crows

[crab bait]

i always liked crows.. as a kid ,, there was a neihborhood wild talkin' crow that was once a pet , i reckon.. he used to fly everwhere with us kids,, where ever we went.. perch himself an spew off profanities..ELMER, the crow was good at it...!! <br /><br />its was fine when we where down the 'creek' playin' in the woods.. but it was another thing when we were up the shoppin' center,, an he'd sit on a light pole an 'cuss' out the customers.. <br />altho, it was funny..!! elmer gave us a bad name...<br /><br />his vocabalary was extensive an hangin' round us kids ,, it grew all the time...(hehe)<br /><br />then one day he was gone..someone probably shot his ass..<br /><br />where i live now ,, i have 7 crows around my property ,pretnear constantly.. i've masterd 3 good crow calls over the years.. an 'the 7 theives' are practicaly my pets..<br /><br />crows are smart .. an i mean REAL smart.. <br />an they never cease to amaze me... !!!<br /><br />on the evening news,, they had a snippet about a crow.. they put a cunk of meat into a tiny little dolls basket an put the basket inside a glass tube.. close by they layed a piece of stra8 wire .. say,, 20 gauge galv. wire ... the crow picked up the wire an tried but failed to get the meat.. so the crow ,, still with wire between his beak,, rammed the wire into a corner repetely.. an bent the wire into a hook.. then hooked the basket an retreived the basket an ate the reward..<br /><br />blew me away..!!

 

[62_Kiwi]

Re: crows

LOL - amazing birds! <br /><br />Crab, I haven't had much exposure to crows but your story reminds me of a talking magpie my cousin had as a pet (we get plenty of those in the wild down here). This magpie could talk and talk and talk all sorts of things...not to mention whistle the tunes he heard from the radio...but ONLY when HE felt like it. Most of the time he'd just sit and stare you out.<br /><br />He was mean...the meanest old bird I've ever seen and smart too. The funniest (and scariest) thing was...this bird held a serious grudge!...for a long time too! <br /><br />Most of the time he was kept in a big wire-netting cage that my cousin made. Various people would often poke things through the wire at him to try and make him whistle a tune or talk....big mistake! At the time he would not appear to be too dangerous in his defence...but he would never oblige...just arch his back up, puff out his feathers and wave his beak and screach at you.<br /><br />The problem was...when my cousin would let him out for his daily fly-around..(he would always come back)...HE WOULD REMEMBER who had been prodding and pestering him (even days later) and ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK! (Sharp beaks and claws those birds have... )<br /><br />We had a couple of "maggies" (as we call them) living in the park behind our house a few years ago. The trouble was they got too protective of the whole park (during breeding season) and would vicously attack anyone who entered the area. Unfortunately the council had to come out and shoot them... <br /><br />Another very intelligent, entertaining and yet dangerous bird is the Kea...that's a native of NZ...and can take a car apart while you're not looking...

 

[DJ]

Re: crows

Crab Bait,<br /><br />You're right, they are smart.<br /><br />They will learn local traffic (road) patterns. That's why you rarely see one hit by a vehicle.<br /><br />I hit one once. I was whistling through South Dakota in a T-Bird Super Coupe doing 120 plus. I know-stupid, but I was younger and more stupid. I crested a small hill and surprised three of them dining on spilled grain. One of them took my drivers side mirror off.<br /><br />I felt bad. Probably the last thing they saw on that road was very large, green and was diesel powered (John Deere).

 

[Scoop]

Re: crows

Crabbait, I saw that thing too. It used to be the manufacture of tools was the anthropological argument for separating humans from animals. What I saw in that film was an animal make a tool in a very thoughtful and automatic nature. From what I understood was that the crow actually did it on its own the first time. If that is true, then it shows a higher level of thinking that just repetition and practice. <br /><br />Also, what does it say about brain size?

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: crows

all the farmers round here shoot crows on sight.<br />they kill the babies for all the beneficial birds<br />they say...

 

[ehenry]

Re: crows

We have pecan orchards on our property that the crows will devestate. They love pecans. If you want to shoot them you have to get in full camo and you can't move at all. They are as tuff to hunt as a turkey!! They are sharp as tacks. When you try to call them in they will send a scout in....if you don't kill the scout he will go back and tell his buddies and you won't see another one all day. We have set up propane cannons and they get use to the noise and know that it won't hurt them so they won't even flinch when one goes off. Deer are the same way...they'll get use to it.

 

[jhreed]

Re: crows

I worked on a farm as a boy and when I would go out to the fields to shoot the groundhogs that started making holes in the pastures, I would put the 22 rifle in the space next to the wheel well-fender of the Ford 8N. If I had the gun there as I drove into the fields, NO crows... if I didn't have the gun, field would be full of crows. I tried this experiment a dozen times and always with the same results. They are very clever birds with superb eyesight..

 

[SCO]

Re: crows

People also raise European Starlings, an introduced pest species here in the USA. They have a great mimic capacity. There are web sites devoted to these. In fact I noticed one taking up residence in my purple martin house yesterday, and might capture a squab. Was listening to an audio book while driving on xmas vacation, Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, and in this story set in 1750 I think, a character in Scotland had a Starling as a talking pet.

 

[plywoody]

Re: crows

I remember as a kid growing up on Whidbey Island in Washington State making my living bounty hunting crows. The farmers loved the notion I would help them kill crows, and they would be in the trees. You could pick off a couple of them before they all took off, and then hide and they would send a scout back--I found out there was never a way to avoid that scout seeing you, but it would fly slowly over the top of you, and once in awhile you could knock it out of mid air with a .22. If you did, they'd send another scout!<br /><br />But at $0.25 a crow, not to mention $2.00 for a fox (harder to find) and $10.00 for a seal, a kid could keep himself in .22 shells and fireworks all summer.<br /><br />Now there's the life!!!<br /><br />The rules have changed these days, and no more bounties, and with the marine mammal protection act, the local authorities even frown on killing a seal

 

[crab bait]

Re: crows

them seals been known to 'do-a-job' on farmer's crop.. gotta kill 'em before they kill you..