There are many things ISU students look forward to as they make the trek back to campus for the spring semester. The return of the crows is probably not one of them.

The large crow population has caused several problems for Ames residents as well as for ISU students.

“I’m offended by how [the crows] make this campus look,” said Josh Keen, freshman in pre-law. “We need to keep it under control.”

The crow droppings have also been a major concern for some students.

“It keeps students away from certain parts of campus,” said Brent Welder, freshman in pre-journalism and mass communication.

Barb Steiner, supervisor of Plant Services at Facilities Planning and Management, also expressed her dislike of the crows.

“It’s a safety problem having crow droppings on the sidewalk,” she said. “It’s unsightly and slippery.”

Due to their large population, the crows are quite noisy, especially early in the morning and late at night when students are trying to rest and study.

“They are social birds so they roost in large numbers,” said Curtis Johnson, university pest control operator.

Although there is no fool-proof answer to why the crows have chosen Iowa State to roost, there are several possibilities. The tall buildings supply an adequate windbreak, there is an endless supply of trees and there is a lot of food available, Johnson said.

Campus services has been working to solve the problem for several years with only short-term success.

“We’ve tried to stop the problem early on in the beginning of this season, but they must have a good memory of years past. They get used to the methods we are using,” Johnson said. “It’s a never-ending battle.”

Many different plans have been used to combat the birds, but none have had much success.

“We have not come up with a long-term solution,” Steiner said.

Some of the methods that have been employed include noise boxes playing a crow distress call, shining flood lights, tying balloons in the trees and clapping boards together.

“We’ve been talking to people in animal ecology and have also checked through the Internet on what other universities and cities have done,” Steiner said.

The department is looking into the possibility of using strobe lights and inflatable scarecrows as new weapons of combat.

“We’re doing our best to do something. Lots of dollars have already been spent,” Johnson said. “They keep coming back, and we keep trying.”