Crow poop in Charlottetown not dangerous: biologist



Crow poop in Charlottetown not dangerous: biologist

Crow poop in Charlottetown not dangerous: biologist

Published on Febuary 26th, 2010
Published on June 14th, 2010
Nigel Armstrong RSS Feed
Topics :
Charlottetown City , Charlottetown , West Nile

A meeting on the topic of crows was quietly attentive in Charlottetown Thursday until the guest speaker mentioned feces.
Charlottetown City Councillor Mitchell Tweel hosted the meeting. He said he got special permission from the P.E.I. Minister of the Environment Richard Brown to allow Randy Dibblee to be the guest speaker.
Dibblee is a wildlife biologist for the province. He told the group why crows like settle in urban areas for the night. Urban areas have big trees, residual light to help see prowling owls, no hunting or shooting, and often some residual heat in the winter.
"Crows don't roost in the city year round," said Dibblee. "They arrive about mid October, peak in November and disperse in March."
They only spend nights in the city, where they can join together as defence against their enemies, owls and humans. During they day they go out to feeding areas in the country.
Crows are not a problem in rural areas, said Dibblee. Out there it is open shooting season on crows, which are presently unprotected. That is about to change with a pending "season" about to be applied to crows, said Dibblee.
Then he mentioned how crow poop is messy and unpleasant but not generally dangerous.
The otherwise quiet crowd of about 60 people sprung to life then, filling the meeting hall with such phrases as E-coli, salmonella, and infant ingestion.
Salmonella comes from many sources, e-coli is in everyone's gut right now and West Nile comes to humans from a mosquito and there has never been a documented case on P.E.I., said Dibblee.
"Crows don't really carry any particular diseases that are transferable to humans," he said.
The meeting was getting louder and Tweel moved to the front but Dibblee held up his hands.
"I'm not here to make recommendations," he said. "City council is well versed in all its options.
"I would say that an extensive and intensive approach is best, and we have said that to council. A piecemeal approach is probably not the best."
He did say that bounty systems do not work.
"They are a waste of tax-payers money," he said.

Comments

  • Username
    Cleo
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:43:30

    I have never met a man who loved the sound of his own voice more than Mr. Mitchell Tweel.

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  • Username
    anna
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:42:31

    pleaase just leave the crows alone , they were here before or about the same time as the population, get of the bandwagon! crows like all birds ( that i know of) live in trees at night, dont reve up their motors at night at every corner ,are in general peaceful with humans. dont allow your clidren to eat the dirt on the street and they won;t be ingestion crow poop find a project to keep you mind busy that would benefit all. oh by the way water , aa brush and a bit of energy will take the crow poop of your car and in swill also work as paart of your exercise program Wow !! am i in trouble now ha

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  • Username
    bill
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:41:27

    a second opinion is often useful-
    mr. Diblee is an expert and it would be more than interesting to see if there is a second and different expert opinion out there

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  • Username
    Tweety
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:39:50

    I agree with you ,fair play. Finally someone who makes some sense.There's way too much Mitch bashing.And thats not fair. It's like childs play..name calling. He's trying to find a way to solve a messy situation for hundreds of residents ,so I agree he is earning his pay.

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  • Username
    Spot On
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:34:16

    I'd be more suspect of the ones complaining about Mitch Tweel's Concern for his residents being those thinking only about their political gains!

    If you folks have nothing better to do than criticize the ONE City Councillor who actually does what he was elected to do than you should find a another hobby!

    And I dare say if there were hundreds of crows pooping on your house, car, entry way, patio deck, lawn and sqwaking from morning till night I'd bet you'd all be singing another tune!! And If the decks, lawns and cars of the Elitists in our City were white and yellow with Crow Poop I bet the City would be issuing cheques now and hiring a task force!!

    I commend Councillor Tweel for taking action on this issue, for actually listening to the concerns of the people in his ward and doing his utmost to find solutions for those issues!

    Great Job Councillor Tweel and Please Carry On!

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  • Username
    fair play
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:28:40

    The folks out Brighton way had a crow problem. Someone complained. Their complaints were addressed with wailers.
    The wailers didn't work out for the best.
    The crows just moved on elsewhere.
    Different folks complained. Many of us seen the damage, the mess crows left.
    Some folks had a natural fear of diseases from crow spatter, most didn't look forward to cleaning up after the birds. A city councillor held a meeting to allow people to voice their opinion.
    The councillor did his job, he took citizen complaints seriously and rather than avoid the taxpayers or dither around with excuses he set up a meeting where they could voice their concerns.
    Now, I wish some of you would please come back on here and explain to me how that translates into doing nothing more than looking for votes. It appears to me that this particular councillor is one of the very few earning his pay.

    Submit a Comment

  • Username
    Trevor
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:22:35

    I read all the comments. The ones that have been removed were off topic or just redundant, in my opinion.

