Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-12-24
A SLAUGHTER OF CROWS.
rhey Were Cunning. But Giossonberry Ex-
Terminated III of Them ut Last,

JOlll OlOSSubtiiNs III tihCiil iuilicI
living in rocky vale near Northfeld,
Conn. in the watershed of the Butter
nut brook, which flows into the Water.
bury reservoir, long deemed himself
able to cope withalmost all Of the diff
culties which bdt the life of Con-
necticut agriculturist, but lately he has
been forced to confess that flock Of
crows on his premises proved too smart.
About mile from Glossonberry's
wood-colored farmhouse in good-sized
tract of handsome pine trees that for
years sheltered an increasing flock OF
crows. For more than year this flock
was menace to his grain, his gardens,
and finally % his poultry yard. So nu-
merous, and bold had the crows become
last summer that they not only robbed
his hens and turkeys of their eggs, but
also distracted the attention OF the
brood hens and stole small chickens.
Three or four crows would attack hen
and her brood and in day or two carry
off all but the mother.
AS soon as he finished his husking
Glossonberry took his shotgun from
the hooks over his front door, and sal
lied forth to the crow roost in the pine
woods with the avowed intention OF
waging a war Of determination upon
the crows. He got one shot at them
and brought down single bird. The
rest of them rose in cawing, angry
cloud, and Glossonberry could not get
the cunning marauders within range
again. Glossonberry is fair shot, but
he found to his chagrin that 1t was
practically impossible to reduce the
number of the wary creatures with his
gun. They would circle all about him
the instant his gun was discharged,
screaming as If in contempt, but always
Just out of reach.
He at length gave up his desultory
warfare, and undertook to outwit the
crows by setting trawl-a long line
to which several lateral liues, each with
hook, were tied. The hooks on the
crow trawl were very small, and each
was baited with single kernel Of corn,
so carefully put on that it seemed inn
possible that the kernel could be taken
up without the hooks being swallowed.
He set the trawl in his corn field, which
had been the scene of many depreda-
tions. He covered the cord with dry
earth, leaving nothing exposed except
ha Iott frhnn hn
around to make the bait look natural.
The crows paid their customary chat
tering visit to the corn field in the aft
crnoon, and futtered about in great
glee, finally going away without leav-
ing single unfortunate hooked. Upon
visiting the snare Glossonberry found
the corn all gone, even the hooks hav-
ing been stripped clean, and he was not
long in making up his mind that some
other artifice must be used before he
could hope to catch crows.
His next move was to 60 into the
woods and capture alive large screech
owl. This he took home to use as de-
coy. He knew, as every farmers boy
in these parts knows, that the owl is
one of the few enemies which the crow
has much reason to dread. The owl
robs the crows nests of their young
whenever possible, and when crow dis
covers an owl blinking helplessly in the
glare of the sun it at once seeks re
venge. Glossonberry tied the owl tc
the limb of an old tree in the corn field
and speedily found, as he had hoped
that the owl proved an irresistible mag
net to the crows. An advance guart
flew at the owl, screaming loudly ant
calling apparently on all the crows
within hearing to attack the common
enemy. The farmer ran at top speed
to the house Of neighbor to get addi
tional gunrers to aid him in extermi
mating the flock. The gunners came
but his plans miscarried. One of the
gunners, in his haste to kill off th'
birds, sighted one near the owl, ant
killed off the decoy instead Of its tor
mentor. That at once ended the sport
Glossonberry could not find anothe
screech owl, but he at length hit upoI
still another plan of warfare whicl
makes him to-day fairly well satisfied
man as far as killing crows is con
cerned. After two weeks of work witt
the box traps he caught two crow
alive. These he pinned on their back
to the ground in an open field near tn
roost. They were held by their wing
between the pegs, yet not so closely u
10 prevent them from fluttering. Crow
nre inquisitive when they see othe
crows in trouble and when Glossonber
ry's crows saw the struggling captive
the whole lot flew about them. Clos
sonberry had thought the two crow
would prove as strong an attraction a
the owl had been, and he had his neigh
bors on hand, but the captive pair SUI
prised him by serving his purpos
much better than had the owl. Th
captive crows tackled fiercely the frs
of the flock that came near and held o
tenaciously. This brought on full
fiedged crow riot and the whole foe
was soon in fight. The air above tn
spot was black with crows.
Glossonberry and his party waite
until the fight extended to the Who'll
flock and then they began blazing ava
at the birds. All the usual caution {
the birds seemed to be gone. The bird
continued the fight despite the al
rroach of the men and the shot
There were four gunners in the part,
and they used cartridges Of coarse sho
firing as rapidly as possible. When the
finished remnant of the flock fe
away, leaving 1T dead and wounded O
the ground. The survivors have mac
themselves scarce about Glossonberry
farm ever since. His neighbors d
clare his last expedient would ha,
failed but for the unexpected condu,
Of the captive crows in graphing wit
their inquisitive visitors.-N. Y. Sun.