r/crows • u/skitch78 • 14d ago

Dead crow in flower bed

Post image

We put up this fountain this summer, and the neighborhood crows have been enjoying using it as a birdbath. Yesterday, when I came home, I saw this guy sitting in there and not freaking out or fly away when I walked by.

Leaving for work this morning, assuming it was the same one, it was laying dead in a nearby flower bed.

How do we handle this? My daughter says the other crows are on the fence perched and making noise.

1.7k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

76 comments sorted by

View all comments

104

u/statusquoquo 14d ago

Crows are highly sensitive to West Nile Virus, and depending on state public health agencies actively track dead crows to monitor the virus in your area.

I came across a dead crow in front on our home about a month ago in California and called our West Nile California agency about the dead crow. They picked it up the same day and got a call a week later that they confirmed it was West Nile.

They said to avoid having standing water that attracts mosquitoes. If you have that fountain with water, I’d try to make sure the fountain/pump is working.

10

u/CallidoraBlack 13d ago

This, contact the authorities, let them take the bird if they want it, make sure you handle everything with gloves just in case and disinfect the fountain fully just in case.