Imagine that it is a beautiful spring morning, the brightening sky is clear and each breath is clean, cool and refreshing. You head out to look at the flowers and fruit trees and draw in the sweet scents of a world in bloom. Suddenly, a fierce, harsh “CAW” erupts nearby. Others respond from a distance, and soon half a dozen crows are circling and swooping overhead, apparently enraged that you might be intruding upon their garden, and their food supply. One of the crows swoops within a few feet of your head. You wave your arms in a futile attempt to get them to back off, but it only emboldens the vicious corvids, who know that your arms can only reach so far.
This scenario is played out hundreds – if not thousands – of times every day in the Seattle area where, as the graph shows, crow populations have more than tripled in the past couple of decades. These black, avian thugs are the gangsters of the skies, lacking the solitary grace of the raven and the comparatively inoffensive demeanor of the urban pigeon. In fact, with their superior intellect and territorial aggression, they make even the squawking, ravenous starlings seem like pleasant little creatures.
It is as though the crows have sensed that Americans – and especially Seattlites – have lost the will to defend themselves. Never in my three odd decades in Seattle have I seen a deficit of edible garbage, so there must be something besides food supply that has led to the crow invasion. The rookery near the Montlake Cut, right around Foster Island, has always been home to thousands of crows — one of my earliest memories of a wondrous sight was seeing a rust-colored evening sky darkened by a truly biblical host of crows swarming home to roost in the trees of the interlaken wetlands. However, as of late it is as though the crows have set out to colonize the neighborhoods as well, and now they can be seen darkening perches on every city block.
Perhaps it is a case of nature returning to the city. Today, a bear has been spotted wandering through Seattle’s neighborhoods, resulting in a police chase. So far, the bear has eluded police. Lucky for him — the last one ended up dead after encountering the police. Coyotes have been making inroads as well, and the raccoons, of course, are an established presence. But the crows are different in that they brazenly confront and taunt humans. They also attack eagles, hawks, owls, raccoons and even cats and dogs. These highly social, bright animals seem to feel that they are in charge, and they aren’t afraid to let everyone know it.
Is this the dawn of a new age? The Age of the Crow?
8 responses so far ↓
1 novaseeker // May 18, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Yes, Welmer, they probably sense the weakness. Other social animals are brilliant at sensing weakeness, and with the emasculation of males here, it’s only sensible that they would adapt to the new behavior.
2 Eman // May 18, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Seattlites should just get good pellet guns or cheap .22 caliber rifles and start picking off the crows until their overall population reaches more normalized levels…problem solved.
We had a similar problem in the part of NC where I live I few years ago (they were wrecking some peoples gardens and even bothering some people, pets, and farm animals) and we ‘redneck’ locals just started shooting a bunch of them which seemed to have spooked the rest and they soon left our area.
Seattlites though are of course different than Southerners and would probably rather keep getting harassed by these hostile birds rather fight back against them.
If I have my folklore correct, crows are also considered a bad omen in many cultures – all the more reason to start picking them off so that they will either move on to new territory or reach less intrusive levels.
3 chic noir // May 19, 2009 at 5:58 pm
These black, avian thugs are the gangsters of the skies,
Oh God, why must God make them Black.
j/k
4 chic noir // May 19, 2009 at 5:59 pm
eman If I have my folklore correct, crows are also considered a bad omen in many cultures -
this is true. Even amongst older Americans, crows are seen as a sign of something bad to come.
5 Welmer // May 19, 2009 at 11:45 pm
In my defense, I praise the raven, who is a deeper shade of black than the common crow.
The raven is actually my Welsh family totem, and the wolf my Norwegian clan affiliation (it’s complicated, and based on social roles in the old country). However, I’ve added the bear for my son, because it just fits him right (my daughter is a wolf pup — she’ll tell you so herself).
6 m // May 20, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Did you know that Ravens can have quite a bit of purple on their bodies Welmer?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crows_In_England.jpg
7 Corvid lover // Jun 4, 2009 at 7:26 pm
To suggest seattlites bear arms is ridiculous. Who wants a bunch of armed hipsters waving guns. Crows are a part of nature and a part of our culture. Any rise in their numbers is a testiment to their intellect and adaptability. Read john Marzluff’s book, in the company of crows and ravens.
8 sir jorge // Jun 16, 2009 at 6:42 am
i walk to work daily and have to put my arms over my head because they try to attack the back of my head. I don’t know what to do
Leave a Comment