Look at what a pair of rooks and their crow friends did to my* front lawn

[DotCommunist]

Just relentless devastation from a pair of huge winged birds and furthered by the crows. I've caught the rooks bang at it tearing the lawn to shreds. And its only my lawn, they aren't ripping the shit out of anyone elses. This front bit isn't my responsibility, its the councils who mow it regular but these corvid fuckers have turned it into the Somme.

The google says its larvae they are after.



*the council's

e2a bastards

 

[nogojones]

View attachment 393987

Just relentless devastation from a pair of huge winged birds and furthered by the crows. I've caught the rooks bang at it tearing the lawn to shreds. And its only my lawn, they aren't ripping the shit out of anyone elses. This front bit isn't my responsibility, its the councils who mow it regular but these corvid fuckers have turned it into the Somme.

The google says its larvae they are after.



*the council's

I think they're just trying to send you a message

 

[JimW]

There wouldn't be the maggots if you hadn't buried all those bodies there.

 

[platinumsage]

It looks compacted and in need of aeration to me, or at least it would have done if your feathered friends hadn't got to work for you.

 

[danski]

After yer stash

 

[JimW]

Could be an opportunity to install the undersoil heating before you relay, then you won't be losing any fixtures in winter.

 

[redcogs]

i'd see it as a 'no dig' moment to plant something wonderful - garlic or psylocybin? or summat

 

[redcogs]

Those corvids are something else arent they? A lot going on upstairs, so they must have noticed something worth excavating, or simply an opportunity to irritate a stalwart Urbanite (Having previously read your contributions)

 

[redcogs]

View attachment 393987

Just relentless devastation from a pair of huge winged birds and furthered by the crows. I've caught the rooks bang at it tearing the lawn to shreds. And its only my lawn, they aren't ripping the shit out of anyone elses. This front bit isn't my responsibility, its the councils who mow it regular but these corvid fuckers have turned it into the Somme.

The google says its larvae they are after.



*the council's

e2a bastards

Leatherjackets most likely

 

[DotCommunist]

I did think about a scarecrow but these rooks aren't even scared of my dog so thats a bust.

 

[newme]

the council are after larvae?

 

[StoneRoad]

After leatherjackets or similar ...

If you want to throw "something" at them, do it from somewhere they can't see you, and wear something that isn't your usual garb & a guido fawkes mask - crows in particular have learnt to recognise people ... [water from a lawn sprinkler can surprise them, but they soon realise it ain't harming them]

 

[JimW]

Erect a battle pillar and do a bit of dying Cuchulainn cosplay.

You'd only need your undies and a bin lid by the looks of things.

 

[hitmouse]

After leatherjackets or similar ...

If you want to throw "something" at them, do it from somewhere they can't see you, and wear something that isn't your usual garb & a guido fawkes mask - crows in particular have learnt to recognise people ... [water from a lawn sprinkler can surprise them, but they soon realise it ain't harming them]

Does holy water work on crows, or is that just vampires?

 

[DotCommunist]

It's not technically my jurisdiction so I'm wary about employing countermeasures. Someone did suggest cd's on a string as a detterent. But what purpose would it serve, they've fucked the lawn to pieces for this year and ate all the larvae anyway.

 

[JimW]

Perhaps GRR Martin could be persuaded to pay for reparations as part of a publicity deal? Not sure many people have heard of that trilogy he wrote.

 

[iona]

You could treat the lawn with leatherjacket nematodes if there's bits they haven't dug up yet, and doing it earlier in future should mean there's not many leatherjackets there to dig for.

Otherwise I know people who've had success hanging up a (fake, plastic, bought online!) dead crow to deter the others.

 

[Sweet FA]

Befriend them, bend them to your will, become Lord of the Corvids. Rule.

 

[Saffy]

The crows have knackered my auntie's lawn as there's chafer beetle grubs in hers.
I'd go with a flame thrower.

 

[Septimus Rufiji]

 

[toblerone3]

At first sight I thought this was a Chess thread.

 

[redcogs]

Pawn to queen 4

 

[A380]

Have you ever had a mini rave out there?

If so it could be a murder on the dance floor…

 

[BoatieBird]

Sorry about your lawn DotCommunist, but thanks for informing me that it's rooks and/or crows who are to blame.
I have loads of similar holes in my lawn but I've never seen the culprit(s)

It's not something I can remember happening in previous years though

 

[DotCommunist]

Sorry about your lawn DotCommunist, but thanks for informing me that it's rooks and/or crows who are to blame.
I have loads of similar holes in my lawn but I've never seen the culprit(s)

It's not something I can remember happening in previous years though

Me niether, could be damp summer followed by a warmer autumn maybe but I'm guessing.

 

[redcogs]

"Leatherjackets are the larvae of crane flies, or daddy-longlegs. The female fly lays up to 300 eggs in the lawn in late-summer. These hatch after a couple of weeks into grey-black, legless larvae that have a tough, leathery skin, hence the name 'leatherjacket'. From autumn through to summer, the larvae feed on the roots of plants, eventually growing to 5cm in length before pupating and emerging as adult flies in late-summer".

 

[redcogs]

A feast for corvids DotCommunist. i happen to be a big fan of anything corvid , particularly ravens crows Rooks Jandaws - the mere mention of Cornish Chuffs brings weakness to my knees. All really intellectual types, capacity for speech in many cases! Feeding them helps stop their human created decline and increases their numbers. You and your patchy grass are doing great work

 

[Oriole]

Team corvid - they are the best birds, even better than dinosaurs.

Start giving them offerings and worshiping them as they deserve, it might redirect their foraging for food.
(my late friend Joan used to give the crows cooked value sausages, smaller birds got value digestives. If you borrowed her jacket you had to remember not to put your hands in the pockets because they'd be full of digestive biscuit crumbs and traces of sausage grease that leaked from the bags).
I hear that if they take a liking to you they will be mean to your enemies.

 

[iona]

Sorry about your lawn DotCommunist, but thanks for informing me that it's rooks and/or crows who are to blame.
I have loads of similar holes in my lawn but I've never seen the culprit(s)

It's not something I can remember happening in previous years though

Starlings will do it too. Sometimes a year will just be especially bad for leatherjackets or chafer grubs in a particular area.

 

[tony.c]

Get an eagle.