🚀 go-pugleaf

Cool little story!!   Those crows are DEFINATLY crafty


Richard P. Talley <elfox2504@my-Deja.com> wrote in message
news:09990910095936.OUI24.elfox2504@my-Deja.com...
> I have an enclosed back yard (Torrance, CA) and have been feeding the
> crows dog biscuits. They wait until I go inside. I've tried sitting on
> the back porch to watch them feed, but no way. They can't see me on the
> porch from the telephone lines, so they will take a pass four feet off
> the ground to see if I'm still there. Then a few days ago I was sitting
> on the porch facing the house, back to the yard. I saw in the reflection
> in the window that some crows were fossicking in the yeard for peanuts
> hidden by the scrubber. So I went in, got a handful of dog biscuits and
> put them down. I faced half into the yard. The crows checked me out and
> refused to come down. So I turned my back to the yard and resumed doing
> some paperwork. In a few minutes the crows were down getting the dog
> biscuits. My daughter says it's because the crows don't like my ugly
> face. RPT
>
>

I have had the same experience with crows in my backyard.  Turn my back and
they will land for food but turn around or remain looking their way and no
landing.  Same for ravens,  I watched about thirty on a telephone line for
some time, they were all facing away from me and as soon as I turned my back
and began to drive away (just a foot or two)  they were flying towards the
food on the ground.  I looked their way they were back on the line which was
about a 100 yards away.  In the wild the only Raven I was able to get near
was on in Yellowstone at Artists Point,  withing about 10 feet,  he was
friendly I assume because someone else fed him a lot before.. He remained in
front of me and kept about the ten feet between us whereever I moved.  I was
able to shoot a lot of film on him.

"Richard P. Talley" wrote:

> I have an enclosed back yard (Torrance, CA) and have been feeding the
> crows dog biscuits. They wait until I go inside. I've tried sitting on
> the back porch to watch them feed, but no way. They can't see me on the
> porch from the telephone lines, so they will take a pass four feet off
> the ground to see if I'm still there. Then a few days ago I was sitting
> on the porch facing the house, back to the yard. I saw in the reflection
> in the window that some crows were fossicking in the yeard for peanuts
> hidden by the scrubber. So I went in, got a handful of dog biscuits and
> put them down. I faced half into the yard. The crows checked me out and
> refused to come down. So I turned my back to the yard and resumed doing
> some paperwork. In a few minutes the crows were down getting the dog
> biscuits. My daughter says it's because the crows don't like my ugly
> face. RPT

lynda_mccormick@hotmail.com wrote:

> I've had the same experience here with Crows and Ravens.  We now have about 20
> of them living in an extended family close by.  They're always at the top of my
> pines, on the lamposts or in the yard, however, you can only watch them from
> inside the house.  As soon as you walk outside they fly to the top branches and
> yell at you as if you are invading their territory.  I've tried offering them
> treats like grapes or cherries, however even though they watch me placing the
> food out for them, they are so cautious that they'll wait too long before
> coming down for it.  Usually a squirrel, Starling, Grackle or Blue Jay will get
> to it first and start a war.
>
> I know that nipping their treats starts wars because the same thinghappens
> everytime.  We'll have a day long yelling match that'll have the crows
> screaming at a squirrel, or a bunch of Jays or  Grackles.  All they'd have to
> do is trust a little and they'll get the treats...but NOooooo!....;)
>
> Lynda

Lynda,

I miss "my" crows.  They all disappeared in August.  We learned only recently
that they died as a result of the encephalitis outbreak here in NY City.
Originally, my crows were like yours.  Timid.  They didn't trust any human and
never came into the garden when any human was present.  But, gradually, over the
years, they started getting bolder.  This spring, they finally started to come to
the back deck for peanuts and we could watch them from our seats around the
kitchen table as they sat on the railing gathering the peanuts.  It took so long
to get them to be that tame.  Now we'll have to start all over again! :(

--
John J. Collins
Whitestone, NY
"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we
understand; we will understand only what we are taught."  (Senegalese proverb.)

A little update.  This morning we have noisey crows as per usual.
They are even coming into the west side feeder.  One fellow didn't
look quite right as he foraged under my living room window so I
grabbed my field glasses to check that 'red slash' on his shoulder.
Well I felt foolish.  We had high winds and very heavy rain overnight
and the maple leaves were flying wild.  He simply had a red leaf stuck
to his feathers.

