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Sat. March 25, 2006
Photos ~ Crows pecking a neighbor's lawn
I had a brief chat with neighbor Bob today and we mentioned the clumps of moss scattered on his lawn. The crows were rooting around to find food and making a mess of things. They would yank clumps of it up to look for worms and didn't even have the decency to put it back. Bob didn't seemed phased and said he'd mow it up without a problem. He did but later in the afternoon I noticed the crows were at it again and snapped the following photos. I wouldn't laugh except A) they were pulling up unwanted moss in his lawn and B) they've done that to the moss in our front lawn. Circle of life I guess -- er something.
Comments (19) | To Top
4/21/2006 @ 11:56pm
Hi - I came across your pics when looking for a solution to exactly the same problem here in Kent, UK. I've caught all the crow family members having a go at it - magpies, jays etc This is the first year it's happened in 17 years with this lawn. The only thing I've done different this year is invest in a season of specialist lawn treatments, including moss killer. I'd assumed the treatment was loosening the moss making it easier for them to pick at it. Interesting that it seems to be a trans-Atlantic phenomenon ....
by Lyn
4/22/2006 @ 7:29am
They're such little buggers but they must know something we don't about the possible food choice that lie below the moss. Our lawns here in the Pacific Northwest are pretty prone to moss especially during the somewhat dreary winter months.
Although I like a decent looking lawn, I can't be too mad at them for picking out the moss for us without using any chemicals. I guess it's a pretty "green" way to go, don't you think?
Cheers! ~ Kevin
by KevinFreitas
4/23/2006 @ 6:43am
If I weren't in the process of selling my house , I'd be rejoicing in the green practices of my corvus family visitors! But I'm afraid prospective purchasers are looking askance at the sizeable naked brown patches that I now have scattered across my lawn. So thorough a job has my little black "flock" done in terms of moss-moving, that raking it up has left me with lawn that is both moss-free and grass-free. Hence my attempt to problem-solve it rather than enjoy it!
Just wondered whether food is the only incentive for them here ... Do corvus family members line their nests with soft stuff like moss? If they do, and that's the primary purpose behind their current activities, maybe all I have to do is wait it out ... ?
Cheers to you, too
Lyn
by Lyn
4/23/2006 @ 6:07pm
I could see how that might sour the look of your place while selling it. The lawns around here still have plenty of moss in them but the crows seem to have lost interest which makes me think they actually were using it for nesting material. You're also a few degrees more northerly than us with cooler weather so the time may soon come that the crows will have everything they need to keep comfortable during the spring.
Good luck to you!
by KevinFreitas
9/20/2006 @ 11:45am
I am very annoyed by these creatures digging up the lawn, it is mid Sept now, I want to put fertilizier in and/or moss killer just to get rid of moss and the creatures fed from it. I have seen people deperately put out mess net and CDs, yes, those round shinny CD, I suppose those black creatures hate to see their reflections and this way they will fly away?
Any remedy to suggest to me? I don't want to spend $$$ to fix the lawn.
by Preston
4/15/2007 @ 1:42pm
This is funny, because I experienced the same thing in Redmond this year and was trying to figure out what happened. What's similar to another post is that this happened after I began to put down moss killer. I am spending 2 days a week raking all the moss. I do feel a bit guilty because it would have been a lot harder to rake out the moss rather than have the crows do it. I am just worried now that I may not ever be able to put down grass seed because they will eat that too.
by Jason
12/17/2007 @ 3:20pm
I never had the Crows pulling up the grass until at the end of summer I sprayed a product a called AERIFY because the ground was getting to compacted and would not take the water it is an Aerator now they can pull the grass up by the roots
by Bud Askew
9/21/2008 @ 7:36pm
I live in southern california, and it is mid sept. For two days now the crows have pulled out tufts of grass ( I don't have moss) and left me with little heart attacks....what are they looking for? Is it grubs?
by Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Flim
9/27/2008 @ 10:32am
I live in the northern part of the San Francisco Bay Area and the crows are pulling out globs of grass. This front yard has been crow pecking free for over twenty years and we have done nothing to the grass besides fertilize.....why are they doing this now?
