First read this as "how to befriend cows". So, inevitably surprised on visiting the site!
Oh man, cows are awesome. They're smart, lovable, and even playful. And when they reach a certain age, they're even edible. What's not to love?
How to Befriend Crows
31–40 of 229 posts
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#32Just from my experience as a cyclist in Amsterdam, crows are amazingly intelligent. They actually participate in traffic, and know the difference between bicycles, motor vehicles and light rail (they will get out of the way just-in-time for the first two, and happily ignore the latter if they're outside the profile of the train set).
Pigeons, on the other hand, are the species that gave birth to the term 'bird brain'. They will happily sit in front of oncoming traffic forever, then take evasive action that is, like, the opposite of the optimal strategy...
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#33First read this as "how to befriend cows". So, inevitably surprised on visiting the site!
Oh man, cows are awesome. They're smart, lovable, and even playful. And when they reach a certain age, they're even edible . What's not to love?
For milk cattle, depending upon gender, that age may be sooner rather than later. cf milanesa/schnitzel/chicken fried steak.
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#34Re: How to Befriend Crows
#35First read this as "how to befriend cows". So, inevitably surprised on visiting the site!
Oh man, cows are awesome. They're smart, lovable, and even playful. And when they reach a certain age, they're even edible . What's not to love?
I was under the impression that, like chicken, cows became less edible as time passed?
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#36Steller Jays are also approachable. I'm a camp host. One started aggressively seeking food from campers. I took a close look at it and saw the one of the recent forest fires had damaged its feathers. It was desperate for food. I respected that bird. It did what it had to do to survive. I started feeding it. Next year when I returned to the campground, it showed up within an hour calling for food, and its feathers had been replaced.
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#37First read this as "how to befriend cows". So, inevitably surprised on visiting the site!
ME TOO!!
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#38Two crows. Rick and Two Crows.
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#39Why though? There are dozens of crows in my neighborhood. If I befriend crows will they come to expect food from me? What about the pigeons and seagulls? Will they come to resent me?
My policy on neighborhood birds has always been neutrality.
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
My amateur theory is that talking makes you less likely to be a predator. You basically say “here I am”, Predators tend to be quiet and sneak up on their prey. I think the tone does indeed help somewhat in my experience.
Yes, of course. Your tone has to convey not only, "I am not a predator" but also "I do not perceive you as a threat, and so the purpose of my vocalization is not to scare you away because I perceive you as a threat, and if you come close I am likely to try to harm you in order to defend myself." In nature, the Bayesian prior on an entity that is not a member of your species, or even your tribe, seeking an interaction…
> the Bayesian prior ... is very, very low.
Felis Catus: OK, stubclaws, listen up. You're going to toil the fields and by the sweat of your brow fill up a barn to attract my mice. Got that? Agriculture, Architecture, the works? Good. I'd explain to you how to make laser pointers for chasing, but I doubt you'd understand ... your kind always has to work things out for themselves, anyway. Now go forth and do your best to hold this covenant, you inflexible hairless monkey.