You ever feel like a crow is giving you a demeaning stare? I do all the time. Those pesky things are smart. They are capable of judging situations and using complex reasoning.





In this one the bird uses a tool to get another tool, to get another tool to get his food.



Here the bird actualy constructs a tool to get his water. He makes a "hook" mechanism. This one made me think of someone trying to get into a car after they've locked the keys in it.

maybe this bird is a close relative to crow...it's pretty smart too.

They aren't that smart when they land in my yard.

Wing a crow, tie him to a stake with a length of cord, a whole day of shooting.

Crows have also been documented to use humans to get what they want such as dropping nuts or shellfish in the road so they would be run over by cars and broken.

Zing!

Used to watch them at Ft Lewis.. .they would pick the walnuts off a tree, fly across I-5 to a busy Hdqtrs parking lot, drop them and wait for them to get run over and cracked .... smart and patient .. ..

They also innately see the golden arches as a food source. If you give a crow two bags of the same french fries, but one of them has a mcdonalds logo on it, they will investigate that one first.

My buddy use to have a tape of a crow and a hawk fighting. Within minuets of putting it on the sky started turning black.....FIRE!!!

JD

Tornado of crows!

I've got a crow story.
Was eating my lunch in the car in a gravel pit. Had hot wings. Finished off the first one and tossed the bone out the window. Mr Crow comes in and walks over and picks up the bone. Immediately spits it out....was pretty spicy, all right.
Any way, then he did something that I thought was amazing. He circled the bone on the ground and as he walked around it, he would reach in with one foot and quickly touch the bone. He did this three or four times, feeling the bone with his foot to see if it was still "hot". Apparently spicy hot is no different than heated hot to a bird. He left the bone and flew away.

National Geo did a show on ravens and crows that was pretty amazing. They showed these ravens in Yellowstone Park swoop down on a group of parked snowmobiles. They proceeded to unbuckle the saddle bags, toss out a bunch of crap like scarves and gloves, and raid their lunches inside the saddle bags.

The only black bird I'd shoot just for the hell of it any more is a starling. I have a new-found respect for ravens and crows, so I give them a pass.

Boy mine are. If I slide open the door they are gone. Last spring when it was raining hard I got the door open without one noticing. I shot it and within, minutes every c row for miles around was there. They flew around him. Landed and checked him out and screamed their heads off. After about five minutes I got freaked out and left. The next day my neighbor asked what all the commotion was. I acted ignorant - that’s easy for me.

Anyway the crows don't come round here much now. They will split and fly around my place. I see they are now beginning to get a little more complacent. Time to pop another one.

They are also not very smart when they see a dozen crow decoys in one tree, an owl decoy in another tree and the Johnny Stewart blaring "Death Cry of a Crow" over the 12" outdoor speaker.

AA and Blue Magic hulls everywhere and oh the carnage.
If it counts against you at the Pearly Gates, I'm screwed.

Open the garage door, then the door leading to the garage from the house. Prop the .17 HMR on top of the dryer. Work on projects in the house, wait for a crow to bother the chickens free-rangings, POP!

75 yard shot.

That's the most asinine post I've seen from you .

I've never done it but I know some that have.

Dogfish,

Is an .17 HMR like a .22? I don't keep up with changes and advances in the shooting world. Is a .17 HMR quiet?

I've been thinking of buying a quality pellet gun, wondering if they are accurate up to about 40 yd for pest control and other annoying things.

Sg

S.G. The top end pellet guns will definatly kill a crow. Dunno bout 40 yards, but for sure at 20 yards.

When I was a youngster I did this a lot (sort of). I had a crow call and would go into the clear-cut above our house. I would call at crows, and every now and then I could get them in range and I would pop a couple with my 12 ga. Then I had a long length of skinny grey pvc to which I would zip-tie a couple of dead crows. I would shake this up and down and the dead ones would sort of flap their wings.

Combine that with a few other dead crows placed on stumps or limbs and the crow call. I could get lots more crows.

I even had a few blinds placed around this clear cut for my activity. Seemed like a good waste of time at that age (13-14).

Tornado of crows.

Be careful what you wish for. It might not be the dolphins that take over the world...

I feed four pair's of Stellar Jays peanuts every other day, now I have a Murder of 25 Crows that show up. Mrs Cooper Hawk shows up and everything get's real quiet for 2-3 hours, she stands about 16-17" tall and she is a killing machine and likes to eat Crow and whatever she feels like.

I remember killing for sport with a BB gun when I was about 12. I'm glad I grew out of that.

Yeah, I regret killing chickadees and what not. I have adopted a shoot and eat only policy starting around the age of 17.

Yep.

