Dorothy, Since they already know corn is there, and they have figured out you keep replanting it, I am not sure if you can stop them this year. Clearly they have gotten used to the pie pans too, so you have to try something else. Some people string clear fishing line in a random pattern back and forth from fence pole to fence pole over the top of the corn and the crows stay away because they don't like flying into the fishing line. You can try mulching with straw if you haven't already. When I mulch with straw, the crows don't bother the newly sprouted corn.....I think they can't tell it is corn when it is surrounded by straw and just think it is green grass in the middle of dormant grass. You can try bird netting thrown loosely over the corn bed but I don't know if it will work. You can bribe them the way I do. I put out several small piles of hen scratch in an open area about 200' from my veggie garden for the crows every morning. They show up at the hen scratch to eat around sunrise if there's any left from the day before, eat and leave. If there isn't any henscratch left over from the previous day, they sit on the barbed wire fence and wait for me to bring them their hen scratch. The crows haven't bothered my garden once since I started offering them these bribes. As a bonus, they are very serious about protecting "their" piles of henscratch and chase away any birds who even try to fly near it. They also chase away every hawk that shows up throughout the day, so the poultry can roam freely with little worry of hawk predation. It sounds like a rough corn year at your house. My crop that has suffered the most from the torrential rains and late freezes is the potatoes, which froze three times and then some of the last planting drowned. I have replanted so many times that I have plants in all kinds of sizes. Dawn

According to the Migratory Bird Act, it is illegal to remove nests of any native migratory birds. "Unless permitted by regulations, the Act provides that it is unlawful to pursue, hunt, take, capture or kill; attempt to take, capture or kill; possess, offer to or sell, barter, purchase, deliver or cause to be shipped, exported, imported, transported, carried or received any migratory bird, part, nest, egg or product, manufactured or not." "Birds protected under the act include all common songbirds, waterfowl, shorebirds, hawks, owls, eagles, ravens, crows, native doves and pigeons, swifts, martins, swallows and others, including their body parts (feathers, plumes etc), nests, and eggs." There are over 800 species of bird protected by this act. My understanding is that the only birds whose nests it is legal to destroy are House Sparrows, European Starlings, pigeons, and a few odd others (escaped parakeets, e.g.). Even house wrens are protected. http://www.sialis.org/mbta.htm Here is a link that might be useful: Migratory Bird Treaty

I love the unlovable animals too. toads,lizards,snakes(except copperheads),i've killed 2 copperheads and i was sure they were copperheads,we are overrun with the things and my hound was bit by one. I still feel bad about killing them as i even take spiders,granddaddy longlegs and grasshoppers outside to avoid killing them. i have heard a panther a time or two but never seen one. Don't use pesticides except once when a Direct tv serviceman made me sprey the wasp nests around our porch.They had never bothered me. I have never seen a possum around here. They must all live in town. LOL Have all kinds of birds,bugs,and creepy things. I leave them all alone except for copperheads and if they left my dogs alone i'd leave them alone. Its really true that its a jungle out there and humans are the most dangerous animal of all. vickie

If I get to the coast, I have a really hard time leaving paradise and making day trips to see other places, so I'd probably never make it to Astoria, except it's on my way DOWN to paradise...but if you get bored, or the weather isn't great, maybe you'll venture out. I ate at a nice restaurant in Astoria recently and while searching for the name to post here, (it's Bridgewater Bistro - good food, nice place!) I came upon this recommendation as one of the 10 best restaurants outside of Portland. I'd definitely try it on my next visit. Albatross Albatross (address and info) Astoria Helmed by the dude behind Thistle in McMinnville, and ex-PDX Chef Eric Bechard, this cooly laid-back, brick-walled eatery is heavy on the reclaimed touches (an ancient cash register, a retro stereo, etc.), and on farm-to-table eats like boldly flavored clams, and one of Oregon's best burgers w/ caramelized onions & a smooth white cheese sauce on a pillow-soft bun.