🚀 go-pugleaf

I have at least a dozen Crows in my immediate area, but they only seem
to be able to land in my backyard.  The side yard on the south area of
my house is where the Jays come in for nuts and the area is pretty
over grown with high hedges, trees shrubs etc.  There is really no
clear landing path.  The Crows of course know this and Caw constantly
from the tops of the trees or light post at the end of the diveway.
They even swormed over the top of my house as if they'd really love to
dive bomb when I'm filling the feeders.

A number of times we've seen the Crows take off after a Jay with a nut
and a fairly hot persuit results.  The Grackles take peanuts from time
to time, but I've actually seen them take them over to the Grass, hop
on a curb stone and watch the crows come in for it.  As I've said
before, I;m possitive that the grackles are paying the Crows
protection fees...;)

One thing I've learned though, is that once you start this "Lord of
the Nuts" relationship with Blue Jays, that you'd best find a good
supplier, because when you run out, they won't stop bugging you until
you get more...

You can get lots of chestnuts here at the grocery stores in December
and since I've read that Chestnuts is REALLY their favorite food, this
December I plant to spurge for a nice big bag of them, (of course
saving some to roast in the fireplace for myself too...;))

Lynda









On 6 Oct 1999 16:24:45 GMT, elfox2504@my-Deja.com (Richard P. Talley)
wrote:

>There's no accounting for what goes on in their minds.
>
>My scrub jay would pick up each peanut and shake it before deciding
>which one to take. Of course, he came back and got them all so it's
>hard to explain why he would want to take them in any particular order.
>
>All this hiding peanuts business is hard wired into their head. Just
>like a Labrador Retreiver is hard wired to chase balls.
>
>The other day I had a visitor on the back porch and the scrubber kept
>bothering me while I was talking. So I put his jar of peanuts on the
>table so he could quietly carry them off without bugging me for more.
>
>But I forgot about his jar, and next morning I noticed that he had
>carried off about a  pint and a half of peanuts. Enough to feed him for
>weeks.
>
>But the crows come and get them anyway. About four or five crows set up
>a line and go across the yard. They seem to know where to look for the
>scrubber's peanuts. They remind me of a line of GI's policing up
>cigarette butts.
>
>I feed the crows dog biscuits. Usually they carry them away, but last
>week a young crow took one and hid it. Much like a scrubber would, but
>he was more careful to mark the spot.
>
>Scrubbers seldom mark the spot, but they have an algorithm on their
>hiding. They hide in relatinship to other objects.
>
>
>On October 06 1999, Old Hen <gheim@us.ibm.com> wrote:
>> What a great story Linda!  Amazing what you see when you actually
>> -look- isn't it?
>>
>> I don't have any crazy jays around my house but do have a question.
>> What's the blue jay doing when he has three peanuts before him and
>> picks each one up, turns it a little and puts it back down before
>> deciding on one to carry off?
>>
>> Anyone know?
>
>