Fighting for the caws: Protesters flock to support Charlottetown's crow population
The city recently approached the province to help fight the crow population in specific neighbourhoods
A group of self-proclaimed "crow lovers" gathered in downtown Charlottetown Saturday in support of their feathered friends.
They also protested the city's attempts to get the birds to leave.
The birds are known to nest in the city in the thousands. City staff have said in the past they've tried to fight against the crow population in specific neighbourhoods by using horns, wailers and spotlights.
They have had no success and city council recently approached the province for help.
As well, three crows were brought to the Atlantic Veterinary College after being found in the city with gunshot wounds earlier this year. All three had to be euthanized.
'Stop messing with the crows'
Gabe Carter-Caseley organized the "Rally for a Caws." He said enough is enough.
"The goal is to get them to stop messing with the crows," Carter-Caseley said. "They've been here for longer than us and they're harmless creatures. They just they just want to live in peace."
About a dozen supporters braved the blistering cold winds for the rally, most wearing all black and some wearing feathers. They marched first to city hall and then through Charlottetown's Brighton neighbourhood, where crows are often found.
"I can't believe crows, the existence of crows, is an issue," said protestor Dave Stewart. "I mean they're noisy, they're messy, but so were we so, you know, let's live together."
Stewart said he hopes the rally inspires people to "embrace" the city's crow population and that he would even like to see the bird named one of P.E.I.'s provincial animals.
Kali Ross said it's "ridiculous" the city has spent any money on removing crows from Charlottetown.
"They're one of the most intelligent birds," she said. "They are beautiful. I think they're very underrated."
City not trying to 'get rid of' crows
Though council members weren't present during the protest Saturday, Terry MacLeod, chair of environment and sustainability for Charlottetown, told CBC the city is currently not taking any action to remove crows.
He added that the intention has never been to get rid of crows completely, but to get them to spread out and not have them nesting in a concentrated area.
"We understand that nature is nature and it's awful hard to control it," MacLeod said. "Without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, [we] probably would never get rid of them.
"The city is very much concerned about our parks, our green spaces and the wildlife that are within them and we're not interested in creating a program that's going to get rid of crows. It'd be nice to have them spread out but it's not going to happen."
MacLeod said any efforts in the past to deal with the birds have been in response to complaints from residents about noise and crow waste, and that recently approaching the province for help has been for the same reason.
"What we just said was, to help the residents that are concerned about the crows, is that we could create a dialogue with the province to see ... what their suggestions might be."