Hungry 'Hitchcock' Ravens Kill 19 Sheep

Jahnava Nitai Das · February 11, 2003

BERLIN (Reuters) - A flock of hungry ravens killed 19 sheep grazing on snow-covered fields in southern Germany, raising the uneasy feeling that the killer birds of Alfred Hitchcock's famous thriller "The Birds" have come alive.

"There's a lot of snow in the area. The birds are hungry so they attack my sheep," shepherd Juergen Fritz said.

"I have seen the Hitchcock film. But I'm experiencing it 'live'," he said, referring to the 1963 classic, in which aggressive birds tyrannize a village in the United States.

Fritz said he was not able to protect his 500 sheep against attacks all the time. But even when he was with his flock, he was powerless when the ravens attacked.

"The worst thing is that I can't do anything about it. You're not allowed to shoot the ravens because they are protected animals," the 43-year old said.

Dietmar Ernst, a police spokesman in Loerrach, southwestern Germany, said he thought about 50 to 60 ravens living near a rubbish site had carried out the attacks on Fritz's sheep.

"It's a full-blown attack on the sheep. They use their beaks, their feet. They pick out the animals' eyes," he said. He said such attacks were common when a large number of birds gathered in one area where they could not easily find food.

"As soon as one starts the attack, the others all follow," he said. "But they're especially aggressive this year," he said.

Fritz said he had experienced attacks by ravens before in his 30 years as a traveling shepherd, but never had he lost so many animals in the course of a fortnight.

"I'm going to leave this area," he said, adding he had already lost about $2,000 due to the killings.