There are many sources of rural noise. (3) Mechanised grain driers, usually switched on for three weeks in September, can produce a maddening low-frequency hum. Mike Roberts, chief environmental health officer at Vale of White Horse, said noise often sounded worse in the countryside than in cities. With less background sound, unwelcome noises can seem louder and travel further.
The oddest complaints, however, are the ones council officials can do nothing about. Vale of White Horse officials have been asked to silence not only nesting rooks. Pigeons and pheasants (雉鸡) have also caused concern, In Kent, council officials have been asked to silence baby lambs. (4) Another insisted he could hear an alien spaceship landing over the garden fence.
"We get regular complaints. They usually come from retired people who have just moved into the country. We send them a polite letter."
And the lady who complained about the rooks? She was politely told she would have to put up with it. " (5)" said Mr Roberts. "In the end, she accepted there was nothing much she could do - except move out." It is not recorded who won, the lady or the rooks.