Somehow reminded of this old Reddit post:
To make a long story short, im a late 20 something living in portland oregon. I had a pretty intense emo/goth phase as a tween that i thought i had grown out of.
A couple months ago, i was watching a nature program on our local station about crows. The program mentioned that if you feed and befriend them, crows will bring you small gifts. My emo phase came back full force and i figured that i was furloughed and had lots of time- so why not make some crow friends.
My plan worked a little too well and the resident 5 crows in my neighborhood have turned into an army 15 strong. At first my neighbors didnt mind and enjoyed it. They’re mostly elderly and most were in a bird watching club anyway. They thought the fact that i had crows following me around whenever i go outside was funny.
Lately, the crows have started defending me. My neighbor came over for a socially distanced chat (me on my porch her in my yard) and the crows started dive bombing her. They would not stop until she left my yard. They didnt make physical contact with her, but they got very close.
Am i liable if these crows injure someone since i fed them? I obviously cant control the crows. I would rather them not attack my neighbors. But since i technically created this nuisance, could i be financially on the hook for any injuries?
To be clear, they’re not agressive 100% of the time. If just the neighbors are out they are friendly normal crows. They only get aggressive when someone gets close to me or my property.
ETA: TL;DR- I have turned into Moira Rose, queen of the crows. My inadvertent crow army has gotten aggressive towards others. If they hurt someone could i be held liable?
ETA PT II: I did not train these birds to attack. Also thank you for all of your awards. Im glad my stupid decisions bring you joy. Please consider donating that money to your local Audubon society instead
So to make a long story short, i called our local Audubon society. They didn’t think feeding the crows was bad and suggested that the neighbors also start feeding them so they essentially became better socialized.
The plan worked and the crows are now a beloved part of the community. There have been no recent dive bombings.
Most amazingly, the crows may have legitimately saved my neighbor. Our city had a pretty big ice and snow event recently. Like i said in my last post, most of my neighbors are older. One of my neighbors was walking down his steep driveway, slipped, and couldnt get back up.
The crows started going ballistic and were making more noise than we have ever heard. A different neighbor went outside to see what was up and found the gentleman in his driveway. Neighbor is mostly ok! Just some serious bruises.
Needless to say the crows have been getting some high value food since then.
Thanks for all the help on my original post. It blew up way more than i was expecting and i thought you guys would enjoy an update.
I miss this part of reddit. Too bad it turned to shit.
I used to work at a bourgie grocery store with the bulk bins full of all sorts of fancy assortments of nuts. I would always take a bag full home with me to feed the neighborhood crows on my way too and from work each day. I haven’t worked there for years but the crows in that neighborhood still come down to greet me any time I pass through.
Hell yeah! Me and the witch lady a few blocks away both feed the crows. My apartment building had Forbidden Balconies cause instead of fixing them so they could hold human weight the barricaded the doors to them which violates the fire code. Paying the fine is cheaper than fixing the problem. So the rotted out balconies became bird nests, mostly pigeons, who I like and are cool but not directly outside my bedroom window, theyre a bit loud. So I started spreading shelled peanuts around the balcony. Crows run my neighborhood. They have a way better community than we do on ground level. I have been watching them for years, in nest building season they dont just work in their own nest. If they find a bit someone else needs they bring it over there. They fan out for a perfect surveillance network. They’ve got it on lock. Genuinely inspiring. So anyway, I have that live on or inside the bottom of my balcony and the one above me. Crows can learn a schedule and they keep quiet until I get up and feed em. Sorry to evict the pigeons, but they just moced to another balcony. I am really surprised I haven’t heard anything from the landlords about only my apartment having crows living outside.
They fan out for a perfect surveillance network. They’ve got it on lock. Genuinely inspiring. So anyway, I have that live on or inside the bottom of my balcony and the one above me. Crows can learn a schedule and they keep quiet until I get up and feed em. Sorry to evict the pigeons, but they just moced to another balcony. I am really surprised I haven’t heard anything from the landlords about only my apartment having crows living outside.
I love Corvids. If you make an enemy of a crow they will teach their children to also hate you. Generational grudges!
Corvids
You just made a generational enemy!
And a tortoise generation is a long time.
Here’s the thing…
I love Covid’s
Covid-19 best Covid
Agreed! ^_~
I feed all the crows with my chickens, they greet me now. But I still want closer crow friends, I’m determined. One day I will save one too!
Put up a tray that the chickens can’t reach. Put shiny things on it, replace some of the shiny things with high value food they might like better than chicken feed. Peanuts, meat, scrambled eggs, etc until you find something they love. Then use that for rewards.
Awesome ideas! I’m going to try them, thank you!
Update me if something works, and what shenanigans you get into. I love crow stories.
They all have different tastes from region to region, group to group, bird to bird, so just keep trying things until you find their favorite.
My reading comprehension wobbled for a minute and I thought you were feeding your chickens to the crows 😂
I was attack led for 3 years across 3 different cities for telling a crow to fuck off once.
I don’t fuck with those guys anymore.
Recently there’s a crow at my workplace that one day decided to just caw at me when it see me, when i approach it it will just fly off a bit and continue to caw at me. This goes on for 3 weeks now, it only targeted me for no reason, and at first i will shoo it away, but like any harassment i just decided to ignore it. Now it still do it but not as much.