As for the Jays, they're coming in for nuts too, but I think it's the
orphaned pair we've had since they lost their Mom, and one other
couple.  Although there could be more and they're just coming in pairs
not 4 and 5 strong like before.  So far they've gone through most of
the nuts I left out for the squirrels (they started to do that last
week, sneak the nuts from the pile I was leaving the squirrels) and
most of their own nuts in less then 1/2 hour.  I don't think only 4
Blue Jays could go through that many in such a short period of
time..but who knows?   I haven't done my walk around as yet, so much
mud out there this morning..yuck!   It's rubber boot time again...

Lynda








On Thu, 14 Oct 1999 06:07:58 GMT, lynda_mccormick@hotmail.com wrote:

>That's really sad John.  There's a lot of Crows and Jays around here
>and although we've been able to establish a type of relationship with
>the Jays, the crows just stay close enough to watch and be seen.  I
>don't understand why they aren't afraid of cars though.  They've
>always hanging around either in my yard or on the lawns and street in
>front of my house.  A car will turn the corner and the crow will
>calmly walk over to the curb to allow the car to pass, sometimes only
>inches away from it.  But a person walking or even trying to talk
>softly to them?  No way.  They head to a lampost or rooftop and start
>cawing at you relentlessly.
>
>We've had 1 dead crow in the area this summer, but it was a youngster
>only fledged and it drowned in my nieghbors pool.  At least we think
>it must have drowned.  At the time it's parents thought the people
>with the pool were to blame because they sat on the lampost in front
>of their house and raised a riot for days after the baby died.
>
>About 4 Blue Jays mostly youngsters were also found in that same pool
>over the summer.  However, all the other crows and Jays look pretty
>healthy and are still around.  We've been doing walk-arounds dayly to
>make sure there are no dead crows or  Blue Jays around, especially
>since this latest news about the Crows and Jays in your area, we
>aren't that much farther north.   However there's only been 1 case of
>a Crow dropping dead out of a tree reported and unfortunately the lady
>that reported it in the Montreal area called only _after_ she threw
>the body away so tests couldn't be done.
>
>I'm truely sorry for what happened to your Crows, and I've been really
>concerned for mine.  I hope you get a new flock in, but to tell you
>honestly, I've been giving out more peanuts then usual just to keep my
>Jays around this area, I've been nervous about them migrating, but
>since we still have a huge flock coming every morning and it's closing
>in on November, I'm hoping that they really don't migrate in my area.
>
>
>Last winter the summer flock had left by this time and we only had a
>few winter at the feeders, but I had stopped putting nuts out after
>fledging time and they may have just followed the nut path to my
>friend's house about 3 miles from here because he had scores of Blue
>Jays all winter long.  The winters here in Montreal aren't as severe
>as most people think and since we are on an Island and the Jays don't
>like crossing water, they may stay city bound.  Well I guess we'll
>know when the snow comes.  If they stuck around during the Icestorm of
>'98, a little snow can't be much to bear..;)
>
>Lynda
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>On Wed, 13 Oct 1999 23:20:07 -0400, "John J. Collins"
><jjcbird@banet.net> wrote:
>
>>lynda_mccormick@hotmail.com wrote:
>>
>>> I've had the same experience here with Crows and Ravens.  We now have about 20
>>> of them living in an extended family close by.  They're always at the top of my
>>> pines, on the lamposts or in the yard, however, you can only watch them from
>>> inside the house.  As soon as you walk outside they fly to the top branches and
>>> yell at you as if you are invading their territory.  I've tried offering them
>>> treats like grapes or cherries, however even though they watch me placing the
>>> food out for them, they are so cautious that they'll wait too long before
>>> coming down for it.  Usually a squirrel, Starling, Grackle or Blue Jay will get
>>> to it first and start a war.
>>>
>>> I know that nipping their treats starts wars because the same thinghappens
>>> everytime.  We'll have a day long yelling match that'll have the crows
>>> screaming at a squirrel, or a bunch of Jays or  Grackles.  All they'd have to
>>> do is trust a little and they'll get the treats...but NOooooo!....;)
>>>
>>> Lynda
>>
>>Lynda,
>>
>>I miss "my" crows.  They all disappeared in August.  We learned only recently
>>that they died as a result of the encephalitis outbreak here in NY City.
>>Originally, my crows were like yours.  Timid.  They didn't trust any human and
>>never came into the garden when any human was present.  But, gradually, over the
>>years, they started getting bolder.  This spring, they finally started to come to
>>the back deck for peanuts and we could watch them from our seats around the
>>kitchen table as they sat on the railing gathering the peanuts.  It took so long
>>to get them to be that tame.  Now we'll have to start all over again! :(
>>
>>--
>>John J. Collins
>>Whitestone, NY
>>"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we
>>understand; we will understand only what we are taught."  (Senegalese proverb.)
>>
>>
>

