EDITORIAL: Culling crows is a sad but necessary step

Yahoo

23-11-2024

Nov. 23—Nearly 13 years ago, Post Bulletin reporter Jeff Pieters wrote a news article about a Rochester-area resident who was on a one-man mission to chase crows out of Rochester. Armed with a $20 laser pointer, he would scout out where the birds were roosting, then harass them into relocating.
His actions weren't rooted in dislike. He admired crows, and he was afraid that eventually, the city's failed efforts to move the birds out of downtown would result in lethal action. "I don't want one crow killed," he said.
Sadly, that day of lethal reckoning is about to arrive.
On Monday, the Rochester City Council gave a reluctant go-ahead to a Mayo Clinic-backed (and funded) plan that will bring in U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters to kill some crows from Dec. 1-5.
First things first: The process will be entirely safe for people and other wildlife. The USDA employees are highly trained, and they won't be blasting away with shotguns. They'll use air rifles. They'll work in carefully selected areas and will choose their targets carefully. No buildings or windows will be damaged. No owls, geese, hawks or falcons will be shot. If it weren't for news accounts about the upcoming "culling" effort, most people wouldn't have any idea it was happening.
With that being said, however, we must acknowledge that the use of lethal force against urban crows isn't a positive development. Rather, it's just the latest step in Rochester's ongoing struggle to balance the needs of its growing population against the needs of wildlife species that are increasingly adapted to urban settings and have few, if any, natural predators.
For example, there was a time when deer sightings in Rochester were relatively rare, even exciting events. Today, however, the deer are so numerous as to require specially licensed bowhunters to target them in town, just to mitigate damage to vegetation and vehicles.
Then there are the giant Canada geese, which every year befoul Rochester's beaches and turn bike trails and picnic areas into poop-covered slip-and-slides. Rochester hasn't resorted to shooting the geese just yet, but it does "addle" their eggs, preventing them from hatching.
The crows present a different challenge.
During the winter months, crows are drawn to the nighttime lights and comparative warmth of the city's urban core. Up to 20,000 of them will roost at various locations on some nights, and if your vehicle is parked under a roost tree, you might not recognize it by morning. If your morning walk to work includes an unfortunate section of sidewalk, then you are well-advised to wear rubber boots, even if there isn't a snowflake in sight.
Obviously, the world's foremost medical center would prefer that visiting patients and their families not encounter befouled benches, steps and handrails.
The city and Mayo Clinic deserve full credit for their patience. For more than a decade, city workers have used every available non-lethal method to relocate the birds, with varying degrees of success.
The problem, however, is crows' intelligence. Multiple studies have confirmed that their cognitive abilities are at or near the top of the entire animal kingdom. They have problem-solving skills, and they create tools to get food. They have a great memory and can remember specific human faces — and hold grudges against someone who has harassed them. They communicate with each other, and they can count aloud. They have a strong sense of community and will protect each other.
In other words, crows are fast learners. They quickly figure out that non-lethal harassment is no real threat — but that intelligence and learning ability could now serve Rochester well.
The goal of the sharpshooting program isn't to wipe out the crows, or even to make a substantial dent in the population. Rather, the goal is to selectively target just a few crows, and to make sure a lot of their feathered friends witness their demise. The death of a few crows at locations throughout downtown will send a message that (we hope) will not be lost on thousands of others.
Will five days of killing crows eliminate the problem? Probably not, but even a temporary dispersal of the birds across larger areas of Rochester should be considered a success. And, if the sharpshooters have to return every year or two to "re-educate" the crows, that would be acceptable.
But here's another interesting thing about crows: They share information with their offspring. It's possible that lessons learned by crows in the first week of December will be passed along to babies that will hatch next spring.
So you might want to think twice before you throw a Nerf football at the crow you see in the tree above your driveway. It might come back next year with reinforcements.