Need to vent lol

[Zuma]

I build and maintain a bunch of bird houses. Mostly to encourage the Tree Swallows and Blue Birds. A Grackle has been stuffing my bath vent with green nest material.
Persistant cuss. last year the deer ate the buds off the tomato plants along with the zucchini and cantaloupe blossoms.
What has me really torqued now is this ---
Grrrr Zuma

[Pat B]

Crows?  If so, shoot one and hang it on the garden post.

[autologus]

Crows alright what pat said will take care of em.  If you don't want to do that run a tight string about 6 inches above your rows this will discourage them but may not stop them.  You can also put toy snakes in your garden and move them around every day.

Grady

[mullet]

Down here squirrels used to do that to mine. Now all of the tree rats in my neighborhood live in my freezer.

[Zuma]

Thanks for the tips guys. I like the snake idea. Maybe an owl too.
I have never had anything like this happen since I planted my first garden.
I saw a small bird tugging on something on my way to the garden but couldn't identify  it. I have killed crows when the corn turns ripe.
The worst was, they uprooted at least fifty plants straight on down the rows and
all I had planted in mounds?. It was like they were getting even with me for something bad I did to them.  They didn't eat or take anything away.
I hate to dust but these birds need a gullet full of seven. lol
Thanks, now I feel better
Zuma

[Marks]

Owl may not be the best idea. Good for other birds and squirrels but not crows. Crows hate owl and will attack them.

[Parnell]

They say crows can literally warn each other about you for multiple generations.  "You know little Johnny, your great grandpa was shot to death by that bald white guy down there, then he hung him on the fence to rot!"  We will never forget and plan on pecking his eyes out one day!   

[Pat B]

I have an owl decoy over my garden and the crows make fun of it.
 Crows have facial recognition and very long memories. I watched a show on PBS about crows. The man doing the study had to wear a mask to disguise himself and anyone that wore that mask got hounded by the crows.

[Buckeye Guy]

Grackels and starlings will do it around here !

[PEARL DRUMS]

Dad shoots anything and everything messing with his bird houses or gardens up to and including rabbits, except deer. They all get a .177 pellet at 1250 fps in the noodle for their transgressions.

[Zuma]

I'm with you guys about the crows.
They are family units here. I shot one, one fall. It wasn't dead when it fell to the ground.
I didn't want to waste another shell to dispatch the wounded creature.
So I walked over to it with a stick. He looked right at me as if to say,
"You better take me to the vet or your garden will be cursed for ever"
Since I have looked closer at the photos I now think that they were after
 the sprouted seeds. It was the morning after a torential rain, so the soil was real soft allowing the seed to pop out with a tug on the stalk.
I guess I could break out the 4-10 when the neighbors go shopping. lol
Zuma.
Oh it don't end there---

[autologus]

Crows are smart, I hate crows.  They can be in your yard or garden and you can walk out and they will laugh at you, turn the corner with a gun and they disappear before you come into sight.

Grady

[Will Tell]

The three things that will survive any disaster will be a crow, rat, and cockroach. LOL

[Marc St Louis]

Up here there's a grub that lives underground, brown in color and about 1" long, that will chomp down new garden plants at the root, I think some people call it a cut worm.  Very persistent little bugger and the only way to get rid of them is probe around the base of the newly chomped plant and dig them out, and squish them of course. 

[Eric Krewson]

I had a family of crows congregate at my bird bath every morning at gray daylight for a raucous, loud meet and greet. Being retired, 4:30 or 5:00 was earlier than I wanted to get up. I put a 22 by the back door, quickly opened the door(their sentry always caught me moving) and popped off a few rounds in their direction as they flew off, never hit one. Another time I slipped out with my shotgun and downed a couple of young ones before they could get away.

This has been years ago and even though they nest every year in the woods below the house they never stop by to visit at daylight anymore.