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CHS Pics | A crow in Portage Bay

The crows in Lake View Cemetery may very well be hungry. If so, they picked a densely populated place to wait for a meal. Or maybe it’s just the shakeout from the lawsuit swirling between neighbors in Portage Bay over an alleged “large-scale systematic crow and pigeon feeding operation” in the neighborhood to the north of Capitol Hill.

CHS visited the neighborhood recently in search of a massive murder of crows, a flock of seagulls, or a disgusting pile of pigeons. We only found a few noble individuals — and some signs of larger gatherings.

Way back in February, “the girl who gets gifts from birds” was a worldwide sensation. But it turned out that, locally, neighbors weren’t as excited about the Portage Bay family who had befriended all those crows.

In a King County civil case filed in August, Matt Ashbach and Christine Yokan sued E Shelby neighbors Lisa and Gary Mann over a litany of avian transgressions:

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Apparently, birds are pretty messy. We blame the pigeons.

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We also blame the rats.

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Apparently, birds are also noisy:

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According to the lawsuit, neighbors took action. But nothing — not even an air gun — stopped the feeding frenzy.

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According to the plaintiffs, in the wake of the petition, the Manns “escalated” the situation by moving the “feeding operation” to the backyard. “Defendants constructed additional elevated feeding stations also by attaching large trays or troughs to trees and poles on their property,” the lawsuit reads. The neighbors claim the Manns “constructed additional elevated feeding stations also by attaching large trays or troughs to trees and poles on their property” and filled the troughs as many as six times a day, even hiring employees “to allow more voluminous feedings to take place.”

The suit further alleges that crows and birds are disease-ridden vermin.

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And they also have nasty bathroom habits:

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The plaintiffs were seeking an injunction limiting the family to “no more than a quarter pound of food per day to local wildlife,” $200,000 in damages, attorney’s fees, and “further relief as may be just and warranted.”

There has been no update in the case since it was filed August 10th and we don’t know what if any Portage Bay feedings continue.

As for those crows in Lake View, maybe they are just on the move before winter comes.

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Hipster Daddy
Hipster Daddy
8 years ago

This is such an entitled story, and so Seattle. Overly indulgent parents, who don’t care about their neighbors, letting their kid’s dumb hobby get out of control.

You like birds? fine. Go to a bird sanctuary. Or move out to some rural place where nobody has to deal with your bad parenting and anti-social tendencies.

southseattleguy
southseattleguy
8 years ago

I agree that if you love birds so much go look at them.

Feeding the birds and squirrels in the city CREATES the problem with their over population. I don’t understand why people are too stupid to see that. They reproduce because there’s more than adequate food supply available.

the stories I’ve read about this lawsuit makes it look to me like it’s the war of the clueless and entitled people. On one hand you have the clueless people who feel they’re entitled to allow their child to do as she pleases no matter the harm it causes those around them. On the other hand, you have somebody who believes they’re entitled to live without the perceived nuisance of having to occasionally clean their car or sidewalk.

I’ll be interested to see how the dust from their lawsuit settles

citycat
citycat
8 years ago

Wow! It is fascinating that many people just don’t have any awareness that there are other people right around them. This family almost makes my obnoxious neighbors look good. I cannot believe that they haven’t noticed the bird feces coating everything and the rats. It is really disgusting.

Hipster Daddy, you are absolutely right. Although this is an extreme example, this type of entitled behavior is becoming so common in Seattle.

BirdsSuck
BirdsSuck
8 years ago
Reply to  citycat

“…this type of entitled behavior is becoming so common in Seattle.”

Get your head out of your ass. You have no idea if this is true or not. You just have a gut feeling and it’s bullshit. There is nothing “Seattle” about what these bird freaks are doing.