own). With air rifles I doubt there would be any problem though.

 

[woodchip]

Both we and our neighbours own air rifles, so we never really have problems about firing.

Couple of thoughts on shooting......
Main thing is to ensure you have a good earthy mound behind your target.
And never fire towards your wood pile, stray lead plays havoc with chainsaws.....

When shooting vermin on your own property it's not too difficult to tempt the prey into your preferred target zone.
The trick is tempting them away from the veg plot in the first place......... ;-)

 

[lukem]

I have a nice old beeman 20 caliner pellet gun for them, or the 22, or the 12 gauge but usually the quieter and relatively safe air gun.

How close can you realistically fire a relatively safe air gun to someone else's property/house without pissing them off?

A pellet gun would drop a crow...and they are quiet. That or some 22 shorts....also quiet.

 

[heat seeker]

That would work! I have the same problem with squirrels - the neighbors are not very close, but close enough that I can't shoot in their direction. I the the occasional ideal angle, but mostly have to pass on a shot. They keep raiding our feeder on the house window. Really annoying.

 

[Highbeam]

This is when good neighbors are a great thing to have. An air rifle is not that loud. It is possible that they won't be able to recognize the sound as a "gunshot" at all. Most of my varmint shots are into the backyard from inside the hosue through a small opening in a sliding glass door.

I've also been known to blast a 12 gauge round into a moving mole hill. Sometimes, on special occasions, I've even been known to shoot a bottle rocket into the air.

For some reason, WA state has classified crows as small game with a bag limit and season. I don't eat them. There is also a season for bullfrogs, coyotes, and racoons but I don't know of anyone that eats those either. Apparently hunting does not necessarily mean eating.

 

[firefighterjake]

This is when good neighbors are a great thing to have. An air rifle is not that loud. It is possible that they won't be able to recognize the sound as a "gunshot" at all. Most of my varmint shots are into the backyard from inside the hosue through a small opening in a sliding glass door.

I've also been known to blast a 12 gauge round into a moving mole hill. Sometimes, on special occasions, I've even been known to shoot a bottle rocket into the air.

For some reason, WA state has classified crows as small game with a bag limit and season. I don't eat them. There is also a season for bullfrogs, coyotes, and racoons but I don't know of anyone that eats those either. Apparently hunting does not necessarily mean eating.

http://froglegs.org/



As for the racoon or coyotes . . . pest control?

 

[dave11]

Reminds me of the story my neighbor told me about the guy who owned this house before me. Seems he disliked the crows, and shot/killed one of them one day. The whole flock came down on him and went for his face/head. Chased him back in the house, and circled the house for an hour afterward. Neighbor saw it all from his back porch.

 

[begreen]

This is when good neighbors are a great thing to have. An air rifle is not that loud. It is possible that they won't be able to recognize the sound as a "gunshot" at all. Most of my varmint shots are into the backyard from inside the hosue through a small opening in a sliding glass door.

I've also been known to blast a 12 gauge round into a moving mole hill. Sometimes, on special occasions, I've even been known to shoot a bottle rocket into the air.

For some reason, WA state has classified crows as small game with a bag limit and season. I don't eat them. There is also a season for bullfrogs, coyotes, and racoons but I don't know of anyone that eats those either. Apparently hunting does not necessarily mean eating.

http://froglegs.org/



As for the racoon or coyotes . . . pest control?

There are a couple locals that eat raccoon. IIRC, that is what coon hounds are bred to track.

 

[heat seeker]

This is when good neighbors are a great thing to have. An air rifle is not that loud. It is possible that they won't be able to recognize the sound as a "gunshot" at all. Most of my varmint shots are into the backyard from inside the hosue through a small opening in a sliding glass door.

I've also been known to blast a 12 gauge round into a moving mole hill. Sometimes, on special occasions, I've even been known to shoot a bottle rocket into the air.

For some reason, WA state has classified crows as small game with a bag limit and season. I don't eat them. There is also a season for bullfrogs, coyotes, and racoons but I don't know of anyone that eats those either. Apparently hunting does not necessarily mean eating.

http://froglegs.org/



As for the racoon or coyotes . . . pest control?

There are a couple locals that eat raccoon. IIRC, that is what coon hounds are bred to track.

Yup, my dad had a coon hound, and he lived to tree raccoons. If you let him out in the evening, he'd be out all night hunting them, and you could hear him when he treed one. He'd wait there all night under that tree.