Crows are creepy

Hello Everyone,

Edgar Allan Poe would not have had as much success if he had cast a blue jay or a chickadee in his poem. While those are lovely birds, crows and ravens (same family), are creepy as heck. They are jet black, travel in large groups and are crazy smart. I don't want to say that's a bad combination, as it will sound racist, but we'll say they are contributing factors. Yesterday, Tay and I and an employee of his, as well as our three dogs, went riding in a forest full of crows. It was the middle of the day, and still kinda haunting.

Why, you might ask, were there so many crows in this forest? I'd like to give an answer that involves ancient burial grounds, or some spooky type of knowledge to which only certain animals have access, but it's because the forest is right next to the town dump. They are there for the cheap food. Still smart, but not as creepy.

The trails were great, well marked with a variety of difficulties. And it was great having the three dogs out. They are all good trail dogs, except that Tay's employee's dog, a German Shorthair Pointer, was a little too into being out on the trails. It's a festival for any dog, but the GSPs are known for not having much regulation of their enthusiasm, even in the already poorly regulated world of dogs.

We did a couple of trails and Arthur showed his experience in this kind of thing, knowing to stay close, when to move over, and when it was time to drink water. The others were pretty good as well, so no complaints.

The crows though, were plentiful in the trees. They can make a variety of crazy sounds, and while I'm no ornithologist, I'm pretty sure they were talking about us. There were deep knocking sounds, regular caws, and some weird ones that went back and forth between a couple of birds. They would also fly really low overhead, so much so that you could hear the wind in their feathers. Lastly, having access to so much free food, they were of considerable size.

I can't be 100% sure they haven't also picked the ability to understand English, so I was careful not to badmouth them while we were out there. Again, I'm reasonable sure they aren't monitoring the internet, so I'm comfortable writing this now, but I'm not, like, 100% sure.

wes