I really feel for you. I lost about five hundred corn plants to Bambi and Rudoph, the woodchucks, the birds, the chipmunks and the racoons. I know coons were involved, as I saw corn silk hanging from the trees, after I followed a trail of corn cobs from the garden.

Although crows may be shot under certain circumstances, I don't know if you need prior permission or not and they are protected for the most part. I have not found flags/pie tins/ or shiny suspended objects very foolproof against garden scavengers. Netting works for crows, as does a sprinkler system hooked up to a motion sensor.

That's quite an ambitious project, btw.

The crows here are much too wily to be threatened or shot, on the other hand they are not the ones raiding my seedlings - it's the quail!
Jays own the berry-bushes, sometimes they will allow me to pick some :)
I cover new plantings with row-cover until they are big enough not to be of interest any more.

Since I put some of those fake bamboo stakes around the raised beds and tied grey plastic netting over, I had no more problems. Easy to put up, fast and not expensive, reusable. Of course it does not look too nice, but nobody looks at my backyard. If you can get hold of some of those old tent pecks which are out of alu and have a hook-shaped top, they are great for anchoring down.

Hmmm... It says here that your crow season opens Oct 1, there's no limit, and "Crows in the act of depredation may be taken at any time." Is depredation the same as "eating all your dang seedlings?" Doesn't matter... I don't see you killing them regardless of the legality. Should you change your mind, however, you'll find a collection of crow recipes and preparation tips here. Perhaps you can find something that would incorporate your home grown veggies?

Love your raised beds. Maintaining that makes so much more sense than maintaining lawn, and the process will be infinitely more enjoyable.

If I thought it'd keep the bunnies out of my garden, I'd impale corpses on spikes and ring my garden. (No, not really. The flies would be unbearable, and my dogs would rip them down and roll in them.) I do understand your frustration. Bunnies were brutal to me this year... in spite of all the extra "sacrificial lettuce" I planted in hopes of appeasing them.

I think your black flags are a brilliant solution, and you'll have ample opportunities to proclaim your (alleged) sanity to your neighbors and explain their purpose while you're out front picking. Congratulations on a project well done!

How would you get rid of these?!?!?

Here is a link that might be useful: Caught

Does noone use scarecrows anymore...LOL? Did they not scare crows? Haven't seen one in years of course except in those autumn decorations some folks fashion with a bale of hay and pumpkins out near mailbox.

I remember seeing a lifesize figure of woven willow twigs representing Gertrude Jekyll in some garden magazine which I thought very creative. Of course there is also the plywood cutout of the bonneted lady bending over...LOL

There is a phrase "a kindness of ravens"...what is the term for a group of crows? I'll be you came up with a lulu...josh

No need to make anything outrageous up: crows in number are referred to as a "murder of crows."

Sheila, I don't know about the crows, I'm just in awe of your 'dozer!! I'd show this thread to DH, but it would only ignite his machine envy.

I've had marginal success in keeping crows away by hanging CD's around my beds. However, what really works best are the outside cats. The crows seem to understand the presence of live predators in the garden.

Andie, we rented this wonderful piece of equipment for half a day. It's called a "Dingo". We couldn't have got this done without it, moving the ripped up sod alone made it worth every nickel and since it shortened the whole job that largely offset the cost.

"I'm just in awe of your 'dozer!! I'd show this thread to DH, but it would only ignite his machine envy." says Andie.

I had a good belly laugh out of that remark. Machine envy. That's a very descriptive phrase. My husband has that affliction, and to a certain extent, so do I. Our last couple of tractors have had front end loaders on them, and it comes in handy and makes a lot of very frequent jobs easier/possible. Myself, I've always wanted a nice little Bobcat. I've borrowed them to offload freight and move it around in my g'houses and it's small enough I think I could handle it myself.

Machine envy. LOL.

I also have 'raised bed envy'. I raise a large enough garden, I don't think it would be very practical to have it all done that way, but it would be so wonderful to have a part of it in raised beds, away from where the big tractor needs in. You can cover them with remay, bird netting, insulation blankets, convert them to instant cold frames. My major problem each spring is getting my cold season crops into the garden beds, as I either have to have the tractor in the beds too early for the major crops and keep the rest of the garden tilled/weeded......or wait to get the tractor in for the main crops and have it too warm for the cool weather stuff.

Wonderful garden layout, Sheila. You'll have a lot of enjoyment out of that one.

Suzy, I have raised bed envy too. We don't garden on your scale, but I want all raised beds in the veggie garden for the same reasons you do. I keep saying that it's a winter project, so maybe this year I'll get after it.

I have a friend who owns a lot of machinery...he calls it yellow metal envy.