A Silicon Valley city will use lasers and a boombox to try and scare away crows after other methods failed

The crows are defecating on the streets in the city's downtown shopping and dining area, and the city plans to use lasers to scare them off.

The city is trying to scare the crows by giving employees and restaurants lasers to point at them. The New York Times reported that city staffers will use a boombox to play sounds of crows in distress.
"We tried a lot of things in the past," the Mayor of Sunnyvale told ABC 7 News. We've had falcons. Nothing seems to help after we put reflectors in our trees.

According to a 2016 US Department of Agriculture report, using lasers to drive away birds is an effective tactic.

The Audubon Society's Santa Clara Valley chapter told NBC Bay Area News that it believed the use of lasers could harm the birds' vision.

The city's laser strategy is unknown, as previous attempts to "haze" crows in other cities have required repeating the practice regularly.

In the short term, residents of Sunnyvale are coming up with their own solutions to avoid getting defecated on. One resident told ABC 7 News that they use an umbrella to protect themselves from bird droppings.

Home to the offices of some of Silicon Valley's biggest companies, including Apple, Sunnyvale has a population of 155,000 residents.