Crows cause farm pesticide usage by killing insect-eating birds
So, you thought that crows were just pesky little critters that woke up city dwellers at 5am? Well, I just read that those black 'nature's alarm clock' aren't that good for organic farming, and should be chased out of farms, if not cities, too ('cuz we have community and backyard farms in cities, eh?)
On page 109 of Dr. N.W. Walker's (that the famous PhD, Norman Walker, the author of vegan/raw books, who lived past 112 years or so) states how just a few small birds can eradicate crop-eating insects. Also, insecticide and pesticides kill small birds when they eat pesticide-killed insects, thus perpetuating the use of chemical pesticides with residues that then cause cancer in animals and people. So, the crow are not-so INDIRECTLY causing deaths to people.
Let's get crows out of our neighborhoods and farms, eh? How? Not easy. However, a Goggle search showed a discussion at a forum, where geeks at WeScareCrows were successful in chasing out crows at a site where at least one person got a strange mouth disease possibly from crow feces. And, of course, West Nile Disease is coming to BC via black death, the crow.
If anybody has discovered a way to sterilize crows, that would even be better for organic farming, eh?
Comments
A red flag goes up when I
A red flag goes up when I hear a suggestion to interrupt the balance of nature, especially if it involves eradicating a species or as you suggest here "chasing them out of our farms if not cities, too" Getting rid of one animal for the benefit of another is not the answer. One of the tenets of organic farming is a respect for the land and the animals that dwell in it alike. I am sure we can come up with a more sophisticated answer than to just kill 'em all, can't we? I invite you to have a look the following article, crows are among the most intelligent animals on the planet. Maybe we can even work together!
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Perhaps this is apropos of
Perhaps this is apropos of nothing, but here's a neat video of a crow learning how to make and use a tool.
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There is a perfectly safe
There is a perfectly safe and non balance upsetting way do keep crows away from places you'd rather not have them. Border Collies. Mine have had loads of fun at the Pumpkin Patch out in Richmond over the years... "Tess go find the birds" is all you have to say and off she goes and herds them out of the field. She's expanded this most beloved task to making sure that all feathered creatures respect her little part of the world down on SW Marine Drive too. When at the beach, a very determined effort is made to catch those wild float planes taking off. "They're out of control... must herd everything" It's pretty funny. But hey they can be taught to do some great things. Airports all over North America depend on Border Collies to keep birds away from the runways and once the birds realize the dogs are on duty, they simply avoid the areas. It's done with geese in parks and on golf courses. It's totally non violent. Border Collies aren't killers. They are just control freaks *grin*. Keep an eye out for us at English Bay herding float planes and kayaks...
Visit Clare’s Irish Group Shenanigan http://shenaniganbc.com or to http://clare.ws to find out more and have a listen to some pretty celtic music.
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I forgot to mention that
I forgot to mention that some 50,000 crows make their way to Burnaby every night from the lower mainland and some islands, too. They roost together (called a "murder") near McDonalds in Burnaby, Then, every morning, they fly back. Noisy, and like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's movie, The Birds. Most people in Burnaby don't know that those feces contain pathogens. You can read about fatal crow pathogens in a book called Bites, or something similar, in Vancouver's library. Then, maybe, its time to call the crow busters, WeScareCrows. (sp?)