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Around Town


A FOG IS BEING RELEASED IN SHIRLINGTON THIS WEEK TO SHOO AWAY CROWS

Jo DeVoe Today at 3:35pm
Signs in Shirlington about an ongoing crow deterrent process (courtesy Diva
Crows)

Previous Image 1/4 Next Image

Each night this week, an artificial fog will roll through the Village at
Shirlington.

Its purpose is to get a murder of crows, which once again wintered in Arlington
— doing their business near the Shirlington businesses — to leave and not return
when roosting begins again in October.

The descent of crows on Shirlington for the winter is an annual occurrence going
back to at least 2017 and leading to a bombardment of droppings on cars,
mailboxes, trash cans, sidewalks, patios and tables.

This year, Federal Realty Investment Trust, which owns the retail center at 2700
S. Quincy Street, is trying a new way to deter the persistent perchers and their
prolific pooping.

“Federal Realty has partnered with a wildlife management company to implement a
Passive Deterrent System to mitigate the nuisance issues and community property
damage caused by large flocks of roosting crows,” a spokeswoman for FRIT said.
“This system deploys a fog to targeted areas within the tree canopy. This is a
humane and non-lethal means to relocate these specific large flocks of crows.”

The fog was first released this past Monday and will be emitted every evening
from 7:30-9:30 p.m. until this coming Monday.

More information from FRIT was distributed to residents of a nearby apartment
complex and obtained by ARLnow.

The fog “has been a successful approach for several communities, companies and
agencies, including the FBI Headquarters, Miami International Airport and the
Smithsonian,” FRIT told local residents. “We feel very confident that this
process will be an effective strategy to relocate the roosting birds on [the]
property and discourage them from returning to roost in the future.”

The fogging has raised concerns for Diva Crows, an organization in Northern
Virginia that cares for injured crows and ravens. The Animal Welfare League of
Arlington, which handles animal control for the county, meanwhile, is keeping
tabs on the situation to see if the fog causes an increase in injured or dead
crows.

Sam Sparks, who works for Diva Crows, says this fog is made of a vaporized
chemical called methyl anthranilate.

The chemical — which produces a grape odor — irritates the pain receptors
associated with birds’ senses of taste and smell, according to one bird
repellent company.

“There are two separate concerns,” Sparks says. “One is human exposure to the
pesticide, for which there are limited studies on the toxicity to mammals.
People have the right to know that they will be exposed to this for the next
seven consecutive days that the fog will be deployed.”

Sparks added that this is “baby season” for wild birds, and the deterrent could
lead parents to abandon their fledgling offspring, leading to dead baby crows
littering Shirlington sidewalks.

It may also not drive them away for good, as crows are adaptable and have to be
outsmarted through variable and unpredictable deterrence strategies.

AWLA spokeswoman Chelsea Jones said the animal control agency became aware of
the deterrent efforts after receiving several complaints from citizens and
business owners about the volume of bird poop.

“We have spoken with the property managers to offer other humane deterrent
methods, and have also been in contact with local and state agencies,” Jones
said. “This is a legal deterrent method and we have been assured that there is
no risk to human or wildlife health.”

Around this time, crows are set to begin their migration, so residents should
see a natural, temporary decrease in the local crow population “very soon,”
Jones said.

“We have not found any deceased or injured crows thus far, but our Animal
Control team continues to monitor the situation,” she said.

animal control Animal Welfare League birds Shirlington
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