Crow attack on the school run
A woman has told how aggressive crows near a primary school left one unsuspecting victim with blood pouring from a head wound this week.
In a scene reminiscent of the classic Alfred Hitchcock 1963 horror film, The Birds, villagers in Menstrie have been warned to have their wits about them when walking near Menstrie Primary following an early-morning attack on Monday.
Caroline Spruce had been dropping her children, Callum and Olivia, off at school shortly before 9am.
After leaving the children, she then started to walk the family dog, oneyear-old pug Oswald, along Menstrie Place – between the school and Menstrie Bowling Club – when the combative crows swooped.
She said: “The crows attacked me and my pug but they didn’t actually hurt us, they just swooped down screeching. What a fright I got.
“I walked back up the path and this poor woman was holding her head, blood all over her hand. The crow had swooped down but made contact and hurt her.”
It’s understood that the crows had been nesting in a large tree on the street.
NHS worker Caroline later took to a community Facebook page to make other residents aware of the hostile birds. The woman who had been left nursing a head wound following the terrifying ordeal posted to give an update on her condition, saying: “I’m OK. Before I got attacked they had gone for a dog and its owner. I didn’t see the bird coming for me. Just watch out as it could be a child next.”
Caroline then contacted Menstrie Primary to make them aware of the situation.
She added: “The street is where most folk drop the kids off on the school run and I can only imagine if it happened to one of the kids.”
Crows have been known to act aggressively across the area in recent years.
In July 2018, we told how a murder of crows were terrorising residents in a Stirling street. The birds tormented those living in Maurice Avenue, Braehead, by launching early-morning attacks on their cars.
They left residents calling for overgrown trees in the street, where the crows were believed to be nesting, to be lopped in a bid to stop vehicles being targeted.
Car owners had windscreen wiper blades pecked off, windows left covered in scratches and saliva, and rubber seals around windows and wing mirrors disturbed by the winged vandals. Householders trying to get a good night’s sleep said they were regularly woken by the birds squawking loudly as early as 4am.
Motorists resorted to buying large covers to put over their vehicles at night to stop the troublesome birds causing further damage.
Later that same month, residents in another Stirling street said they had also been terrorised by crows. Those living in Lothian Crescent, in Causewayhead, claimed to have come under siege from the birds for the previous four years. Two crows were believed to have been attacking cars, solar panels and skylights in the street. Crows are incredibly territorial during the months of May and June and are known to dive and strike humans when they stray too close to nesting fledglings.
•Have you witnessed similar behaviour from birds. Contact us by emailing Chris. Marzella@ reachplc. com