how to keep crows away?

how old are your kids lynnie?

iluvcatz they're 7 & 9....they have been reading over my shoulder a lot....the little one wants to join davesgarden lol

well. There is ALOT she could learn!! I know I have learned alot.

Blackbirds like small priests walked in the silent fields.
The Corvids -crows, ravens, jays, magpies and jackdaws, are the Einsteins of the bird family; no other birds even come close to matching their intelligence. Crows live in close knit family groups. They communicate -- some 23 distinct patterns of caws have been interpreted -- and they cooperate with each other. At work, they don't stab each other in the back, and back home, they don't cheat on their spouses -- crows generally mate for life.
I recently watched as a crow repeatedly hopped down inside a dumpster and brought out food, leaving it with its mate, who was keeping an eye out for danger. I've also observed crows taking turns standing guard as the group bathed in a rain puddle.

The "Crow Funeral" has often been written about, but seldom seen. A few years ago, I had the privilege of witnessing one. It was an unforgettable sight.

Then there's the often repeated story of the crow raised by a British bird behaviorist. One day, as the woman was about to walk her dog, she suddenly remembered something she had to do. Dropping the leash, she went into the house. Upon returning, she found that the crow had the end of the leash in its mouth, and was calmly taking Fido for a walk around the yard!

I don't know if there's anything to reincarnation, but if true, I'd like to come back as a crow. And if you are one of those people who have told me how much you hate these birds, well -- look for me under your bedroom window someday in the future. At dawn. There is much to talk about.

-- Niall Williams --

Hmmmmmmm. Seems like some humans could learn from these birds.

Hey Kassy, did you eat that chipmunk? Isn't that the country rule for shooting animals?

The last crows in the Hilo area were seen in the early 1960's, they are nearly extinct. Their demise is blamed partly on cats who would attack the fledglings when they left their nests.

LOL Dave, no I didn't :p
If I had to eat everything I shot, well let's just said I would lose the gun............LOL
Because I believer that the very first thing I shot was a skunk........ewwwww.
It was in the front yard when I was a teenager at home. I was the only child left at home. My dad had passed away when I was 17. And living in the country with all the rabbits trying to eat the garden, well someone had to know how to handle a gun, and I knew it wasn't going to be my mother :)
So back to the story. Skunks can carry rabies, so Mom didn't want it around. I got the gun ready, and got set up hoping it was going to go the way of the window that I had the gun pointed out of. Mom tapped on the window to scare it, and it took off, in the direction I wanted it to go. My brother owned land right next to my mom's, so I waited until it got onto his land and then took the shot.
That one might have had a heart attack too, because it left no sent when it fell over. :)

Want us to round some up and send them to you Dave??

okay, I only get a half hour for lunch, so didn't read all the posts, but this is what my husband does to unwanted birds:

The 'ole garden hose trick. We have more of a pidgeon problem here in the city, but it's worked for other birds too. And crows. He waits for them... garden hose ready with the brass nozzle on stun... and sprays them. Takes a few days, but they go elsewhere. And if they forget, he blasts them again. Works every time, every year.

Thanks Kassy, a few crows might be nice!

That skunk story is going to leave me with visions of Pepe Le Pew.

LOL Dave, well someone had to do it.
That was the first one. The one that sprayed my dog was the second one, and that one I hunted down by following it's trail in the snow.......That one did leave a sent :(
I know, I'm bad, but I knew what kind of work I was going to be going though with the dog to get rid of the smell.
Oh, also shot woodchucks that would come into my mom's garden, besides the rabbits.
When I moved away from home, she got a dog.................HMMMMMMMMMMMM
I better go to sleep before I think to hard on that one.
Nite ;-)

Kassy, Kassy, Kassy, Oh ye who won't venison and neer a bite of chipmonk did you take. Consider thou the food of Crows, dead animals of all sorts, rotting flesh falling off the bone, little white wormy things sharing your meal. Methinks thou had best reconsider.

Got a heck of a skunk story but won't share it.

Will agree that crows are smart, and they always keep a look out. Even agree on the language bit.

The water hose and the Crow won't work. Crows are to sharp for that.

Jim, they tend to make better fertilizer. Not enough meat on them.
But our chickens have been known to chase each other for a leg of one :o

Oh, and by the way, we have a chicken we call Crow. She looked just like one when she was young. BF wandered if a crow might have mated with the mother ..........LOL

Does she say cluck caw or is she old enougth to talk yet.

You should of seen my Dad's trained chickens. Whew boy!!!

A teaser no less from ole Jim.

You haven't said that I remember but I have decided you are nurse. Right?