I used to make a regular sport of crows as a kid. It got to the point that anytime they'd see me they caw and make all kinds of racket but stay out of sight. They even found out where I slept and would gather in the tree outside my window and O dark thirty EVERY morning and start up with an ungodly racket until they heard a door or window open and then take off. Made my life hell. Thankfully, I graduated and moved out soon after. I quit fvcking with them after that.
Had a 'friend' that rescued a baby crow that had fallen from the nest. The rest of the murder was trying to kill it. She nursed it back to health and let it go, but everyday, exactly at 5:30 when she got home, it would land on the gutter over her front door then hop onto her shoulder and eat cat food out of her hand. She later got a puppy and it never came back.

Two years ago I found a baby Crow in the back yard that fell or got pushed out of the nest. He was damn near full size but couldn't fly, I called my vet and he said bring him in and he would take a look at him. He gave him some antibiotics and said the best chance of him making it was to get him back in the nest. There was no way to reach the nest in the Madrona tree so I had to put him on the ground. This went on for three weeks but he still couldn't fly. The whole time his Mom kept feeding him and never abandoned him. His siblings would hang out with him on the ground to keep him company during the day, at night he would bunker down in the bushes and come out at day break. Talk about a noisy 3 weeks...he was driving us crazy Woke up one morning and it was really quiet, went looking for him and only found a foot and some entrails

It gave me a new respect on their social network. I like Crows now.

A .17HMR is a .22 Magnum necked down to 17 cal.

They shoot a 17-20gr bullet at about 2500 fps.

No,they're not quiet.

High end pellet guns aren't either. The break barrel designs shoot pellets up over 1000 fps. They have a very noticable crack when fired.

They easily smoke a crow or rabbit sized game at 40yds.

My yard has been a no fly zone for better part of three years.

Bait'n em by sprinkling McDonald's in the back yard won't even get bit anymore.

Subsonic 22's from inside the house, make the dead Indians fear the juju that emanates from my kitchen and bathroom window. Wonder what the legend is on double dead Indians?

........Foxpro's FX3 crow call is almost cheating when MickyD's aint handy dandy.

Squirrels will eat French fries too. Proven fact......but just once.

All birds except Starlings have complete sanctuary in my yard. . .. . .Starlings and Grey Spuirells are on a strict shoot on site policy. . ..the Douglas Squirell likes to watch the grey bastages die, sometimes I think he baits them in for me. . .yes, even the cheaper ($70) pellet guns will kill them dead out to about 20 yds. .

I might see a flock of Starlings once or twice a year for just an hour or so and then there gone.

I swear I herd one talk to me. He flew to a roof top about eight feet from my head while i was enjoying a beverage on a friends deck in Clearview. ( first bev of the day mind you)He said Hello and another word I couldn't make out. I walked up to within a couple of feet from him before he flew. Had to have been someones pet.

I heard a Raven making the craziest ass noises in Banff ,I can't even describe it...sorta like...I dunno, It didn't sound anything like a Bird.

Nice!

I only need to kill a few crows per year and they stay away, so it isn't wanton killing, just one every few months. Crows eat chicken food and spread West Nile virus, plus they pick on small chickens, etc. Starlings die when I get a chance. Predation control is an issue on a farm. Everything else lives.

SG, Sunday Money is correct, the .17 HMR is a necked down, and has a sharp report. Hopefully though, 90 days after the end of this session when suppressors are not only legal to own, but also to use use, so I'll spend some more money on a few tax stamps and go quieter on future kills.

I do miss the days of predator control on the farms I hunted ducks on. Starlings on the way to the cow barns with a shotgun. Barn pigeons by the 100's, and the occassional crow with my Webley Patriot .22 pellet gun.

While we were bear hunting in 2008 we spent about 50 hours in a blind. Hearing the crows "meow" was neat, along with the other sounds they make that you don't usually hear.

Thats a trip. I know some ravens can speek if trained, like a parrot. Some zoos got 'em.

I agree that the range of sounds made by ravens is awesome. We have a pair around here that I love to listen to. Now crows . . .

Everyone should be killing Starlings. They're an invasive species,just like the Eastern Gray Squirrel that everyone finds so cute.

I try to kill every Starling and E. Gray that comes into my yard. The Squirrels are easy. Everyone in my neighborhood feeds them,so they end up on the back porch looking for a handout. They get a short range lead sammich.

I give the grey squirrels an option .. . go in the live trap or die. . . the ones that go in the box get a ride down to 3R or Seattle. .. . . . suprisingly they don't seem to make very good crab bait . . .

Phew...I thought for sure you were going to say he dipped it in ranch and then ate it!! Sorry, couldn't resist..Cool story though..

SM & DF,

Thanks for the info. No .17 or high end pellet gun then. Maybe a low end pellet gun. I had a friend once who taught neighborhood cats not to use his wife's flower beds as their toilet by shooting them in the butt when they came into his yard. And I've been noticing one of the neighboring cats in my yard lately, and we plan to begin flower beds and gardens this year.

Crows can be annoying, but I like most native birds, and fortunately haven't seen any starlings at the new house yet. Speaking of wildlife, I was down at the bottom of my hill last weekend prowling around, and the deer have created a highway and freeway system of trails down there. I've only seen five, but there are trails for a hundred.

