Friday, July 10, 2009
Science The Reason...
Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 7:31 PM
...why I hate crows:
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2
Charles I have known you are my exact opposite ever since you posted that entry ripping on Full Metal Jacket.
This video is why I love crows.
This video is why I love crows.
3
Crows are good! They keep the pigeons away and tear a fast food bag and contents to shreds when some litterbug throws it out their car window.
4
Do you also hate the Woodpecker Finch, the most interesting of Darwin's Galapagos finches? Much of its little bird life is devoted to finding and using tools to access food.
5
I love crows and ravens and magpies; such wonderful, misunderstood creatures. And they are absolutely beautiful too.
6
If I don't find a job soon, I'm going to start training attack crows and then sell them to celebrities to keep the paps away.
7
In addition to using tools, crows can recognize and remember a threatening human face.
You might wish to disguise your antipathy by adopting a friendly stance, perhaps greeting a crow with a jaunty "hello, Crow!" as I do.
You have been warned.
You might wish to disguise your antipathy by adopting a friendly stance, perhaps greeting a crow with a jaunty "hello, Crow!" as I do.
You have been warned.
8
It's true; I've read Marzluff's book. Crows scare the crap out of me. Their population has been expanding along with suburbanization, at the expense of pigeons and ravens and whatever. The future we're building is the perfect crow habitat.
I don't think hating them is safe. They'll get you. Instead, fear them, and perhaps worship them as our early ancestors did.
I don't think hating them is safe. They'll get you. Instead, fear them, and perhaps worship them as our early ancestors did.
11
Is it that you hate crows because they show some basic intelligence that makes you feel threatened and less special as a human?
Or did they just terrorize you as a small child by dropping rocks on you from great heights?
Or did they just terrorize you as a small child by dropping rocks on you from great heights?
14
Charles, don't forget that crows can be trained to clean up cities and/or gather money.
http://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_klein_on…
http://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_klein_on…
15
Just someone please keep them away from the dolphins or we are screwed. If things get bad we could make some deal, where humans keep the earth, dolphins get the sea and crows get the sky.
17
Crow, whiskey sour. I said whiskey sour, crow! Wait, where is my manservant? Why are you locking the door? Put that down, crow. I said put down that knife! Crow! CROOOOOW!!!
19
Okay, lemme guess... you hate crows 'cuz most black people would give up before they could figure out the same problem, and blame their failure on the white man? Or is this some race-baiting post, to see who would make the first racist comment? Well, here you go, Chuckles. One, and two.
20
Riding my bike to work one early morning, I came across a strange scene: a crow, lying dead on its back in the middle of the road. Three or four other crows, perched at various places around their dead comrade, cawing and hopping from foot to foot. One other crow, slowly dragging the corpse from the road.
What do you think: were the crows mourning their dead friend and trying to pull its dead body to a more respectful place, or were they simply interested in cannibalism?
Unfortunately, I was not able to determine the truth because the next day, the dead crow was crushed flat into the pavement.
What do you think: were the crows mourning their dead friend and trying to pull its dead body to a more respectful place, or were they simply interested in cannibalism?
Unfortunately, I was not able to determine the truth because the next day, the dead crow was crushed flat into the pavement.
21
Wow. Odd coincidence to come home to this post. I was in lower Queen Anne tonight and right in front of me a crow dropped like a stone out of a tree onto its back. As we stood there unsure of what was going on, it flapped a little, wriggled a little, was moving for a few minutes, then (apparently) was dead.
I mean, I guess birds and city wildlife die pretty consistently. But wham! right there in front of me. Crow flu!
I mean, I guess birds and city wildlife die pretty consistently. But wham! right there in front of me. Crow flu!
23
In the woods high above Aurora Ave on east Queen Anne, I've seen crows gather en masse, by the thousands ...it is an impressive & quite spooky sight - and sound.
I always wonder what they are doing. Could they be plotting our downfall?
I always wonder what they are doing. Could they be plotting our downfall?
26
I feed the birds on a regular basis. Crows don't chase away the pigeons. They follow them to see what they're eating. I have seen crows chasing hawks and eagles. Birds are really such beautiful creatures. They are stuck in an environment that people created in just the last few thousand years and have adapted remarkably well. One day I was feeding the birds and a murder of crows appeared. They sat around me on the power lines while a couple of them seemed to be helping an injured crow towards me. He was badly hurt and in pain, but they watched as I tried to give him some bread.
In the end he was too afraid of me and just managed to make it onto a nearby roof. If you watched birds as closely as I have you would have a great deal more respect for them. Google the word Gansus and learn more about the astounding history of these most amazing animals.
In the end he was too afraid of me and just managed to make it onto a nearby roof. If you watched birds as closely as I have you would have a great deal more respect for them. Google the word Gansus and learn more about the astounding history of these most amazing animals.
29
hey peeps who are seeing crows drop dead - might want to report it to the CDC or USFW or something. that might be a sign that West Nile Virus is hitting hard. poor crows.
30
20 - wow that is cool. Scrub jays do the same thing. They gather round a dead jay and mob it and make a big ruckus. It isn't for cannibalism though. There is a grad student at UC Davis who is trying to figure out what it is for.
I wonder if this mobbing-the-dead behavior is documented in crows.
I wonder if this mobbing-the-dead behavior is documented in crows.
