171–180 of 242 posts
This may sound weird, but in the country (rural Virginia) we already kind of knew this. If you had a farm and crows get in your crops, the solution was to shoot a crow and leave it. The rest of the crows would stay and circle, but they would leave the crops alone. * Not advocating violence against animals. Just sharing that tidbit.
A VERY timely article for me. About a month ago here in Silicon Valley, I noticed that a crow had been violently torn apart and the pieces scattered all over my backyard lawn. I assume the killer was a raccoon--another improbably intelligent animal. How those fat, little ninjas do what they do is beyond me, but one had apparently caught a crow. A few hours after I noticed the carnage, I grabbed a paper grocery bag an…
A VERY timely article for me. About a month ago here in Silicon Valley, I noticed that a crow had been violently torn apart and the pieces scattered all over my backyard lawn. I assume the killer was a raccoon--another improbably intelligent animal. How those fat, little ninjas do what they do is beyond me, but one had apparently caught a crow. A few hours after I noticed the carnage, I grabbed a paper grocery bag an…
[They stayed up there and screeched the whole time I was cleaning up (maybe ten minutes).] I probably would have went inside and left the remains to nature. I commend your bravery. It seems like a squad of crows could do some real damage to a person. Also, I can confirm that raccoons are very intelligent. They're basically like dogs but with more "street smarts". I learned this after trying to get one to leave my att…
Sorry but you've lost the plot on this one. Seen way to many movies.
Single birds might become territorial when they have young and you might lose a eye. But thats it.
I'd watch less TV/'current affairs'/crows are smart stories if I was you.
Alcohol, tobacco and mental issues.... now those are scarry killers.
So here's a story for the books. I live in Sri Lanka and we have massive numbers of crows always flying around in the urban areas causing quite the racket too. They are exceptionally intelligent and have been witnessed hitching bus rides regularly from one town to another. But the story I have happened at a school water polo match. The location the match was being played at had a standard pool and a shallow junior po…
Although there was no way to tell visually if the rifle was capable of firing or not, the crows would immediately disperse on days when it was, and would ignore the man on days when it wasn't.
The assumption was that they based their reaction on unconscious body language, which seems rational enough.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
[They stayed up there and screeched the whole time I was cleaning up (maybe ten minutes).] I probably would have went inside and left the remains to nature. I commend your bravery. It seems like a squad of crows could do some real damage to a person. Also, I can confirm that raccoons are very intelligent. They're basically like dogs but with more "street smarts". I learned this after trying to get one to leave my att…
- It seems like a squad of crows could do some real damage to a person Sorry but you've lost the plot on this one. Seen way to many movies. Single birds might become territorial when they have young and you might lose a eye. But thats it. I'd watch less TV/'current affairs'/crows are smart stories if I was you. Alcohol, tobacco and mental issues.... now those are scarry killers.
A VERY timely article for me. About a month ago here in Silicon Valley, I noticed that a crow had been violently torn apart and the pieces scattered all over my backyard lawn. I assume the killer was a raccoon--another improbably intelligent animal. How those fat, little ninjas do what they do is beyond me, but one had apparently caught a crow. A few hours after I noticed the carnage, I grabbed a paper grocery bag an…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You realize you're not supposed to toss around garbage in the national park?
Here's a different perspective, which I will admit in advance is kind of ridiculous, but it makes me think... Why are humans not considered to be a part of nature? I think it’s because we consider ourselves to be more intelligent than other animals/organisms and therefore assume it to be our responsibility to actively protect nature. However, this is based on our own moral standards, which were created by us, likely…
I also ensure that I do not crush all of the seeds with my teeth, thus honoring "the deal" between fruit-bearing plants and animals (even though sewage treatment plants may be involved after the fact).
I draw the line at plums, though. Those are pretty much the largest fruit seeds that I will swallow whole. Peaches, you're out of luck.
But when you put toilets and sewers in the equation, tossing the seed-bearing portion of a fruit to another animal is probably the most natural thing you can do. The animal receiving the food has no cause to object. The plant that bore the fruit has no cause to object (unless it is seedless). And the only reason a human might object is if it somehow upsets the environmental equilibrium, such as if 10000 humans are all throwing their uneaten apple cores in the same place.
...like tourists at a national park.
When you're in a "natural" area that somehow gets a lot of human activity anyway, you're actually better off burning your garbage, and either packing out the ash if local soil is basic, or spreading it and peeing on it if the local soil is acidic.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My city has a big flock of them that migrate to another city. Some USDA guys chase them around in a pickup truck when the group gets big and chases them away with strobe lights, lasers, distressed crow sound effects and bottle rockets. When they show up and start settings up, the crows swarm them and poop everywhere. It's pretty crazy.
The USDA deterrent must be crazy to watch. Lasers pointed at crows? Fireworks? I suppose it would be effective, but it sounds wild (and perhaps cruel in the case of fireworks--they're not shooting them at the animals, are they?)
What happens in the fall and winter is that they roost in mass in large trees in large numbers -- I'm talking tens of thousands of birds.
We tend to get them in our trees in the morning for some reason, and they aren't as active, so it isn't that big of a deal. But a few blocks away they land in the evening and make a lot of noise -- it's almost like car horns.
With the fireworks, they don't aim at them, but almost set them up in a "box" to agitate them. I think the objective is to get them broken up into smaller groups and move off to a less populated area. The freaky thing is the distressed crow noises coming from a PA in the back of the truck.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
[They stayed up there and screeched the whole time I was cleaning up (maybe ten minutes).] I probably would have went inside and left the remains to nature. I commend your bravery. It seems like a squad of crows could do some real damage to a person. Also, I can confirm that raccoons are very intelligent. They're basically like dogs but with more "street smarts". I learned this after trying to get one to leave my att…
- It seems like a squad of crows could do some real damage to a person Sorry but you've lost the plot on this one. Seen way to many movies. Single birds might become territorial when they have young and you might lose a eye. But thats it. I'd watch less TV/'current affairs'/crows are smart stories if I was you. Alcohol, tobacco and mental issues.... now those are scarry killers.