Sg

I have a couple of friends from here in Missoula that bowhunt bears over bait in Idaho and on a few occasions I've gone and helped them freshen baits and did an evening sit with them. When we'd go in and add bait we dumped bread and meat scraps into the open crib then reloaded the bait barrel with dry dog food and dumped old resteraunt fry oil over it and resealed the barrel.
After recharging the bait stations we'd head back to the pickup and change into clean/scent free hunting clothes then head back to the bait for an evening hunt. When you approached the bait again (probably 1-1 1/2 hrs later) there would be an insane number of ravens on the open bait pile in the crib. 20-30 ravens would probably be a conservative number, they were never noticable in the area when we packed the bait in..
They would all fly off when you approached and climbed up in the tree stand. Once we were in the tree and things settled down, not one of those ravens would come to the bait again. They would all sit in the tree's 50-75 yds away in a complete circle around the area and sqwak a bit and watch the bait but would never come near it. It was usually 2-3 hours til dark and regardless of how still and quiet you were, they just knew you were still in the area and wouldn't come near the bait..It was still enough that the bears would sneak in cautiously but not one of those ravens would come down for the rest of the evening..

Yeah, however the hairy vagrant bastard that sh!ts in my green house and hangs out near my birdfeeders will get more than the slingshot next time I see it in my yard.

Cat sh!t is not a fun find when working in the beds barehanded. . . . . .

My dog isn't allowed to run loose and sh!t in your yard, (not that I would allow mine to anyway), your cat is not welcome in mine. . . . . .. . .

Well, I have aquired a new creature that's been hanging out for a couple of weeks.....a bobcat. My wife and I were watching it walk towards us tonight. I got about 25 yards away before it saw my wife move and left. It's a pretty cool animal to watch. It has been feeding on the doves that come in for food every day. I no longer have dogs or any other pets, so it's welcome to come and go as it pleases. One of the neighbors will probably kill it sooner or later.
So now I have a beaver and a bobcat, countless numbers of birds, eagles, hawks, herons and coyotes.
It ain't the animals that are spoiling things.

sounds cool dude. The more we F with them, the more they F with us. The rabits, owls, coyotes, ducks, herons, deer and black bear are welcome in my yard. The more gun shots I hear from my neighbors, the less I see of them (fido does his part too). Alot of People think that they are invading OUR space, but they aren't. you see a black bear in your yard, it's probably because someone's tearing down his home. Invasive species do deserve a bullet though. The neighbor dogs get into my trash more than the coons. I don't mind, it gives fido someone to play with. Alot of peeps kill the coyotes because they think they're the neghborhood dog killers, but I think the barn owls are the weener dog killers. We got some BIG ones.

+1

The Raven at Point Defiance will talk if you go early AM and it's really slow. When a lot of people come around he clams up. He says "Howzitgoin" and "Hi".

I'd like to pop the squirrels around here. Some asswipe in the neighborhood thinks its cute to feed them so a few years ago, the greys moved in and ran most of the reds off.
Problem is the neighborhoods full of uptight retired people.

I need something silent.

Ever seen a Great Horned Owl? I saw one about 25 years ago, of all places South Park area right at dusk, the sucker flew right infront of my car.I'll never forget the wing span on that sucker, real wide wings too. Anyone seen one?

I don't know man, but I approached a big one perched on a branch and it took off a few feet from my head. This was just a few months ago. This thing had a wider wing span than me. HUGE. I didn't know what it was on the branch until it's head did a 180. It was so silent, my dog didn't even see it. I don't know what kind of owl it was. We got a crop of field mice for them to munch, but this thing would need a schitzu or pomeranian to fill it's tummy. When the owls are hooting, nothing else makes a noise.

I had an owl (Barn I think) that almost took my hat off while I was duck hunting one day.

I was hid out in some swamp grass waiting for shooting light. Next thing I knew a big azzed owl buzzed me and could have sunk his talons in my scalp if he'd wanted to.

The freaky part was,I never heard him coming. I just felt the air move over me as he swooped down. It wasn't until he was a few yards past,that I realized WTF it was.

Buy some of these. Out of a .22 rifle,they're quieter than a cheap pump action air rifle. I killed an opossum with one a few years back. Hit him behind the shoulder,he took about three steps and fell over dead. A squirrel would never know what hit him.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=295321

In the fall when it rains, we get a mass migration of frogs across the road by our house.

There are a couple GHO's that stand in the road and eat frog after frog after frog. They'll let you walk up pretty close to them to watch them stuff themselves with frogs. They don't make a big commotion when they take off like a grouse or pheasant does. They go all stealth-mode, make a couple silent flaps of the wings, and are gone. You don't want to be a squirrel in the sights of an owl.

You seeing them GHO at night ?

Yeah. But there are lights around, so it's not a problem seeing/watching them.

That's the only time I see them around my house.........when it's frog-feast time.

That must quite a sight...prolly French GOH.