Plans to construct a childcare center near Hort Woods -- the location campus officials have been herding crows toward for years -- will force the Office of Physical Plant (OPP) to direct the birds to an alternative roosting spot this season.
OPP employees now hope crows will find the wooded area beyond the visitor center -- located at Park Avenue and Porter Road -- a suitable new home. Crows infest the State College area each fall, roosting at places like the bus stop at the Allen Street Gates during their migratory visit.
Mike Leakey, project manager for the Gary Shultz Child Care Center at Hort Woods, said the location was picked for construction a few years ago. OPP spokesman Paul Ruskin said the crows were not considered when the location -- the wooded area behind Forum Building -- was selected.
"Crows are just an unexpected consequence of having a beautiful campus," Ruskin said. "They're not a high priority."
But until OPP observes a consistent spot where crows choose to roost overnight, workers can't begin harassing them, said Phillip Melnick, director of buildings and grounds for OPP.
Harassment techniques this year will be limited to the use of pyrotechnics, which make noise and direct the crows to a given location.
Since crows spend their days feeding, and roost from early evening until morning, pyrotechnics are usually set off between 5 and 6 p.m., moving the birds a few hundred yards each day.
"The idea is that you set off the pyrotechnics, the birds are startled, they move to a different location and you try to track where they go. And you repeat," Melnick said. "It's not a guaranteed scientific process."
Ruskin said moving the crows to the new location will be more of a challenge than usual -- and it was hard enough to get them to settle in Hort Woods. Melnick agrees, adding the new location won't necessarily attract crows left to their own devices.
With the use of light towers -- which attract crows -- Melnick said he hopes the birds will be more enticed by the Park Avenue spot.
While the presence of crows may seem trivial, OPP officials said the birds bother State College residents with their loud calls and droppings.
"They interfere with the operations of the university by causing sanitation problems and bothering students," Ruskin said.
And despite the trouble they cause, harassing the crows is really all the university can do. Hunting is not one of Penn State's top options.
"We have no intention of harming the crows -- we really are just asking them to find a better location," Ruskin said. "Students and education and research are priorities. University Park is just not geared up to be a vacation home for crows."
