Consider them live, professional scare crows.

In its long battle against the 15,000 to 20,000 crows that hang out in its downtown, the City of Rochester has hired anti-crow warriors from the USDA. Crews are working through the night, on the city's dime, to harass the birds out of town with lasers, pyrotechnics and recordings of crow distress calls, according to the Rochester Post-Bulletin.

City officials will analyze the effectiveness of the work after five nights. To see the newspaper's full story, go here.