33
@20. Yes, Marzluff's book says crows stage funerals. And executions. But maybe he's a nutter. He teaches at the UW, ok?
34
@ 15, word up! "If things get bad we could make some deal, where humans keep the earth, dolphins get the sea and crows get the sky."
35
There's a reason a grouping of crows is called a "murder"...
My office looks out on the Mercer Slough, and last spring I watched a crow hop over to a baby bunny that was peacefully munching grass in the shadows, then PECK its little head hard enough to crush its skull, just like that. The momma bunny was only a few feet away and she went nuts, but the crow took no heed and just started tearing open the little rabbit to feast on its still-warm entrails...
My office looks out on the Mercer Slough, and last spring I watched a crow hop over to a baby bunny that was peacefully munching grass in the shadows, then PECK its little head hard enough to crush its skull, just like that. The momma bunny was only a few feet away and she went nuts, but the crow took no heed and just started tearing open the little rabbit to feast on its still-warm entrails...
37
@20 - Crow funeral. Many corvids do this, where they gather around a dead one and even do stuff do it. Magpies especially.
39
I'm with you here, Charles. Crows, those smart bastards, scare the crap out of me. Once when I was a kid I threw a rock at a crow and they've never forgotten it.
40
@26 - It's fun to interact with birds/wildlife, but you're doing them a much bigger favor if you refrain from feeding birds (or wild animals of any kind) and just observe, sketch or journal about them instead. The reasons for not doing so are numerous (and seemingly boring, but stay with me), but topping the list would be that feeding birds creates a dependence on both humans and the food source, making the bird/animal lose its own abilities to hunt/gather and to develop aggressive, demanding behavior toward humans. Feeding birds also gives them no incentive to continue their natural migratory patterns (hello, thousands of annoying, aggressive, shitting geese) and can mess up their reproductive and digestive systems forevermore. :)
41
@40 Thanks for the advice. I feed them little and in measured amounts so as to not overfeed. Like I stated, they are not in their natural environment so many of them are close to starving. I also see the birds I feed going about their normal routines of picking and feeding all around the area, so I know they are not just sitting waiting for the next meal. And beside that I have been doing it for many years and the bird population around here is healthy.
42
@35, "The societies which it destroys are its food. This food is destroyed by dissolving it into somewhat simpler social elements. It has been robbed of something. Thus all societies require an interplay with their environment, and in the case of living societies this interplay takes the form of robbery..." Whitehead, Process and Reality.
43
@40, crows are not "wildlife". They are city residents. They're not migratory, and they are flying garbage disposals; they can and do eat ANYTHING, from french fries to rotting roadkill. The only thing feeding crows does is encourage them to hang around. I like having them around. When the bald eagle at Green Lake robs their nests, and they chase the bastard around by the dozen, I'm rooting for the crow.
44
Because of your monkey brains and opposable thumbs you silly homo sapiens believe you're at the top of the evolutionary ladder. Little do you know what plans we other species have in store for you. Your extinction will commence with avian arial assault!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JupbvUq5O…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JupbvUq5O…
46
onion @ 38, it was the first time I'd seen a crow kill something to eat it; I guess I thought they were only scavengers
47
Last summer I was biking on the BG trail and came across a wounded crow who was about to get crushed by bike tires.
Amazingly, he let me scoop him up and hold him in my elbow joint, as I kept riding until we got to the vet in Lake Forest Park.
It was hilarious because the wind was in his feathers as I rode, and of course I was talking to him (in obnoxious baby voice) the whole way."It'll be okay mr. crow...we'll get you all fixed up..."and so on.
I was stunned that the bitch at the front desk of the vet's office was like "ewww..I'm not touching it...I don't want bird flu."
I told her to consider a new line of work.And, called her a c*&t. Thankfully the vet took him to a birdie sanctuary and he lived:)
I, being crazy, went to visit him and SWEAR I could pick him out of a line up...or not. I love Mr. Crow.
Amazingly, he let me scoop him up and hold him in my elbow joint, as I kept riding until we got to the vet in Lake Forest Park.
It was hilarious because the wind was in his feathers as I rode, and of course I was talking to him (in obnoxious baby voice) the whole way."It'll be okay mr. crow...we'll get you all fixed up..."and so on.
I was stunned that the bitch at the front desk of the vet's office was like "ewww..I'm not touching it...I don't want bird flu."
I told her to consider a new line of work.And, called her a c*&t. Thankfully the vet took him to a birdie sanctuary and he lived:)
I, being crazy, went to visit him and SWEAR I could pick him out of a line up...or not. I love Mr. Crow.
50
Cunt is a special word I reserve for special people...and if there's a heaven, I'm pretty sure I'm not invited:)
51
I raised a baby crow when I was a teen. Ming was one of the best non-human family members I ever had. Unfortunately the wild crows in the neighborhood didn't like Ming, and ended up dive bombing him/her. Ming was a happy, smart, loving creature. We failed him/her though. As humans, my family could not properly teach Ming how to fly, and where not to fly. We found him beneath the power lines. It sucked, and I cried.
52
@51, as much as i hate crows and their craftiness, your story broke my heart. good crows die young.
55
I like the way crows look. They are beautiful birds in their way. I could do without the loud cawing at 5 AM, though.
56
I've seen crows drop nuts from power lines onto Greenwood Ave and wait for traffic to roll over and crush them and then fly down and scoop up the goodies. Devious bastards.
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