Crows cause riots, causing an American town to use lasers to scare them away

An American town had to use a laser to scare away thousands of crows that caused a local riot.

For many years, Sunnyvale, a town in the Silicon Valley of northern California, USA, has been a strange phenomenon, becoming a top destination for crows.

American town uses laser to chase 1,000 crows

Thousands of crows flew back and forth over the town, the streets filled with cries, wreaking havoc every night and only temporarily disappearing when the sun rose. They were perched, covered with black roofs, frequently soaring and slamming into anyone who passed in sight.

Many people are afraid to leave the house, every time they go to the street, they have to use umbrellas to avoid the crows disturbing and disrupting. The crows often find food in the town, they have a habit of rummaging through trash cans, causing chaos in public places.

They are less afraid of humans, large and they really become a nuisance to the people when the herd behavior emerges. They nest on power poles and cause a series of wire failures.

Crows appear a lot causing trouble for local people

Local people repeatedly tried to scare away the crows, but all were short-lived.

Near cause, in a science-based scheme, three locals are tasked with monitoring crows nightly. They will shine a laser for about an hour and turn on the sound to disorient the crows, preventing the birds from nesting.

Larry Klein, the mayor of the town explains: "It is important to shine the light at night to disturb the birds and prevent them from nesting in the area. The cost of laser lighting is also cheaper than with the hiring of a falconry team to fight the crows and the effect is long-lasting."

On the first day of testing, the crows panicked a bit, but it took a while to see if the method worked.

In the past, local people used to raise falcons and hawks to threaten the crows, hoping they would not return, but the measure was not long-lasting. Other cities in the US such as Rochester, New York have tested the technique, they relocated up to 30,000 crows in 2018.

However, wildlife experts have warned that the laser scheme may not be powerful enough to make the crows leave town permanently.