You're lucky your crows died of encephalitis.
I wish we'd have an outbreak over here.



John J. Collins wrote:

> lynda_mccormick@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> > I've had the same experience here with Crows and Ravens.  We now have about 20
> > of them living in an extended family close by.  They're always at the top of my
> > pines, on the lamposts or in the yard, however, you can only watch them from
> > inside the house.  As soon as you walk outside they fly to the top branches and
> > yell at you as if you are invading their territory.  I've tried offering them
> > treats like grapes or cherries, however even though they watch me placing the
> > food out for them, they are so cautious that they'll wait too long before
> > coming down for it.  Usually a squirrel, Starling, Grackle or Blue Jay will get
> > to it first and start a war.
> >
> > I know that nipping their treats starts wars because the same thinghappens
> > everytime.  We'll have a day long yelling match that'll have the crows
> > screaming at a squirrel, or a bunch of Jays or  Grackles.  All they'd have to
> > do is trust a little and they'll get the treats...but NOooooo!....;)
> >
> > Lynda
>
> Lynda,
>
> I miss "my" crows.  They all disappeared in August.  We learned only recently
> that they died as a result of the encephalitis outbreak here in NY City.
> Originally, my crows were like yours.  Timid.  They didn't trust any human and
> never came into the garden when any human was present.  But, gradually, over the
> years, they started getting bolder.  This spring, they finally started to come to
> the back deck for peanuts and we could watch them from our seats around the
> kitchen table as they sat on the railing gathering the peanuts.  It took so long
> to get them to be that tame.  Now we'll have to start all over again! :(
>
> --
> John J. Collins
> Whitestone, NY
> "In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we
> understand; we will understand only what we are taught."  (Senegalese proverb.)

I've had the same experience here with Crows and Ravens.  We now have
about 20 of them living in an extended family close by.  They're
always at the top of my pines, on the lamposts or in the yard,
however, you can only watch them from inside the house.  As soon as
you walk outside they fly to the top branches and yell at you as if
you are invading their territory.  I've tried offering them treats
like grapes or cherries, however even though they watch me placing the
food out for them, they are so cautious that they'll wait too long
before coming down for it.  Usually a squirrel, Starling, Grackle or
Blue Jay will get to it first and start a war.

I know that nipping their treats starts wars because the same thing
happens everytime.  We'll have a day long yelling match that'll have
the crows screaming at a squirrel, or a bunch of Jays or Grackles.
All they'd have to do is trust a little and they'll get the
treats...but NOooooo!....;)

Lynda









On Wed, 13 Oct 1999 08:29:25 -0700, James Collins
<greydog@greypaint.com> wrote:

>I have had the same experience with crows in my backyard.  Turn my back and
>they will land for food but turn around or remain looking their way and no
>landing.  Same for ravens,  I watched about thirty on a telephone line for
>some time, they were all facing away from me and as soon as I turned my back
>and began to drive away (just a foot or two)  they were flying towards the
>food on the ground.  I looked their way they were back on the line which was
>about a 100 yards away.  In the wild the only Raven I was able to get near
>was on in Yellowstone at Artists Point,  withing about 10 feet,  he was
>friendly I assume because someone else fed him a lot before.. He remained in
>front of me and kept about the ten feet between us whereever I moved.  I was
>able to shoot a lot of film on him.
>
>"Richard P. Talley" wrote:
>
>> I have an enclosed back yard (Torrance, CA) and have been feeding the
>> crows dog biscuits. They wait until I go inside. I've tried sitting on
>> the back porch to watch them feed, but no way. They can't see me on the
>> porch from the telephone lines, so they will take a pass four feet off
>> the ground to see if I'm still there. Then a few days ago I was sitting
>> on the porch facing the house, back to the yard. I saw in the reflection
>> in the window that some crows were fossicking in the yeard for peanuts
>> hidden by the scrubber. So I went in, got a handful of dog biscuits and
>> put them down. I faced half into the yard. The crows checked me out and
>> refused to come down. So I turned my back to the yard and resumed doing
>> some paperwork. In a few minutes the crows were down getting the dog
>> biscuits. My daughter says it's because the crows don't like my ugly
>> face. RPT
>
>

