A single crow terrifies an entire settlement in Kapfenberg in Upper Styria: The bird keeps attacking the residents on the head, and there are reports of more than a dozen people affected. The residents accuse the authorities of serious negligence. But now things are moving…
Walter Weberhofer only goes to the compost heap in his garden with his ski helmet on. “The crow has attacked me four or five times. I also told my wife that she is no longer allowed to hang up the laundry without a broom.” The shock of the most recent attack on March 30 – he knows the exact date – is particularly deep for the 80-year-old: “It was a serious injury , the wound bled profusely.” With a Beserl in his hand, which he keeps circling over his head, Peter Ebner steps in front of his front door in the Josefsiedlung in Kapfenberg on the Ramsau high plateau: “Passengers will think, Ebner has a pecker, but I don’t care,” laughs the 72-year-old. “Postmen no longer dare to come here.” More and more of those affected come out of their houses to describe their horrific experiences: “I was just standing under my rose arch when the crow attacked me from behind and sat on my head,” Waltraud Russ is also part of the crazy story. “Our postal workers haven’t dared to come here for a long time, they just don’t come because of an advertisement.” Those affected not only fear, but also the feeling of not being taken seriously: “What else has to happen so that something can finally be done ?“, they report of a „running the gauntlet“ with all authorities. Crows strictly protected and intelligent Erwin Fuchs could now leave the field as a hero. The head of the Kapfenberg Sports Association (KSV), who lives nearby himself, has taken on the matter: “Of course I can’t and don’t want to shoot the bird, but the residents have to be helped – and quickly,” he says in his function as deputy mayor, all levers are in motion.Homemade problem: the animal was fedAnd indeed a solution seems within reach: “The animal was fed by a resident, which is why it was stamped incorrectly,” explains Wolfgang Klösch (District Authority Leoben). Since there was a “risk to human health”, the country’s department 13, as the highest species protection authority, has now given the green light for capturing the protected bird. How quickly this can succeed, however, is in the stars: “Crows are extremely intelligent. In addition, it is the closed season right now, nothing will happen before mid-June,” Maria Feldgrill, head of the Weitental Nature Conservation Center in Bruck, where the bird is to be taken, dispels the hope that the helmet season will end soon.
source site-12