Rogue rooks causing havoc in Horsham 'like something out of a Hitchcock film'

Teacher Catherine Passmore and her husband Albert have been plagued by the birds in their home near Collyer’s College.

She says the birds have come into their house, stolen food, smashed ornaments and broken a glass door. “Last year, they stole 24 sausages off a neighbour’s barbecue,” said Catherine.

"They are really clever birds. They have a signalling system so that if anyone does anything with food within minutes they are in my garden. It’s like something out of a Hitchcock film.”

She said they have CCTV in their home and on one occasion a rook came into their house through the back door, walked into the kitchen and helped itself to some peanuts.

"It bashed against the window. There was a huge banging and smashing as precious things on my window sill crashed to the floor. So upsetting. “Fortunately my husband had his gardening gloves on. He dashed in and picked up the bird to carry it out. They constantly watch our garden to zoom down if food is left unguarded.”

She said the birds seemed to have increased in numbers over recent years. “You can hear them in the trees at sunset in the fields at Collyer’s.”

Now the couple have to keep the doors and windows of their home shut when the birds are around. “I don’t mind them in the wild or the garden but I don’t like them coming into the house,” said Catherine.

"I think there have been large displacements in our area with the amount of building work especially in the Horsham area, They are moving to areas close to housing.”

Now, said Catherine, she is considering deterrents. “I’m thinking of getting a fake peregrine falcon at the door to stop them coming in.”

Nearby residents have also reported an increase in rooks in the area. One said that the birds frequently ate their dog’s food. “They scare off the dog and eat the food out of her bowl, they are absolutely fearless.”

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The RSPB says that rooks are very sociable birds and people are unlikely to see one on its own. They feed and roost in flocks.

Rooks will eat almost anything including worms, grain, nuts, insects, small mammals, birds and carrion.