Auburn, New York has raised an aviary terror alert. Fearing a public health crisis from concentrated crow excrement, Auburn, New York plans to battle its own tourist attraction by unleashing predator birds to scare the crows. Auburn is famous as the town where up to 70,000 crows come to roost each year. The crows land at a local cemetery, then move on to lay waste to the town itself.

City officials collaborating with the Department of Agriculture hope to release falcons and owls in Auburn to send a message to advance scout crows of the approaching onslaught. This seems like crazy behavior to us, sabotaging a phenomenon in nearly the same class as the Return of the Swallows of San Juan Capistrano (and at least as good as the Buzzards of Hinckley Ridge, Ohio).

Auburn is also home to a historic still-functioning prison, the Auburn Correction facility, where license plates are manufactured for the state. Maybe they'd rather focus public attention on that. [10/09/2004]

February 10, 2012