Exceptionally noisy neighbours.....crows!

harrup

I realise that this issue doesn't strictly fall under this forum's remit - but I am pretty much at my wits end and I thought maybe someone here !might have an idea or input.

A few years ago a flock of crows settled and built nests in my neighbour's oak tree. The resulting noise from !their incessant cawing - lasting from dawn to after dusk - is indescribable and unbelievably intrusive.

!Since my neighbour's tree is only 25 meters away ....and sound travels ( as oddly is considerably less noisy standing underneith his tree than sitting in my garden), it is hard to adequately describe just what a racket these birds make. I could live with it if they restricted themselves to an hour in the morning or evening....but the cawing goes on all day, every day.

Short of keeping all windows and doors permanently closed and wearing noise cancelling headphones when in the garden or letting in fresh air - there seems to be no solution.

I have contacted our local council and !environmental health officers regarding the noise pollution, !receiving no help nor ideas !in how to address this problem. Seemingly, the statutory right to "peaceful enjoyment of ones home" is superceded by the right of crows to settle where they want and to be as noisy as they want.

To be clear, I harbour no inherent animosity towards these birds. I have no wish to harm them....I just want them to move on. We have woods, fields and the entire Dartmoor National Park !exceedingly closeby !- there is no earthly reason why those birds HAVE to live right outside my windows in a residential area.

Has anyone any ideas on how I can entice those darn noisy birds to leave???

Dan-Dan

an air gun should help

Little_Vics

Count yourself lucky - I have some that nest on my roof. Last year we had a chinmey fire because twigs got lodged after we'd swept it, and only last night we had the RSPCA round to rescue one that had been trapped in the chimney for 2 days.

I shall watch this thread with interest!

sinbad182

Dan-Dan wrote: »

an air gun should help

All joking aside, so long as you're careful you dont hit any humans, this might be your best idea.

My mothers house is in a rural village, and has a big garden that used to get repeatedly eaten by rabbits.

After a year of this and nothing else working, I shot about 30 over a few nights with my rifle and then about 10 over the next week. After that the numbers in the garden consistently fell.

Animals are instinctive creatures, they wont go somewhere they know they have a good chance of being killed.

maninthestreet

Would some judcious 'pruning' of the tree by a tree surgeon reduce the number of nesting/roosting spots available to the crows? Maybe you can offer to pay for this ??

Mojisola

No idea whether this works or not - https://www.crowbegone.com/

hazyjo

Could you stick a scarecrow in your garden?! (presuming they'll see it from the tree... I am being serious, btw!

Jx

harrup

maninthestreet wrote: »

Would some judcious 'pruning' of the tree by a tree surgeon reduce the number of nesting/roosting spots available to the crows? Maybe you can offer to pay for this ??

Maninthestreet...I did just that! I offered to pay for any tree surgeon of my neighbour's choosing.....but since he is hearing impaired, the crows aren't a nuisance to him....and he didn't want to have the tree pruned.

Annoying for me - but I appreciate that it is HIS tree. Ad I am not prepared to fall out or live in strife with a neighbour over it.

Tricky.

harrup

Mojisola wrote: »

No idea whether this works or not - https://www.crowbegone.com/

Ha! Good thinking ....but I already have one of those.

Whilst not totally useless - we had even MORE crows nesting next door before aka a few years ago - it hasn't eliminated them either.

i guess it is true what they say - crows are fiercely intelligent. They soon figure out and discern a real threat from a pretend one. Sigh..

harrup

hazyjo wrote: »

Could you stick a scarecrow in your garden?! (presuming they'll see it from the tree... I am being serious, btw!

Jx

Hmmm, actually I have pondered about putting up a scarecrow.

However, since the noisy critters aren't in MY garden or on any of my trees, I am dubious how much of a deterrent this would be.

martinsurrey

harrup wrote: »

Maninthestreet...I did just that! I offered to pay for any tree surgeon of my neighbour's choosing.....but since he is hearing impaired, the crows aren't a nuisance to him....and he didn't want to have the tree pruned.

Annoying for me - but I appreciate that it is HIS tree. Ad I am not prepared to fall out or live in strife with a neighbour over it.

Tricky.

Ask him if he's willing to let you shot the blighters?

Crows are on the list of species under the general licence issued by the Gov which allows them be "controlled" by us normal folk (ie shot), there are conditions, so don’t just jump in with a 12 bore, but you need the land owner’s permission.

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/regulation/wildlife/licences/generallicences.aspx