Some Seattle residents are experiencing a rather Alfred Hitchcock-esque experience these days: it’s crow dive-bombing season and it’s making some families afraid of their own backyards. However, according to crow experts, it’s normal.
Ballard resident Gini from Loyal Heights has been dealing with a family of aggressive dive-bombing crows, and says it’s keeping her from allowing her children to go outside to play. “We have to take a rake with us to take out the garbage or water plants,” Gini wrote on the Nextdoor Ballard North forum. “I’m growing quite fearful and I feel like the movie The Birds is not fiction.”
According to a recent KUOW 94.9 FM story, there are ways to protect yourself until the season passes. Professor John Marzluff teaches in the University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and told KUOW it’s the time of year when young crows are starting to leave the nest, and parents are watching closely over them. “The young aren’t very good at flying and hiding yet, so they come in close contact with people,” he said.
Several other residents chimed in on the forum to lend Gini advice or share their own stories:
“I started walking up and down 77th with a tennis racket to knock these rats with wings out of the sky,” neighbor Jim wrote.
“We were divebombed in our backyard one year (years ago) when a baby crow fell into our yard and couldn’t get out,” Kristen says. “Once the baby crow managed to escape our yard, the dive-bombing stopped.” She added that they used umbrellas when they went to pick veggies.
According to KUOW, Marzluff suggests three remedies for the dive-bombers: ignore them, walk the other way, or wear a mask with eyes on the back of your head, because crows will always attack from behind and won’t attack faces.
Another Ballard resident, Carola, has another approach: make friends with the crows. “I used to be terrified of crows, but have now gotten to adore those who use my yard as part of their home,” she shared. “They even leave me tiny gifts of shiny glass or colorful plastic.”
Marzluff says crows have incredible memories, so making friends might not be such a bad idea. For more information about crows in our region, Marzluff has a website dedicated to our feathered friends.
