The Crows Must Go

Twenty five thousand crows perfectly perched on bare tree branches in Washington Square Park.  Against the winter's night sky the dark creatures could almost be mistaken for leaves.  However, on Monday night it was time for the crows to go.  A laser beam was used to encourage the crows who weren't scared by a shot from a flare gun to fly the coop, and the crows are never more.

"It's just how long it will take before the crows start to come back again," said Mark Carrera, a wildlife biologist with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Businesses surrounding the park are glad to bid good riddance to the birds even if it's only temporary, "trees are covered, they're dripping with black creatures and it's kind of threatening," said Norma Platt of the Audubon Society.  Norman Jones, Director of Operations and Parks for the City of Rochester added, "it effects the quality of life downtown, you have Saint Mary's Church which is an historic church, you have Geva Theater that's right here, you have Bausch and Lomb, you have communications departments, you have ESL, you have many different ventures and businesses down here."

Aside from being quite a scary sight 25,000 crows can create quite a mess, "if you look at the ground here it's like covered and it's not healthy, besides you don't want to stand with your mouth open," said Platt.  Carrara added, "it's messy, it's dirty, it's costly to clean up, they're just in a location that they're causing a problem."
   
Although they've moved on for now officials say you can bet the crows will likely be back soon.  Crows have been a problem in the park for the last five years.