Bloomington looks to rid downtown of pest crows, droppings

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Downtown Bloomington has been going to the birds, and a real estate management company is eager to end that.

The problem is specifically crows and their droppings, which last winter covered everywhere around the Monroe County Courthouse square and other downtown areas, The Herald-Times reported (http://bit.ly/1OyJS3B ).

CFC Properties, which owns a number of properties in downtown Bloomington, is leading the attempt to address the problem.

"They're coming; so let's be ready for them," Jim Murphy, president of CFC Properties, said during a panel discussion Tuesday. "Why are we doing this? Because somebody has to. It's a real problem."

Mark Webb, the company's safety officer, said the droppings can cause health issues and lead to costly cleanups.

Murphy said that although the city has taken steps to address part of the problem by using old signs as hoods for parking meters, the community needs to do more.

According to the panel of experts that CFC Properties gathered, the answer is an integrated and persistent approach.

Marc Lame, director of the master of science in environmental science program at Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, said the crow problem isn't new to Bloomington. About three years ago, the birds started roosting pretty heavily at SPEA and around the Maurer School of Law.

The university used sound disruption techniques that, in combination with noise from large-scale construction, seemed to have some effect, Lame said.

Lee Humberg, a supervisory wildlife biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services program, said crows are hard to get rid of.

"Pest birds are very determined," Humberg said. "You have to be equally determined."

That determination is something that Anne Maschmeyer, beautification director for Downtown Indy, knows well. Indianapolis has been addressing the issue of pest birds for a long time, starting with starlings and pigeons all the way back in the 1950s.

Downtown Indy so far has been successful because of continued support from a community task force, Maschmeyer said.

"It's a community issue that requires a community solution," she said.

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Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com