A murder of crows

A murder of crows

The Oakwood Cemetery near downtown Rochester, Minn. should be quiet at night, but it is alive with the creatures yelling from the trees. Crows in late Fall love to hang out in the trees there and then fly into downtown Rochester at night to poop on the buildings and pedestrians. The problem is so bad the city has created a “Crow Patrol” specially to minimize the noise and feces around the Mayo Clinic. Sally Vehrenkamp is one of the patrol members who come out at night with laser pointers, recorded crow distress calls and a pistol that fires blanks to scare the winged invaders out of town. The crow patrol works from 5 until 11 pm from city pickup trucks on the streets or from rooftops to annoy the birds and get them out of the city center.

Did you know that a group of crows is called a murder?
Well, technically it’s only a murder if there’s probable caws.

How do you tell the difference between ravens and crows.
The long straight tail feathers on these birds are called pinions. Crows are known to have 7 pinions, while ravens have 8. So the difference between a raven and a crow is a matter of a pinion.

What do you call it when a group of crows make plans to get together?
A Premeditated murder

True Fact: Before the crowbar was invented
Most crows drank at home