That's really sad John.  There's a lot of Crows and Jays around here
and although we've been able to establish a type of relationship with
the Jays, the crows just stay close enough to watch and be seen.  I
don't understand why they aren't afraid of cars though.  They've
always hanging around either in my yard or on the lawns and street in
front of my house.  A car will turn the corner and the crow will
calmly walk over to the curb to allow the car to pass, sometimes only
inches away from it.  But a person walking or even trying to talk
softly to them?  No way.  They head to a lampost or rooftop and start
cawing at you relentlessly.

We've had 1 dead crow in the area this summer, but it was a youngster
only fledged and it drowned in my nieghbors pool.  At least we think
it must have drowned.  At the time it's parents thought the people
with the pool were to blame because they sat on the lampost in front
of their house and raised a riot for days after the baby died.

About 4 Blue Jays mostly youngsters were also found in that same pool
over the summer.  However, all the other crows and Jays look pretty
healthy and are still around.  We've been doing walk-arounds dayly to
make sure there are no dead crows or  Blue Jays around, especially
since this latest news about the Crows and Jays in your area, we
aren't that much farther north.   However there's only been 1 case of
a Crow dropping dead out of a tree reported and unfortunately the lady
that reported it in the Montreal area called only _after_ she threw
the body away so tests couldn't be done.

I'm truely sorry for what happened to your Crows, and I've been really
concerned for mine.  I hope you get a new flock in, but to tell you
honestly, I've been giving out more peanuts then usual just to keep my
Jays around this area, I've been nervous about them migrating, but
since we still have a huge flock coming every morning and it's closing
in on November, I'm hoping that they really don't migrate in my area.


Last winter the summer flock had left by this time and we only had a
few winter at the feeders, but I had stopped putting nuts out after
fledging time and they may have just followed the nut path to my
friend's house about 3 miles from here because he had scores of Blue
Jays all winter long.  The winters here in Montreal aren't as severe
as most people think and since we are on an Island and the Jays don't
like crossing water, they may stay city bound.  Well I guess we'll
know when the snow comes.  If they stuck around during the Icestorm of
'98, a little snow can't be much to bear..;)

Lynda







On Wed, 13 Oct 1999 23:20:07 -0400, "John J. Collins"
<jjcbird@banet.net> wrote:

>lynda_mccormick@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>> I've had the same experience here with Crows and Ravens.  We now have about 20
>> of them living in an extended family close by.  They're always at the top of my
>> pines, on the lamposts or in the yard, however, you can only watch them from
>> inside the house.  As soon as you walk outside they fly to the top branches and
>> yell at you as if you are invading their territory.  I've tried offering them
>> treats like grapes or cherries, however even though they watch me placing the
>> food out for them, they are so cautious that they'll wait too long before
>> coming down for it.  Usually a squirrel, Starling, Grackle or Blue Jay will get
>> to it first and start a war.
>>
>> I know that nipping their treats starts wars because the same thinghappens
>> everytime.  We'll have a day long yelling match that'll have the crows
>> screaming at a squirrel, or a bunch of Jays or  Grackles.  All they'd have to
>> do is trust a little and they'll get the treats...but NOooooo!....;)
>>
>> Lynda
>
>Lynda,
>
>I miss "my" crows.  They all disappeared in August.  We learned only recently
>that they died as a result of the encephalitis outbreak here in NY City.
>Originally, my crows were like yours.  Timid.  They didn't trust any human and
>never came into the garden when any human was present.  But, gradually, over the
>years, they started getting bolder.  This spring, they finally started to come to
>the back deck for peanuts and we could watch them from our seats around the
>kitchen table as they sat on the railing gathering the peanuts.  It took so long
>to get them to be that tame.  Now we'll have to start all over again! :(
>
>--
>John J. Collins
>Whitestone, NY
>"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we
>understand; we will understand only what we are taught."  (Senegalese proverb.)
>
>