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HUMOUR / ANIMALS / PETS / SQUIRRELS / CROWS / THIS HAPPENED TO ME
Nature Debate: Will Crows or Squirrels Make Better Backyard Guests?
Meet Scurry!
Last year, my new nature project was making friends with the neighbourhood crows. I have a great love of crows. I knew feeding them would be a fun way to bring nature to my third-floor deck. In no time at all, a small crow family took the bait of peanuts in a shell.
Here’s where things went sideways…
All summer long, the crow family, consisting of two parents and a baby, fed on the nuts I would leave. It was hilarious to watch the parent birds sit back and let the baby struggle to figure things out. Eventually, they would fly down to teach a new trick, then fly back to the tree to watch as the baby tried to emulate them. For example, “Watch how I stack two nuts in my beak. See if you can do it.”
Come Winter, disaster struck. During the cold winter months, food was less easy to find. Word got around that we were a good source. It is amazing how community-minded crows are. One would spot nuts, then caw loudly and wait until 30 more crows would arrive.
This new big flock consisted of a lot of young birds. They were awkward and uncoordinated, flighty and bossy, nothing like my…