Close Jim. I wish I was, I would probably make more money :)
I was a Certified Nursing Assistant and worked in Nursing homes for 11 years, 8 of that was on night shift. I seem to be a night owl ;-)
I left the Nursing Homes to take care of my Mom. I did that for 2 1/2 years. She was 87 when she passed away.
After my Mom passed away, I needed a break from heath care, and worked in a hotel for a while, in housekeeping and laundry
After a 10 month break, I started working in Assisted Living Homes, taking care of the elderly again.
After doing that for 2 years, I decided to move on, since how should I say this, the pay sucked! at the place i was at.
For the last almost 5 years I have been working for Homes for Independant Living, taking care of the developmentally disabled. They have homes set up and I think the most they have in one home is 7. I worked with only 3 clients.
It was a little easier not to get attached working in the big nursing homes, and even the assisted care home for the elderly, because that was a bigger place too.
At the place I work now, the clients have become like family to us. So it's very hard when we lose one of them. We lost the one that I was closest to a week ago Monday.
He called everyone by my name (Including the guy who works my rotation off). I'll miss his great big bear hugs, especially the ones that I got when I least expecting them :(
We work 7 nights on and then 7 off. And yes, most people think of a nurse right away.

Takes a real heart to work with the elderly and mentally challenged and not get hard. I could tell you some horror stories about nursing homes here. We've spent a lot of time in nursing homes over the years and a lot more at hospitals. I had to get to be an old man before I realized that I would love to be a nurse. When I finished school, you never heard of a male nurse. I was smart enough to have handled the college (hope that doesn't sound like a brag) and have the stomach for the dirty work and the compassion to have made a difference. Probably would have ended up as some type of medical missionary.

Kassy & Jim, it's never too late to go to nursing school! I went with a woman who was 65...she worked for 5 years then retired. I can't imagine doing anything else.

Thanks Jim. It was even harder taking care of my mother 24/7 for 2 1/2 years.
When my son saw that I was getting depressed, (because the BF that I had at that time passed away a little over 2 months after I moved to take care of my mom), my son moved in too, to help out. If I was gone from the house for 15 minutes, my mom thought it was an hour.
For some reason, I have a brother and sister who thought I should be able to do it all on my own, without any help, including from them.
My son made a very wise comment after my mom passed away. He said "at least we had the last 2 1/2 years of her life with her", something they didn't have. My brother was a little surprised when he was visiting when she was in the hospital and she didn't know who he was for sure, but called him by my sons name. You should have saw the look on his face. Priceless!!! That's what he got for only visiting her once a year, and very seldom calling and not even sending a mothers day card on mothers day....Sheesh.

I know there are a lot of horror stories about nursing homes, but the ones I worked in were all pretty good, and the one my mom worked in was great. She had been a Dietary Director of a nursing home.

hmmmmm, I heard diabetic mentioned? I have made desserts for diabetics, and where I work now I have to do low sodium. One of my clients has congestive heart failure. 32 years old. I know his diet better then I know the back of my own hand.

Oh, and my son got me hooked on the computer back then, so watch out.....your wife could get hooked :)

I know it's never too late Lynn. I had a nurse who kept trying to talk me into going to school for it. Do you think maybe she saw something there?

My BF's daughter is going to school for nursing.

My dad said he was going to send me to nursing school when he was sick. I was 17 when he passed away.
I actually like the more hands on care that my job has.
The only nursing school I was interested in, I was turned down by.

And I really considered being a vets assistant for a while, but out vet even cried when he had to put my son's husky to sleep :(

I'm at the bedside, always have been, don't want to be in management at all.......I'll do charge if pushed into it, but I have little tolerance for politics and nonsense.....I have little use for nurses who are too good to do certain tasks, too. I've been in the same hospital for over 20 years. And that nurse who was encouraging you to go to nursing school probably did so for a reason. Although the people you're working with now need you too.
I'm sorry for your losses, Kassy. Your son sounds like an awesome kid, I'm sure he got that from you.
My husband is a computer geek and when I first got email nobody else I knew had it, i could only email him lol Can't live without it now.

Where did jzempel1 go?

Lynn, my son is a computer gamer, and geek too................LOL
He builds all of our couputers from case, all the way in to the motherboard, ram, harddrives, fans, you name it.
Right now he is going to school for computer networking. He also works at shopko main office and handles computer problems there. One of his teachers helped him get the job when the teach realized that my son knew more about some things on computers then he did..........Not nice to show your teacher up :)
Right now we have 4 computers in our house. Yes, 4.......LOL
One is a mac, and that one is kind of out dated, but it's there if needed. And then there is his computer and my computer and the laptop, and a computer that he has set up for a networking system for all of our computers.

Oh, and icanfindroom, I met my BF over the computer ;-)

And Lynn, I would love to have you meet my so called team leader, who is too good to do certain tasks. Wait, what am I saying? just about all the tasks that we have to do she will not do, saying she was too busy with paper work. And then we get to do her filing to top it off. I don't know how she comes up with so much paper work..........Grrrrrrr
Don't get me started there ;-)

jzempel1 gave up a long time ago. I think they only posted twice :)

lol

Kwanjin we're a little off topic...mea culpa!
Kassy there is stuff plugged in all over my house......I don't know how to work anything! And I hate hate hate paperwork! The computers spit out more & more paper, they're not being used efficiently at all! Everything's in triplicate! Ugh.

