As I feed many small birds in my garden, and also because of my own six dogs and their eating requirements, we daily get a large number of Crow visitors to my compound. To read about the crow go to my earlier post at this link here, and to learn how very clever they are my post at links here and here. For a very comprehensive site created by crow aficionados go to this link here.
I have read extensively on how to deal with the crow menace, and would recommend this link here which I found on the American Humane Society which deals with all kinds of information regarding unwelcome crow visitors. Below I am reproducing an extract from their article dealing specifically with Crows in Gardens.
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Crows in gardens
Crows are sometimes blamed for garden damage caused by other animals. Crows hanging around to eat insects and grubs may or may not also help themselves to fruits and vegetables. On balance, the benefits from crows eating insects, grubs, and waste grain may outweigh a little damage.
You can ban crows from small gardens.
• Drape bird netting over the plants or suspend it from a framework built around the plants.
• Protect seedlings with fabric row covers
• Protect ripening corn by placing a paper cup or bag over each ear after the silk has turned brown.
• Set shiny streamers strategically throughout the garden.
• Stretch cord, fishing line, or fine wire above gardens in a grid or parallel lines—at least a little higher than the gardener’s hat for safety. The stakes supporting tomatoes can support the wire. Reflective tape or other highly visible material will help both birds and gardeners see and avoid the lines.
As long as crows have enjoyed our tasty crops and produce, we have been trying to frighten them away. What have we learned?
• Birds can’t hear ultrasonic sounds. Devices supposed to scare birds away with ultrasonic sounds don’t work.
• Birds are not fooled by plastic owls and inflatable snakes for long.
• Effigies that move realistically may work for a little while.
• Crows avoid effigies of dead crows. Paper crows, hung upside down with the wings spread, usually work.
• Highly reflective shiny tape, or bird tape, hung in streamers or twisted and strung to make a temporary fence can frighten crows away.
• Devices with reflective surfaces that spin or flap in the breeze can frighten crows. Buy them or make yourself—string up aluminum pie tins or discarded CDs around vulnerable plants or tie helium-filled Mylar party balloons around your garden.
• Playing recorded crow distress calls disperses crows.
• Farmers using firework. But these are too noisy unless your garden is far from neighbors. They may also be restricted or forbidden by local authorities.
• A garden hose with motion sensor and sprinkler triggered by an animal’s arrival. The surprise of a sudden spray will frighten crows initially—until they learn there is no real harm.
• All frightening devices work better when used consistently, moved around so crows don’t get used to them, and combined with other devices.
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Browsing online I kept coming to the advice of hanging a dead crow in a tree to frighten away other crows. As Lord Sani is worshipped in South India, labourers I approached were unwilling to supply my garden with the necessary dead crow to put up in the trees. However finally a dead crow was acquired (through completely non violent means) and I was able to arrange for it to be put up into one of my garden trees. However I report that it doesn’t seem to work as most of the birds coming into my garden seem completely sangfroid that their deceased brethren is hanging close up. In fact even now a number of birds are happily perching on other branches of the same tree.
I am still determined to rid myself of the pesky crow presence in my garden and to this end may order a CD of recorded crow distress calls from this website here.
North of Arunachala off the Girivalam Roadway just before the Kubera Lingam, is a turnoff leading to the new and continually developing Balaji Temple (Lord Venkateshwara).
Lord Sani
As well as having a beautiful statue of the Lord identical in every aspect to that of the Balaji Temple at Tirupati, the Arunachala Balaji Temple has a number of other fascinating shrines.
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| Shrine of Lord Sani with Raghu and Kettu |
One of which is that of Lord Sani (Lord of the Crows) with Raghu and Kettu which is meant to be particularly efficacious in order to gain the support of Lord Sani thus mitigating painful and unpleasant karma.
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