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  • Username
    Irene Adler
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:19:55

    Well, I see Mitch has the mob whipped into a frenzy. Next out comes the pitchforks and burning brooms and the storming of any office of a biologist who dares tell the truth about the crows. The last thing the Tweel Mob wants to hear is the truth. They only want to hear things that support their warped view that the crows are dangerous and need to be eradicated (wiped out). The birds will be gone in a few weeks and then Mitch will have to wait until the fall when the crows return to once again show leadership by whipping the crowd into another frenzy. It is fortunate for him the birds will return right around the time of the city elections. Anyone want to bet the crows will once again become the biggest threat this city has seen for years?

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  • Username
    hey Mister
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:18:31

    Freedom of speech has nothing to do with posting on this website. When posting you have to agree to the Terms of Usage. You should read this section and you will understand.
    3.1. Transcontinental Media may modify, cancel or terminate any item contained in its Internet sites, at any time, including the availability of any function, database or content.
    Since you, and anyone else posting to this site, agreed to these terms you cannot complain about what they do with the posts.

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  • Username
    Chester Field
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:17:28

    ENOUGH ALREADY....this is just crazy...spending money on this...these Crows have a colony going back, who knows 100's of years, at least by being in Victoria Park they are not sh!tting on residental cars, heck, it could be a tourist attraction, come to the park at dusk and watch the thousands of crows coming home to rest(after a hard days work), seriously, I can remember sitting on Queen St. up by Beleveder Ave. and watching(at 6 a.m.) them coming up Queen St. and watching 3 or 4 of them branching off to the various streets that come off of Queen, just like they were going to work, it is really fascinating to watch...

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  • Username
    CS
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:15:07

    Lots of issues here. First, crow poop mightn't be dangerous, but it is messy and costly. We'll just smear it all over the scientist's car, and leave it there. See how his paint holds up. Second, the crows are annoying but they are part of the scene, have been for at least 100 years, and, short of killing them all, or cutting down the trees, there is no long term solution. So let's just leave it alone and deal with it.

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  • Username
    Not surprising!
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:11:35

    Not surprising. Nothing accomplished!

    Isn't Randy Dibblee our only PEI biologist? I'd like to hear another Biologist's opinion.

    (Crows dont really carry any particular diseases that are transferable to humans, he said.)

    Funny all the reports I've read from our local Library and the WWW seem to have a very different opinion!

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  • Username
    poor crows
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:09:08

    You don't like what you heard from Randy Dibblee so you want another opinion that suits your way of thinking. You bring coyotes into the conversation for what reason I do not know. Way to go Mitch whats next? Why not get everybody up in arms about the lack of snow this winter or maybe how the sun shines in the day time and not at night. This is doing nothing to solve the problem with the crows but it is getting your name in the paper for re-election.

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  • Username
    Ian
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:08:53

    You want an opinion from another biologist? Birds can act as intermediate hosts for a number of diseases affecting humans. Best known is the West Nile Virus, making headlines about a decade ago. Really a mosquito problem.
    Probability of crow-human infection is very small, much smaller than being hit in a crosswalk by a Brighton resident returning home from the bars. I am not an expert on bird diseases, but I am unaware of a direct crow-human disease problem. Messy, perhaps annoying, but not a significant threat to human health.

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  • Username
    fair play
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:06:11

    What is this Tweel mob thing ? Personally, I've never met the man. I've seen him on the street chatting with people. I've read items in this paper that explain the issues this man concerns himself with. I've read articles in which he was quoted. I've read enough to know that he tries to do something about the problems people bring to him.
    I have never heard nor seen anything to cause me to believe that this man is
    self-serving. Some people come on here and throw insults around but never specify any one thing that proves the man is something less than what he presents to the public. If and when he ever does something as outrageous as the Ghiz government has done then I will be happy to re-think my opinion.

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  • Username
    Brighton Resident
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:05:25

    I live in Brighton. Everyone here keeps talking about the crows going back to Victoria Park. Well, they don't just roost in the park, they spend a lot of time in the surrounding neighbourhood pooping on our cars and sidewalks too and they have for ten years or more. When they started using the wailers the crows stayed in the park every night for about two months but the wailers have been turned off for a month now. Whatever the crows are doing now is not because of the wailers and they are not just in Tweels neighbourhood. They are still hanging around here every other night and up around Naussau street too. There probably is no solution and Id rather listen to the crows again than all the commotion Mitch is causing.

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  • Username
    Way to go Mitch
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:04:31

    This half informaion and mis-information must stop. Last night l thought at one point they were going to 'lynch' this poor Mr. Diblee. He was there only as a wild life biologist. Mitch Tweel should be ashamed for the hysteria he has enflamed. I really wonder what this man would do to get re-elected. Leave the crows alone. They were in Victoria Park, they will return if they stop using the wailers. Nuff said.

