Discussion
Alright, this #CrowUpdate is probably my craziest "crow update" to date, and I hope ever. It's going to be long, and I only have two of the worst pictures I have ever taken to show you (to the point that I wonder whether I should post them). This evening, I was pretty tired going home, and while Ms Crow welco... begged for peanuts on the balcony as soon as I arrived, I didn't feel like going to the park at all this evening.
Long 馃У 猡碉笍
However, from my desk, I soon noticed not two but three crows on top of poles. But when Ms Crow flew from her pole to another one, the crow on that pole opened its mouth for food instantly! Yeah, baby crow has learned how to land on poles and such, awesome!!!
And I thought that was going to be my sole crow story today (not enough for a post on Mastodon). A little later, I was in my living room, shortly before dusk, and I heard Ms Crow making the big "where are you, come here now!" call. 猡碉笍
Who was she calling? Can the baby crow fly from the park without its parents? Not yet, right? Still, earlier, despite the three crows being on top of their poles in the park, I noticed Ms Crow going back and forth with a part of their territory behind my neighbor's house. What was there? Not sure. I returned to minding my business when suddenly all hell broke loose!
I heard the south crows being very loud nearby, then "my" crows being as loud!!! 猡碉笍
Remember that the "south crows" are another species of crows (large-billed crows, Corvus macrorhynchos japonensis, a species unique to Asia, while "my" crows are your friendly neighborhood crows, aka carrion crows, aka Corvus corone, the same species that's all over Western Europe) and that both species are not friends at all, not to mention the large-billed crows having a very distinct caw, being obnoxiously loud all the time, and feel like troublemakers overall... 猡碉笍
I wouldn't be surprised if the overall bad reputation of crows in Japan is because of them (I can't imagine how anyone could dislike carrion crows, they're the sweetest animals)... Anyways, back to the story: so the south crows were flying all over, Ms Crow too, even Mr Crow tried to join, but couldn't really (he still managed to fly to the limit of his territory) but the general direction of the flight was toward the south crow territory... I started getting an understanding of the situation 猡碉笍
Somehow (as I didn't see what happened first) the south crows lured the fledgling as it was flying and "corralled" it into their territory where they attacked it. Ms Crow came to the rescue, but was outnumbered. However, she didn't give up, while she retreated at first she flew right into the south crows territory (I never saw her do this before) and fought them on their turf.
I ran downstairs and to the south crows territory. 猡碉笍
On the way is when I saw Mr Crow wanting to join but knowing better and his limits. Just as I arrived in the parking lot where everything was happening, the south crows finally flew away to another part of their territory. Ms Crow was staying there flying above a specific part of the parking lot. I ran there, and... Baby crow was there, on the ground, in shock and very probably injured!!!
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As I got closer to the baby crow, at first Ms Crow threatened me the way she usually does (yelling, and hitting something with her beak to make noise, although she only had a cable to do it) I stepped back, but then she stopped (did she recognize me at that moment? did her reason take over her instinct?) but she was still in panic mode, flying from one spot to another, not knowing what to do, or hoping Junior follows her, but it didn't. It stayed in the ground not knowing what to do. 猡碉笍
I stayed with them too, not knowing what to do either. But night was slowly coming, and the baby clearly couldn't spend the night there. Yes, I know, we should let nature run its course, but you know there's a limit to that with me and these crows, I'm too emotionally involved. So, I decided to cross the Rubicon and deal with the consequences later. I had to grab the baby and bring it back to the park!!! I was really unsure about how Ms Crow would react to that. Also, I couldn't just grab it. 猡碉笍
So, I called my wife, and asked her to come quick with a towel. Which she did as fast as she could (we have to give her props here, as a sane Japanese person, she disapproves strongly of my friendship with the crows, but she also knows how much they mean to me). She came fast (it was only 300 meters or so from home) but by the time she got there, it was already night time, and Ms Crow had no other choice but to fly back to the park. 猡碉笍
