Crows are bullies too

Hello Everyone,

I wrote recently about how crows are creepy, and they are. But that observation was made when I was on their turf, in a forest next to a garbage dump. It seems that when crows are on your turf, they aren't creepy so much as just bullies.

In Vancouver, especially around the community of Trout Lake, which has, as far as I know, no trout, there are a lot of crows, and they are absolutely brazen. In the forest, they will fly around near enough to you, but in the city, they will land on a fence post just outside of arms reach and stare you down.

And what's more, they are claiming more and more of the city as their own. The other day, I was taking Arthur to the dog park there, and a crow dive bombed him twice, going after him with beak open and talons gnashing. It was making a hell of a noise as it did so, presumably levelling the crow equivalent of savage insults. Arthur was pretty oblivious, focused as he was on his ball, but the crow didn't care. It was a turf war as far as it was concerned.

Thing is, dogs and crows should be able to coexist peacefully. One's in the trees, the other on the ground, there should be room for everyone. But crows don't see it that way. Bullies never do. They want it all for themselves, even if they don't need it, just to prove a point.

And if you think I'm just sensitive about Arthur, and too far in the pro-dog category, the crows were out there bullying other creatures as well. At the beach at Trout Lake, I saw a three-way battle between crows, seagulls and Canada Geese. Normally, it would just be a mild curiosity, an instance of a battle royale where every participant is an asshole, but it's worth nothing that the crow is smaller than those other birds, yet seems to come out on top eventually.

They know they will lose a one on one battle, but keep needling away and ganging up on other birds, until they eventually end up with the choice spots around the garbage cans.

Most tellingly, I saw a crow stalking a mother duck and her duckling. The crow was standing on the beach, watching and following them as they paddled along the shore. The duckling was bobbing along happily enough, but the mother duck was definitely on edge. At one point, she went after the crow with her wings up and mouth open when it got too close.

The crow backed off temporarily, but was soon back watching them, waiting for the one moment when she briefly turns her attention to something else. Like the wolf and Red Riding Hood, it knew the truth that all bullies know. She needs to be lucky every time, it only has to be lucky once.

wes