Did You Know Oklahomans Used Bombs Against Crows?

When I saw this video, I wasn't sure whether to laugh, jam, or start on my own little research journey to see how accurate it was. Internet artists Jordan Keyes and Alex Engelberg wrote a very special song about, well, crows.

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A post shared by Jordan Keyes (@itskeyes)

Did Oklahoma Really Have A Crow Problem?

The song starts off singing about a 'crow raid' that happened in Oklahoma, documented by the New York Times, saying:

"Oklahomans used to try to fight crows

With Dynamite they'd

Blow em up by the millions"

Even though it sounds a little outlandish, this article from 1937 really does exist, describing how desperate Oklahoma farmers were to keep crows off of their crops. The murder, or group, of crows was described as "one of the largest in the country" at the time.

According to the New York Times, "game wardens, who have blasted as many as 50,000 crows from their roost at a single crack, reported their supply of bombs was nearly exhausted."

Did Dynamite Fix The Crow Problem?

How did blowing the crows up work? Well, if you listen to the song, the artists did the research for us, saying:

"But even after all those bombs deployed

The amount of crops destroyed were

Unchanged by the killins'"

The song takes a turn and really takes you into the mind of a crow, or at least what we think it would be. They make a few really good points:

• Crows really do have an IQ of primates
• Of all of the birds to hold a grudge against you, the last one you'd want it to be is a crow
• Crows and fire are already a dangerous combination - thank goodness they can't start a fire on their own

Do We Still Use Bombs On Crows?

Nowadays, crows are still considered a nuisance in Oklahoma since they still destroy crops on farm land, but I don't think anyone is still using bombs to blow them to smitherines.

Instead, there are hunting seasons to combat the populations. Crow hunting season starts in October this year, specifically Oct 10, 2024 - Nov 16, 2024 and Dec 9, 2024 - Mar 4, 2025. For more details on hunting crow, check out Oklahoma's Department of Wildlife Conservation website. 

A word of advice for hunting crow: don't miss.

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