I guess we are off subject but you know all the threads I keep up with get off the subject but somewhere a long the line we as total strangers, who will probably never meet, become friends. Sometimes it is easier to share your heart with someone you don't know than it is our friends or family.

Kassy you touched my heart talking about your Mom. I admire your and your sons devotion to her. I can't tell you of the people I have known whose family just threw them away when they got old. Jo and I are fortunate our sisters weren't like that. She has five and I have four. If you like what you do and you can be a part of those folks life, just keep up the good work. I assure you that they appreciate and feel your love. You can't respond to people in that manner with out a real genuine LOVE.

Lynn, God bless you, too. Good nurses that really care for their patients are getting rare. I bet you think of them by name and not a room number. I know some good nurses and I am a strong admirer of them. A really good nurse know more about the patient than the doctor ever does. I have seen some nurses make a diagnosis that had the doctors at a loss. It wasn't long ago that I saw an Emergency Room nurse tell a doctor that a patient had had a heart attack, when the doctor was saying he hadn't. Because of her persistance, he ran additional tests that proved she was right and he was wrong. She happened to be one of our best friends and also a church member of ours. Takes real guts to do that. Then there are the other kind of nurses that I won't talk about. Keep on keeping on.

Me, I'm to old and have had to many heart problems to start over. I really love ministering to people and with out meaning to boast, my wife and I have been successful at it. Jo especially has a heart for older people. It would take forever to tell you how she has ministered to older people.

You know guys, I really like the both of you. You are very special people. Your not the only ones I've have met on Dave's who have touched my ole, hard, cantankerous heart.

You brought a tear to my eye, Jim.

Thank you kwanjin, I take that as a compliment. While I was writing that I was thinking of a dear lady whose family called me and asked me to come be with their wife and mother while they unhooked her from life support. They couldn't find enough courage to watch her die. Even though I had been gone from that church for a long time, I loved that lady enough to go. I held her hand with my finger on her pulse as they removed the supports. I felt her heart begin to slow down and and finally begin to flutter like a little bird and finally stop. She and I had prayer one last time although she wasn't there any more. I know her family loved her but they should have stayed with her to the end. I did exactly the same thing when my mother died a few years later. When someone gives you so much in life the least you can do is to be there for them in death. I believe Mrs. Clovie sensed I was there even though she was unconsious and I believe the same thing about my Mom.

My mother's death was last year and it's still painful, as I know it will be for years. It helps to hear others speak this way about their loved ones. My mom was unconsious when she went (kidney failure, untreated, by her choice) but all us kids stood by her no matter what.

Boy. This thread is a far cry from where it started. LOL

Thanks Jim from me too, you also brought a tear to my eye.
My mom passed away 7 years ago.

I don't think you have a hard, cantankerous heart :p.
Actually, I know you don't :p

OK, I can't post anymore for now :(
Off to work I go again. Last night for 7 then :)

I guess I'll have to shut it down, too. The little woman says shes not going to let me sleep until 7 in the morning.

kassy_51 and Jim - my mom died 37 years ago and not a day goes by that I don't miss her and her warm hugs and loving heart. Oh how I'd love to have her back for "just one more day".

yikes are we off subject....lol gardeners are just good people, what can I say? Life can beat you up sometimes i have found some relaxation and healing in gardening. Suffered a few losses, tragedies, in a short period of time, and somehow gardening is healing.
pirl and kwanjin,i'm sorry about your moms too. You're never old enough to lose your mom are you? My dad died 15 years ago. You never stop missing them!

I've known a few people who really didn't like their mother and don't miss them. Everyone loses out in that case. I'd rather suffer missing my parents than to not have had the love.

yes, some people have very complex relationships with their parents.....
Jim I have seen the same thing....many times they will regret that, you can't do it over.

Mom like 30 days being 101. Still lived by herself. We had been by her house that night and when we left she was going to bed. It was early for her, about 9. She and 2 other old ladies called each other at bed time to keep check on each other. Mom forgot to carry her portable phone to the bed with her and when it rang she jumped up and ran (note the ran) to answer. Feet slipped out from under her and she broke her hip. The next day in the surgical holding room, the doctor came in just before they carried her to surgery. She looked at him with a straight face and pointed to her hip, and said, "Doctor, this is the hip that's broken now." "I know that Mrs. Goodman," the doctor sad. "Well," said Momma, "i just didn't want you to do a hysterectomy on me, because I'm thinkin about startin another family." The doc looked stunned and Mom laughed her head off. Survived the surgery, but her blood pressure dropped so low the next day that it killed a portion of bowel and damaged her kidneys, before they could get it up. That ole gal was a blast.

Wow Jim, My mother also broke her hip, but made it though surgery. And blood pressure drop for her too. But she was bleeding internally. She had diverticulitis, and was on Coumadin because of TIA's
So we were between a rock and a hard place. Bleed to death or risk strokes.

And your never going to guess who I got my love of gardening from ;-)

I knew she wanted to stay in her own home as long as she could.
I was raised in what had been an old one room school house, that my dad remodeled. He even built the kitchen cupboards a little shorted then they normally are for my 5'2" mother :)

Some coincidence.