NORWICH – Early-rising downtown residents may have noticed a surprising silence blanketing the city in the past two days, and the community as a whole has something to look forward to besides the warming temperatures – the season of the crow has ended.

“It’s awfully strange,” commented Garf’s Deli employee Denise LaFever, who regularly opens the downtown business in the early morning. “It’s really eerie to not see them out there anymore. I guess I’d just gotten used to them.”

Mayor Joe Maiurano said that it’s not unusual for the growing crow population to migrate elsewhere in late March, but warned that the fowl infestation will most likely return in the fall, as it has for years.

“This is a problem that we’ve all been aware of, and the crow population does seem to be growing every year,” said Maiurano. “It’s a problem that has been extremely difficult to solve, but we are preparing a new plan of attack for their return.”

The mayor reported that the city has contacted Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) for help in combating the yearly influx of the highly intelligent bird, and CCE Horticulture and Natural Resources Educator Becky Hargrave said that she is “already working on it.”