# Can I shoot the crows outside my window? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193 "2009-12-06T14:24:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/1 "2009-12-06T14:24:50Z")
Legally, with a gun? Probably not because I live in the middle of the city, but suppose I lived in East Bumblefuck Nowheresville, and the likelihood of my bullet hitting another person or damaging property was essentially nil. _Then_ could I shoot the damn crows? Assuming I had proper licensing and permits, if crows were outside of my window going, “_ **CAW! CAW! CAW!** _” at five in the goddamn morning, and blanketing everything in shit (sometimes I think I don’t drive a car, so much as I drive a giant pile of bird shit with wheels), could I grab my gun and shoot them all dead? Well since I’m up, I may as well make breakfast. But seriously, if I can kill these lousy birds, let me know, 'cause I really want them to die. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/2 "2009-12-06T14:32:05Z")
You can hunt and kill crows in some places especially on your own property. I am sure if this will make you feel better but watch the short video below. It is a feel good story. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zMSdJfPtfcE/hqdefault.jpg "crow hunting") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMSdJfPtfcE) Be careful when you mess with crows though, they are smart and are perfectly capable of planning a mass counterattack. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/3 "2009-12-06T14:35:59Z")
Darn … I thought it was Can I Shoot the **Crowds** Outside My Window That would be a neat Sunday morning read. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/4 "2009-12-06T14:45:54Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > You can hunt and kill crows in some places especially on your own property. I am sure if this will make you feel better but watch the short video below. It is a feel good story. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMSdJfPtfcE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMSdJfPtfcE) > > Be careful when you mess with crows though, they are smart and are perfectly capable of planning a mass counterattack. Ah, listening to that video made me feel like I was back in bed, before the sun comes out, trying to get some shut eye, and then CAW CAW CAW EFFING CAW! Watching the video made me smile just a little bit. > [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Darn … > > I thought it was Can I Shoot the **Crowds** Outside My Window I’d like to have at those, too. Damn Vikings games. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/5 "2009-12-06T14:54:27Z")
My mother used to use a wrist-rocket and beans to shoot at the crows. She was a crack shot and she’d ping them with the bean. They got the message fast enough, but the next year all over the garden we had beans growing 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/6 "2009-12-06T16:31:56Z")
And they didn’t turn around and attack her? Good for her, then. Show those stupid birds what’s what, and get some beans in the garden. Seriously now, are crows the loudest bird in the universe, or just the most annoying? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/7 "2009-12-06T16:41:07Z")
Make sure you count them first. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/8 "2009-12-06T16:45:33Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > And they didn’t turn around and attack her? Good for her, then. Show those stupid birds what’s what, and get some beans in the garden. Seriously now, are crows the loudest bird in the universe, or just the most annoying? I always thought peach faced conures were the loudest and most annoying, until i was working nights and a freaking woodpecker decided the wall of the house outside the bedroom was a great place to look for bugs. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/9 "2009-12-06T17:41:07Z")
Weren’t the crows in the big tree, and the ineffective attempts of the men in the family to get rid of them, one of the running gags in _Steel Magnolias_? You might want to watch that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/10 "2009-12-06T17:58:40Z")
Crows are bad, I’ll give you that, but you don’t want magpies and squirrels feuding outside your bedroom window, either. Magpies are smart and loud, and squirrels are mean and loud, and they don’t seem to like each other much. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/11 "2009-12-06T18:39:40Z")
“The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw.” _- Jack Handy_ ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/12 "2009-12-06T18:41:17Z")
Man, if I had my camera or my phone with me when I went out just now, I would have taken a picture of the cars on my street that are all covered in crow shit. Now I’m already inside, and am too lazy to go back out, so I tried to take a picture from where I am. It’s kind of hard to get a clear picture through a screen using a crappy camera, so we’ll have to work with my blurry photos here, but [what the hell](http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e266/WryOnRye/Ihatecrows.jpg)? All that white crap you see everywhere is literally crap. That’s snow on the wind shield, but everything else is crow shit! All the white dots on the sidewalk are crow shit. It is inescapable! I wouldn’t mind the poop everywhere so much if they would just shut the hell up in the middle of the night. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/13 "2009-12-06T21:03:31Z")
In PA as long as you do not violate your neighbor’s safety zone (you and the crow are on your property and 150 yards from anyone else’s dwelling) you are fine. Although there is a fine point ------ you have to be outside your house when you shoot unless they have changed that lately. I had a relative bag a deer from his kitchen window, resting across the sink, and he caught some sort of official “no no” from the game warden over it. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/14 "2009-12-06T21:04:34Z")
Holy shit! After seeing that pic, if I lived where you did, gun laws be damned! I’d be out there with grenades, a machine gun, and napalm. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/15 "2009-12-06T21:14:43Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > And they didn’t turn around and attack her? Good for her, then. Show those stupid birds what’s what, and get some beans in the garden. Seriously now, are crows the loudest bird in the universe, or just the most annoying? The average conure has the average crow all beat to hell on volume. Trust me, I’ve owned two conures. They are LOUD. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/16 "2009-12-06T21:21:01Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > And they didn’t turn around and attack her? Good for her, then Now the crows we had were too busy dive bombing the cats. But then again, all the birds use to dive bomb the cats in our neighborhood. On more than one occasion I had to rescue Mitzi the neighbor cat from the Blue Jays, but then in the Blue Jay’s defence, Mitzi was actually the kind of cat who could kill a bird. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/17 "2009-12-06T21:41:19Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Holy shit! After seeing that pic, if I lived where you did, gun laws be damned! I’d be out there with grenades, a machine gun, and napalm. Gods, seriously! Imagine the number of birds there would have to be to produce that much shit. Now imagine them all CAWing at once when you’re trying to sleep! I’m gonna murder me a murder, I say! > [@Broomstick](#): > > The average conure has the average crow all beat to hell on volume. Trust me, I’ve owned two conures. They are LOUD. All right, but the sheer number of crows outside my window is so large, that the noise is a sonofabitch. > [@Markxxx](#): > > Now the crows we had were too busy dive bombing the cats. But then again, all the birds use to dive bomb the cats in our neighborhood. On more than one occasion I had to rescue Mitzi the neighbor cat from the Blue Jays, but then in the Blue Jay’s defence, Mitzi was actually the kind of cat who could kill a bird. 🙂 Man, birds are assholes. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/18 "2009-12-06T21:42:50Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Holy shit! After seeing that pic, if I lived where you did, gun laws be damned! I’d be out there with grenades, a machine gun, and napalm. Gods, seriously! Imagine the number of birds there would have to be to produce that much shit. Now imagine them all CAWing at once when you’re trying to sleep! I’m gonna murder me a murder, I say! > [@Broomstick](#): > > The average conure has the average crow all beat to hell on volume. Trust me, I’ve owned two conures. They are LOUD. All right, but the sheer number of crows outside my window is so large, that the noise is a sonofabitch. > [@Markxxx](#): > > Now the crows we had were too busy dive bombing the cats. But then again, all the birds use to dive bomb the cats in our neighborhood. On more than one occasion I had to rescue Mitzi the neighbor cat from the Blue Jays, but then in the Blue Jay’s defence, Mitzi was actually the kind of cat who could kill a bird. 🙂 Man, birds are assholes. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/19 "2009-12-07T00:11:50Z")
Oye. Untill I saw the picture I thought you where being a bit over the top. Not no more. I’m thinkng a .38 with snake shot. And a garbage bag. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193/20 "2009-12-07T00:12:46Z")
Ask the police if they are legally defined as “vermin” in your area. If so, you can do anything you want to them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-shoot-the-crows-outside-my-window/520193.md?page=2)