The Plan

The Lancaster Crow Coalition was formed to do two things:

• Manage the crows who migrate through our County each year
• Protect wildlife and the environment

We feel, and experts support us, that these goals go hand-in-hand, and that crows can be managed without harming them. Our results in the winter of 2006/2007 year provided strong evidence that non-lethal harassment IS the way to go.

Based on analysis of last year's data -- gathered by Penn State scientists who tracked radio-collared crows and who observed the birds and literally engaged in "counting crows" -- our non-lethal management, using pyrotechnics and spotlights, worked in several ways:

- Large roosts were broken up into smaller groups of birds and moved out of the city and suburban areas

- Once the roosts were broken up and moved, they didn't stay long in the next spots they chose. Minor management, in the form of a few evenings of pyrotechnics and spotlights, moved them again when they chose spots that caused problems for people.

As a result, we're using the same tools this year, but with a twist. We're starting earlier (October is the official kick-off) and going longer -- into January. The management will be most intense in December and early January, when we anticipate the highest numbers of crows to have arrived and be looking for places to roost. NOTE: We had approximately 30,000 last year, but they're arriving later this year, and warmer temperatures may result in a smaller influx of migratory crows this year.

We're also establishing zones where crows are not accepted at all ("Zero Tolerance" zones), zones where some crows would be acceptable ("Moderate Tolerance" zones), and zones where crows are completely OK ("Full Tolerance" zones). We'll be making the Zero Tolerance zones inhospitable (with pyrotechnics and lights) from the start, with the intention of showing the crows where they'll encounter the least amount of harassment from humans -- in places where we leave them alone (in Moderate and Full Tolerance zones).

A New Tool for Winter 2007/2008: Effigies

Well, it's not really "new", in that the use of effigies has been tested in previous years, and proved to be very successful -- but we're going to try them in greater numbers this year, and hope to see a positive result from this humane and silent technique.

We'll be designating spots in Zero Tolerance Zones to place the effigies, and willl be seeking permission from property owners as needed. It's important that people not put up their own effigies or move any that the Coalition places -- scientists will be tracking each effigy and its impact on the crows, and having too many or having them appear in places where we don't want to scare the crows can reduce the effectiveness of our efforts. If you have questions or want to have an effigy placed on your property, please call our hotline at 717-413-2545.

Ongoing Efforts

While we'll always have crows migrating through Lancaster (the county has been in their internal itinerary for centuries), and probably large numbers of them (about 30,000 last year), we can and will keep moving them out of undesirable spots and working to fine-tune the non-lethal, effective ways to prevent their causing any damage to property or making a mess with their droppings in public areas.

There are some places where they don't bother anyone, where people are either unaware of them or are able to enjoy them, and it's in those places where we'll leave them alone so they learn to stay where no harassment occurs.

Don't take crow management into your own hands.

You could be breaking the law (it's illegal to shoot them), you could be causing harm to other animals (poison you put out yourself will kill other animals, too, which is also illegal), and you risk counter-acting the official management methods being used. If you think you've got a problem with crows (and simply SEEING CROWS is NOT necessarily a problem!), call our hotline at:

717-413-2545.