by Koen
10/23/2008 @ 6:58am
I live in Massachusetts and we are trying to sell our home so it looks terrible what with the crows pulling up clumps of lawn everyday. Yesteday arrived home after work and they have tossed clumps in the street! I think they must be eating grubs or other bugs. Its getting too cold to reseed at this point until spring. Any ideas to keep them away, short of a scarecrow on the lawn!!?
by michelle
10/23/2008 @ 7:08am
@michelle: I'd suggest some of those motion-activated Halloween decorations but, knowing how smart crows are, imagine they'd get over it pretty quickly. :(
by KevinFreitas
4/23/2009 @ 11:59am
They've just started on my lawn in Wigan, England (April 2009). Never had this problem before and desparately want to know how to safely keep them away. Anything worked yet?
by Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Flim
6/7/2009 @ 7:33am
We live in Ottawa, Canada and have been hit by this problem two years in a row now. In my case, it is grubs crows are after. This year we ended up treating the lawn with nematodes. Nematodes can fight an infestation of grubs. They are microscopic worms that feed on lawn grubs.
by Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Flim
6/27/2009 @ 2:47pm
We have always had a variety if birds here in the SF East Bay. But this year, 2009, there are huge crows nesting in our neighbors pine tree. They seem very aggresive, loud and I have them swoop down on a squirel. Just now there was an almost blood curdling sound accompanied by the crow's sqawks.Our lawns are in bad shape because of the drought so they aren't pulling rhe moss. I am ready to put out my Hallowe'en scarecrow! Alas!
by Sharon
9/13/2009 @ 8:26pm
I live in SJ CA and own a Million dollar house and make sure to keep my meticulously manicured and when I came home one day found clumps and clumps of grass scattered on my sidewalk and grass area. It was a disaster. Whats worse is they came back 2 hrs after I discovered it and made even more of a mess! I was so fricken mad, went to local sporting good store and purchased a Pelet rifle. The next day, I parked my car near my grass and patiently waited until the crows came, pulled out my rifle with scope and shot 1 of them bastards dead. I left it on my lawn for a couple days just to show the others what will happen to them if they try messing with my lawn. 2 months later, I have not had any crows return :-) Thats how you get rid of them !
by Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Flim
9/19/2009 @ 8:35am
I have been having the same problem with crows digging up my front lawn. Seems to be the same certain area that they keep going back to now for the last 2 months. This is the only time in my residence of 37 years that I have seen crows doing this. I believe they are getting hungry since the inception of our compost program whereas now a days the crows are not able to tear apart garbage bags that once contained a an abundance of hings that are now put in compost bins for curbside collection. However, I have noticed Grubs or AKA " potatoe bugs" in the dirt where the crows were digging up the lawn. Gonna try spreading limestone treatment and see if that works. I believe that we always had grubs in our lawn, but I am compelled to believe that people are having this issue or issues if they have just started or have had a compost program inplemented in their area. The crows are looking for alternatives is my guess!!!
by John
10/3/2009 @ 9:30am
I live in Albany, New York, and the last few days (end of September & beginning of October) there are flocks of crows pecking at my lawn. Yesterday when it wasn't raining, I saw that they have trimmed the edge of my sidewalk & left the lawn beside it all torn up. Earlier, about 2 weeks ago, there are holes in the mulch around some plants & 1 morning I smelled a skunk. It thought squirrels and/or skunks had been digging for tulip bulbs, but I now think it must grubs they sought.
by Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Flim
2/4/2010 @ 8:31am
I live in Vancouver, Canada and I am just getting this problem. It is getting worse and worse here. Sometimes they go in a big flocks of hundreds and hundreds and it looks like a movies scene when I look out the window. Some streets have almost yard ripped up. Some peoples yards are completely ripped up. some complete yards are ripped up.
by Edward
2/26/2010 @ 10:27am
Our yard looks horrible and it was all being blamed on the poor dog until I saw at least 7 crows out there just ripping our lawn apart. from what I have read in other posts it sounds like the crows are ripping up the moss which is even worse than usual this year and i guess that is a good thing but what do we do to get the yard back to looking nice and keeping the crows out. Has anyone tried just planting grass seed over where the crows have torn up the lawn? What if we laid out some barrier netting while the grass was starting to take root and grow. I am interested in anyones ideas. thank you! and the dog thanks you as well!!!
by anne