Japan Fights Crowds of Crows (2008) • Hacker News Board

Re: Japan Fights Crowds of Crows (2008)

#71

Post by neverminder » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 9:28 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #70

neverminder wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was a kid I went on a vacation with my family to a cabin by a lake. A man living in nearby had a pet crow. The crow would get cosy around our dining table outside trying to grab some food, so my mother chased it away once. After that for the next 2 weeks we stayed there whenever my mother would hang laundry to dry outside the crow would fly over and take a shit on my mother's clothes. There were 5 people in th…

Corvidae are smart, and seem to have good memory. I've heard that a good way to keep them away is to kill one, and hang up the corpse on display. Others will stay away.

They are smart indeed. Apparently they can remember faces (https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html) and colors (https://phys.org/news/2011-12-crows-colours-year-japanese.ht...) which is how I'm guessing the crow I've encountered knew which clothes specifically to take a dump on. Really fascinating stuff.

Re: Japan Fights Crowds of Crows (2008)

#72

Post by blacksmith_tb » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 9:39 PM UTC

jschwartzi wrote: post #54

vram22 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It was taller than my knees. How tall in inches or centimeters?

Probably 28 inches or so.

That seems very large. I went looking for photos of crows in Tokyo, this NPR article[1] has several. They do seem to have more impressive beaks than N. American crows...

1: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122291...

Re: Japan Fights Crowds of Crows (2008)

#73

Post by vram22 » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 10:22 PM UTC

jschwartzi wrote: post #54

vram22 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It was taller than my knees. How tall in inches or centimeters?

Probably 28 inches or so.

Wow, that's big - 2 and 1/3rd feet. The crows I see in cities in India seem to be not more than a foot or so in body length, and I've seen some from a few few away. But they can be aggressive when in groups (as in the sense of cawing more and flying around the person), if someone seems to threaten them by throwing or waving something at them. Never actually heard of a case of them pecking someone, but it could have happened.

Just googled for such info and saw this:

https://www.quora.com/Can-crows-attack-people

Re: Japan Fights Crowds of Crows (2008)

#74

Post by glenneroo » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 10:27 PM UTC

emodendroket wrote: post #62

sandworm101 wrote: post #14

>>> The crow explosion has created a moral quandary for Japan, a nation that prides itself on nonviolence and harmony with nature, because culling programs are the only truly effective method of population control. No. Culling something like city crows is insanely difficult without resorting to poisons, a very dangerous option in a city. Crows are a problem all over the planet. Get some hawks, or whatever species of…

The idea that the Japanese are uniquely in harmony with nature is questionable too, when you think about their love of covering every square inch of places in concrete and asphalt.

Nevermind their propensity for hunting all manner of life in the sea, especially whales, even after being told multiple times from multiple committees worldwide to not kill every last pregnant female.

Re: Japan Fights Crowds of Crows (2008)

#75

Post by emodendroket » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 10:45 PM UTC

glenneroo wrote: post #74

emodendroket wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that the Japanese are uniquely in harmony with nature is questionable too, when you think about their love of covering every square inch of places in concrete and asphalt.

Nevermind their propensity for hunting all manner of life in the sea, especially whales, even after being told multiple times from multiple committees worldwide to not kill every last pregnant female.

I am not sure "killing every last pregnant female whale" is a fair characterization of Japanese whaling practices.

Re: Japan Fights Crowds of Crows (2008)

#76

Post by yareally » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 10:59 PM UTC

emodendroket wrote: post #9

I was in Hokkaido, for a while. They have huge crows (I believe significantly larger than the ones that are found in Honshu) who are very clever and can be quite aggressive. I remember experiencing them taking a snack I had not even opened out of a bicycle basket to open and eat it. Another time, I went with my wife (my girlfriend at the time) to the zoo and she bought a meat bun and walked outside. The employees beg…

Crows in Japan are definitely quite intelligent. They'll use traffic to crack open nuts by dropping them in front of traffic lights. After a car runs over them, they'll wait for the red light and then retrieve the now cracked open nut[1].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGPGknpq3e0

Re: Japan Fights Crowds of Crows (2008)

#77

Post by glandium » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 11:01 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #14

>>> The crow explosion has created a moral quandary for Japan, a nation that prides itself on nonviolence and harmony with nature, because culling programs are the only truly effective method of population control. No. Culling something like city crows is insanely difficult without resorting to poisons, a very dangerous option in a city. Crows are a problem all over the planet. Get some hawks, or whatever species of…

There actually are initiatives using hawks (鷹).

Re: Japan Fights Crowds of Crows (2008)

#78

Post by koverda » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 12:14 AM UTC

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #44

baud147258 wrote: post #13

> Mr. Ishihara angrily ordered the city into action after a crow buzzed his head while he was playing golf, city officials said. So the mayor only acted when he was personaly bothered by the issue, apparently.

Golf is a frustrating game. I can easily see ordering the murder of all birds in Tokyo if a Crow messed up my birdie.

keep the puns on reddit

Re: Japan Fights Crowds of Crows (2008)

#79

Post by jschwartzi » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 12:53 AM UTC

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #72

jschwartzi wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably 28 inches or so.

That seems very large. I went looking for photos of crows in Tokyo, this NPR article[1] has several. They do seem to have more impressive beaks than N. American crows... 1: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122291...

I could be overestimating. Regardless, it's an intimidating bird.

Re: Japan Fights Crowds of Crows (2008)

#80

Post by adventured » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 2:19 AM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #70

neverminder wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was a kid I went on a vacation with my family to a cabin by a lake. A man living in nearby had a pet crow. The crow would get cosy around our dining table outside trying to grab some food, so my mother chased it away once. After that for the next 2 weeks we stayed there whenever my mother would hang laundry to dry outside the crow would fly over and take a shit on my mother's clothes. There were 5 people in th…

Corvidae are smart, and seem to have good memory. I've heard that a good way to keep them away is to kill one, and hang up the corpse on display. Others will stay away.

A large murder of crows had become a problem near where I live. The group seemed to get larger by the year. They'd turn clusters of trees black, and were incredibly loud. During a certain time of year when they showed up, they'd terrorize areas with vast amounts of shit. The local government poisoned a bunch of them (took several years to get approval). The crows got the hint and never came back again.