Don’t Mess w/the Crows

May 28, 2007 - 3:00 PM by

Crows are clever birds with very good memories and a whole lot of nastiness to spread around.

I blogged months ago about “talking to a crow” and subsequently being dive-bombed on the head. It apparently either: 1) fancied me or..2) didn’t like my crow impression.

Residents of Natzeret Elite in Israel’s Lower Galilee are also feeling “the bomb”.

Crows have been circling overhead and dive-bombing residents of Yodfat Street since a well-meaning soul tried to help a baby crow that had fallen from a nest 2 weeks ago. The crows misinterpreted the intention (there’s not all that much brain space up there after all) & have taken revenge on the do-gooder and the entire neighborhood.

“It happens every morning,” said Boris, a neighborhood resident. “The crows circle overhead and sometimes make contact. It happened to me once and it was very scary.”

“The species is very vengeful,” municipal vet Dr. Issam Brick told Hebrew press. “The best thing to do is look in the bird’s direction and then walk away. It should blow over.”

In the interim some residents have taken to wearing helmets.

Steph’s Suggestion: Wear sunglasses on the back of the head; it apparently works for people in parts of Australia where Magpie dive-bombing is common. The birds think they’re under constant surveillance.

Tags: • Category: A New Reality, Life 

Comments

2 Comments on Don’t Mess w/the Crows

  1. Raka on Wed, Aug 8th 2007 10:13 AM

    2. I also live in Israel, and have helped a baby crow who had been kicked out of the nest. The street cats in my area all went for it and I rescued it just in time. I threw it up into the tree again, and after a minute or so it tried to fly and fell out again. I must tell you that it had almost no feathers to talk of. It must have been kicked out by a sibling, since it was not ready for flight yet.

    The parents were circling dive bombing the cats, and I picked up the baby. I had a bird cage and I placed it inside, and then went to the middle of my lawn and placed the cage there for the whole family to see. I went and sat down next to the cage (to make myself as small as possible). Then I mimicked with my hands flying motions while shaking my head in the negative… Yes laugh at me…but it worked. They understood that the baby couldn’t fly and that I was not an enemy.

    There were about twenty of them sitting in the surrounding trees cawing at the baby…and I just sat quietly next to the cage… Then one by one they flew away. This baby is still with me, and is growing flight feathers now. The parents come once every few days and sit in the tree cawing and talking with him. I have made sure not to do anything that the baby can misinterpret as hostile, and he has been ‘telling’ them that he has a good life, because none of them ever attacked, nor circled nor caused any havoc. They ARE more intelligent than what they get credit for. It is US who don’t know how to communicate our intentions to them.

    When this baby has flight feathers and has become strong, he will be released, since his family lives just over the road in a huge pine tree. They can see each other (since the baby is now outside in a larger cage, to help him exercise and strengthen his wings), but for now he is growing and getting stronger… And his parents and family know he is being cared for.

    Raka

  2. Barry Geltman on Wed, Aug 19th 2009 7:10 PM

    3. Raka, I also live in Israel and am quite fond of our feathered friends–I really like your crow story, and I wonder how it worked out in the end.
    Best,
    Barry
    bgeltman@gmail.com

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