They don't know it yet, but Rochester's crows may soon be under attack.
Mayo Clinic is considering hiring a company, United States Bird Abatement Services , that would bring in "attack birds," including peregrine falcons and hawks, to scare off the crows, said City Council President Dennis Hanson. They could start next week.
"They said it will work," Hanson said. "They (the crows) will head south — maybe as far as Stewartville or Spring Valley."
But Mayo Clinic is considering the Bird Abatement company as just one of several options for addressing the long-time crow problem, said spokesman Bryan Anderson.
"We have not signed any contracts, nor do we have any work planned," Anderson said. "This is just one of the options we're examining to deal with the issue."
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The winter downtown crow population has been one of most persistent complaints in Rochester during at least the last decade. Crows congregate by the thousands in areas including Central Park, and their droppings mar sidewalks and parked cars.
A three-page letter Hanson received that details the service explained it this way: A three-member team will come to Rochester and, by using traps or nets, "hazing" the crows, and sending raptor-birds after them, will "disturb their daily routine" and "disperse them not only from the Mayo Clinic campus, but the larger area."