Crows are completely diurnal birds and have little to no night vision. Ms Crow couldn't take the risk to sleep alone in enemy territory. But actually, it was a "blessing" for me. Without her watchful eye above me, I was less afraid to try and grab the baby. Still, I had never grabbed a crow before, let alone a baby crow. Luckily, memories of my childhood vacations in my uncle's farm came in handy (as I carried many chickens and ducks before). 猡碉笍
Also, luckily, the baby didn't try to run away. Partly because it was in shock, partly because it was getting dark, partly because no one had ever tried to grab it before I guess. Also, interestingly, when I more or less covered it with the towel, it didn't move (I wondered if it felt like in the nest with mom above?) Keeping it in my arms was much more difficult, though. Then, it tried to escape. It succeeded once, as I was afraid to squeeze it, but I could grab it again, and ... 猡碉笍
... once I managed to find the right amount of pressure to hold it firm without hurting it, it mostly stopped moving. The fact that night had fallen helped, although, every time we walked near a source of light, it started moving in order to escape (but it didn't). We soon arrived near the park and... What will happen if Mom and Dad see me holding their baby? Will it be the end of our friendship? I didn't want to know the answer, so I put baby on the ground next to the park's entrance. 猡碉笍
And then, I "guided" the baby into the park thanks to the towel (which I had already done on the parking lot to make sure it doesn't end up under a car, and then I wouldn't be able to do anything).
It walked toward the vending machine (or rather its light) and stayed there. My wife kept an eye on him while I tried to fetch Mom and Dad. I found them in their "sleeping tree" but they didn't do anything. I don't think they saw the baby at all, it was too far and it was too dark. 猡碉笍
However, there is a light right under their tree (that's how I can see them there too) so, here we go, I guided the baby to the tree. You could tell the baby wanted to go up the tree, but climbing wasn't an option, and it didn't try to fly. I wasn't sure to what extent it was injured. On the towel, there was a very small spot, but as it was dark, I couldn't tell if it was blood or poop (and now it's brown anyway). Then... I looked up again and.... I saw Mom, Dad and... a third crow!!!! WTF?!! 猡碉笍
Wot? Who was that third crow? Or... did I completely misread the situation and I actually "stole" one of the South Crows' babies? No, that couldn't be that, the south crows would have never let me do that, and Ms Crow would have reacted very differently. It could only mean two things: either both babies are still alive contrarily to what I thought (I mostly stayed away from them this week, as I mentioned before, Mr Crow yelled at me when I got close to one the day after the left the nest 猡碉笍
... despite the fact that he never did on the previous years... Anyway, it seems that both babies were still alive... Or... I heard that it may happen that older siblings from previous years sometimes come and help, although it never really happened before, except maybe the very first year I befriended the crows (I'm not sure).
After a little while of baby crow walking around the park near the tree and me making noise so that the parents pay attention to what's going on 猡碉笍
they finally noticed baby crow on the ground. I walked back as far as I could while still seeing what was going on. The three crows started cawing softly and gently at baby crow, they even flew closer to it. Ms Crow came down to the ground a couple of times and flew back to the tree, as a way to invite the baby to do the same, but it didn't. After a while of walking around in confusion, it decided to hide in some bushes... 猡碉笍
Ms Crow stayed nearby. I decided that it was time to let them be as there was nothing else I could do except stay there all night (I love them, but not to that point). Ms Crow got a bit startled when I moved and she flew back to her tree.
An hour later, I went to the park, and I only saw two crows in the tree, so I assume Ms Crow was somewhere close to wherever the baby was hiding.
And this is almost this end of this update. What's next? No idea. 猡碉笍
It will greatly depend on the extent of the fledglings injuries. Well, first, it needs to pass the night (i.e. no cat with the wrong idea), then will it recover? I can't tell. What will be its attitude towards me if it does? No idea. What about the parents? Luckily they didn't see me carrying the baby, so I don't think they'll fully understand the role I played in the baby returning to the park from the "south parking lot."
So... That's all for today, and... to be continued...
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