CNJ assistant editor Anna Lamche comes face to face with the Gospel Oak crow

A STREAM of women have told how they have been dive-bombed by a crow in Gospel Oak, leaving them with scabs, scratches and headaches.

The New Journal’s report last week about a carrion crow mistakenly believing that people with long hair could be a threat to the young in its nest led to a huge response from people all saying the same thing – that they too had been swooped upon.

Sure enough, when CNJ assistant editor Anna Lamche walked along Mansfield Road yesterday (Wednesday) the crow appeared within seconds and whacked her head.

The Hitchcockian nightmare has pushed some people to avoid the area entirely.

Laura Conway, who lives near Courthope Road, said she was left with scabs on her head and a “terrific headache” which required ice after being hit twice last month. Ms Conway said: “I was in absolute shock and I actually got a bit scared. I had a bag and I thought ‘if you come near me again I’m gonna whack you’.”

She added: “I was almost running up the road – and then when I got home, I looked across the road and it was on the house on the roof opposite and the little baby was next to the mummy bird so I realised, it’s protecting its young.”

She described the impact as though somebody was “punching” her in the head and said she would avoid walking that way until the baby bird flies the nest. Experts have already said the attacks will soon stop when the young fledge.

West Hampstead resident Eish Patel said she cannot avoid walking down the crow’s stomping ground as she commutes to her job as a nurse via Mansfield Road every day.

Eish Patel just before the crow hits her head

She was struck so many times – she estimates around 10 – that she donned sunglasses and tucked her hair into her jacket in an attempt to disguise herself.

And it’s true that the highly intelligent corvid family, which includes crows, can remember faces. A study conducted by the University of Washington found that crows recalled human faces that are associated with stressful situations for up to five years.

Ms Patel said: “It’s got to the point where it’s so funny that I’m being bullied by a crow but also I’m genuinely scared and paranoid going down that road twice a day.”

Humaira Khan, who lives on a ladder road off Mansfield Road, said she was attacked three times by the bird on different days.

One time it broke her skin and she went to her GP to check if she needed a tetanus jab “just in case”.

SEE ALSO ‘IT’S. HAPPENING 20 TIMES A DAY’ – CROW ATTACKS PEOPLE WITH LONG HAIR

Ms Khan said: “Now I’m laughing about it but I wasn’t at the time because it came out of nowhere. I thought someone threw something from a house. “There were scratches and it was bleeding on my scalp because I think it came twice on the same side.

“The first weekend I didn’t go out at all. My family that Friday night went out for dinner and I said I’m not going out to be attacked by crows.”

She added she and her daughters all avoid Mansfield Road and walk the long way around. Jenny Simmonds, who lives nearby, said she too was hit. “My first thought was that I was being mugged as I heard a squeak when it happened,” she said.

“I turned around and all I could see was this crow looking at me. It’s quite bemusing when you see a bird has attacked you. Luckily I’m not that scared of birds.”