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  • Username
    The Big Dirt
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:01:59

    I'm sure as sherlock on this one that Kentville is sitting back and laughing it up. In Breadalbane we had a crop o' crows in '89 that were dropping their droppings all over the place. We gathered in a group and started screaming at them and they never came back. Let's not waste our tax dollars and start using our larynxes!

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  • Username
    MISTER
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:01:19

    their doing it agian...there were over 30 post here earlier,where did they go??.The guardian is once agian deleting post as they want to DICTATE the direction of the comments.THIS SITE DOES NOT SUPPORT FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

    Submit a Comment

  • Username
    wake up
    - June 21st, 2010 at 20:01:05

    crows lied there long before u and long afteru get alife all the problems off the world and u guys pick crows losers all of u

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  • Username
    Not all is what it seems
    - June 21st, 2010 at 19:54:46

    What makes some people commenting here think those who have problems with crows are CROW HATERS? I'm not a Crow Hater but I DO HAVE problems with Crows that have gotten way out of line!

    I enjoy our Island Birds. I spend many mornings and afternoons bird watching!
    I find birds very fascinating and interesting and marvel at their level of intelligence! I happen to believe that Crows are one of the most intelligent species of Birds we have!

    But, should I just put up with my patio, my house, my car, my entry way literally Covered with Crow Droppings day after day after day? Should I just ignore Crows eating away and ripping apart my eave troughs around my house? Would you? Especially given my problem didn't exist before Wailers were used?

    And to those who state the crows were here longer than we have been, what bearing does that have on the damage to resident's properties?

    It's easy to be so non-chalant about crows causing property damage when it's not affecting your house or surroundings! Spend a few days trying to scrape hardened crow droppings off your car, deck, siding without also removing the paint or scraping it off your windows this time of year! Then tell me I'm just over reacting and move on!

    I suggest people take time to think and understand the dilemma before they belittle other people's problems.

    Please forgive me for not thanking these folks for their considerate and compassionate comments and support.
    But then, I guess when it's not about them it's not a problem!

    Submit a Comment

  • Username
    Only concern about poop
    - June 21st, 2010 at 19:53:58

    Whether or not crows carry disease is not the big issue here really. It is so a health issue when a school playground is a site of target practise for pooping crows. Anna Clark states above, don't let your kids eat dirt. Obviously she doesn't have kids playing on playground equipment, then snacking on their recess foods. Where is the hand-washing in between? We are talking about feces here, not some benign bit of water. I hate having my car splattered by crows and do wash it off because it will eat through the paint, but by golly that is sure hard to do in -20 weather. I personally love crows, but don't fool myself into thinking their feces is just a bit of harmless bother. Perhaps Mr. Dibblee can start a free carwash program through his department in an effort to ensure all living things get along just fine in their natural environments.

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  • Username
    John
    - June 21st, 2010 at 19:47:16

    Crow poop is only dangerous in Cornwall, Summerside, Montague and Souris.

    Submit a Comment

  • Username
    OLd Tory
    - June 21st, 2010 at 19:46:58

    Stop the foolishness, just get rid of the wailers in Victoria Park, problem solved, no more poop. The crows appear to be smarter than the politicians, doesn't surprise me at all.

    Submit a Comment

  • Username
    Lady Frances Carfax
    - June 21st, 2010 at 19:46:46

    Mitch seems to think he has a winning election issue with the crows and will milk it as long as he can. He does not care about the residents of his ward or about their crow problem - for Mitch it is all about getting votes. Sitting on council is the only job he has ever had and if he loses the election what will he do.

    Submit a Comment

  • Username
    To all the crow hater's
    - June 21st, 2010 at 19:42:16

    This crow problem looks good on you all I bet you are the same people that complained about the loud motorcycles that were in the city. Perhaps the noise from the motorcycles might take care off the crow issue, looks good on the poor whinning citizens of Charlottetown.

    Submit a Comment

  • Username
    waste of money
    - June 21st, 2010 at 19:38:43

    Just leave the crows alone. Bring in a bylaw that prevents citizens from harrassing the movement of wildlife - birds included. Let the friggin birds decide where they want to go, and if that happens to be in the back yard of a few neighbourhood idiots, then so be it. But if those neighbourhood idiots are spotted harrassing the birds to make them move on, then the city should step in and charge them with wildlife harrassment.

    Do not spend one red cent of our tax dollars on moving wildlife - either municipally or provincially. Do you think this island is paved in gold?

    If Mitchell Tweel and city council spend one cent on buying wailers or hiring experts, then I will be personally calling them in the middle of the night every night for the rest of their existence as municipal politicians.

    Bring in a bylaw to prevent residents from harrassing wildlife and let the wildlife decide where they're going to go.

    Submit a Comment

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