The Crow War
The Crow War
The mass graves are now covered in snow unmarked but not unknown.
The shell casings have all been cleaned away. Casualties were high but
no accounting will be given by authorities. Shooting continues at night, sporadic shots
as survivors of Wednesdays massacre are tracked down and eliminated as
they sleep. Thankfully the weekend brings a 2-day truce in the war.
...January 22 2000
10:19 PM January 18 2000 Chatham Ontario Canada.
The city has echoed with shotgun blasts since sunset.
Sporadic at first from all over finishing up, I hope a few minutes ago.
I counted over 100 blasts. I started counting after I heard a lot.
They finished up with a fierce cannonade on the west end of Chatham.
The roost site.
The Regional Municipality of Chatham-Kent has declared a war
of extermination on the crows that have a winter roost
on the outskirts of the city of Chatham, Ontario Canada.
The Mayor of Chatham Bill Erickson is orchestrating the war.
The soldiers of the municipality are works dept. employees
and volunteer hunters armed with shotguns. They are allowed
to shoot inside city limits and attack the sleeping birds.
The Mayors brother is also a lieutenant in this war. He
conducts crow-shooting contests outside the city. Make no
mistake this is a war complete with the usual atrocities.
The city is filled with the sound of gunfire after dark as
pick-up trucks roar around city streets playing floodlights
on the trees and stopping periodically to fire a few
rounds into the birds. Then another mad scramble to try
and pick up the dead and dying before the public notices
the killing. A quick recon around nearby sidestreets to
pick off any wounded stragglers and off to another roost.
Despite assurances that live rounds would not
be used in residential areas a large number of dead and dying
crows with birdshot in them are found regularly in these areas.
Works department employees are observed shooting and
gathering up dead crows in the heart of Chatham.
These past weeks the crows roosting in the pine trees at
the convent and school across the road from the
hospital have been targeted.These shooting episodes
are conducted in absolute secrecy with unmarked police cars
standing by lest "treehuggers" interfere. Treehuggers are what
the Mayor calls anybody who cares enough to voice some
concern about animals or our environment. The crows had for
years spent a few months roosting in the industrial area
of town. Periodically the city would use fireworks and bangers
to keep them in this area if they strayed into residential
areas. Now that war has been declared and the main roost
attacked smaller groups have broken off and located themselves
all over town. This gives the Mayor the excuse that
"nothing works" and he can implement his Final Solution.
Nothing works is right, council members voted not to
implement the recommendation of both their own works department
and Dillion Consultants and refused to pass a garbage can
bylaw for households in the city of Chatham. I was hoping for
more frequent pickup for restaurants as well. Health and
sanitation are the most basic responsibilities of anyone.
Be neat! Clean up after yourself. Besides, if we use
garbage cans it's easier to clean up when the squirrels,
skunks,starlings,crows,dogs,cats possums, raccoons, rats or
whatever rip it open anyway. Wildlife has always been here.
Get a lid Bill.
