Keeping Up with the Crows

Lame Foot was one of the original five crows that began to visit us some time ago. It’s unfortunate, but the deformed foot was the only way to tell him from any other crow. Initially, Lame Foot just stood with the group and observed. As Boss Crow reduced his leadership presence, Lame Foot became more aggressive and vocal and took over the group. Over the weeks and months, Lame Foot showed up for breakfast every morning. At odd times, he would come by the house and fly low past the windows or walk around on the driveway until Pat noticed him and came outside. Then, they would have a nice visit. Pat would recount the stories of her day while Lame Foot patiently listened and then Lame Foot would talk about his day. After each of them had passed on the news of the day, Lame Foot would take off and fly away.

This last two or three months, Lame Foot has been absent quite a lot. Once, it was almost two weeks between visits. Pat says that recently Lame Foot has looked thinner, not as large as the other crows. The feathers don’t seem as black and don’t glisten like they used to. We are wondering now if we had the gender thing all wrong. Maybe Lame Foot is a she and has been nesting and trying to forage enough to satisfy the hunger of a bunch of baby crows. Coming to breakfast in the future and in the company of some smaller birds would certainly prove us wrong. We’ll try to learn more, and we will keep you posted.

Nuts to You

Pat took the peanuts and scattered them on the driveway. She called the crows in with the four-caw summon: “Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw.” The crows flew in, landed, and started eating. Pat said, “Good morning,” gave them a few words of welcome, and went back in the house. A while later, she looked out the window to see how the crows were doing. The crows were gone, but she saw what appeared to be a row of peanuts lined up on the driveway. Her curiosity was aroused. Pat went out to verify what she had seen. Sure enough, there was a row of 10 nuts, evenly spaced and lined up in a straight line. What was this? Was it a gift or message? The gifts she had received before were a stick and a pebble. She couldn’t imagine the crows were re-gifting the peanuts she had given them. If it’s a message, what could it mean? Maybe it’s about the nuts. She had been giving them peanut snacks for months. Sure, she sometimes gave them table scraps or a can of cat food or dog food or even an avocado. Maybe they were just sick of the peanuts and the message is “Nuts to you?” Who knows? Maybe I’m just overestimating their intelligence, and the peanuts were lined up accidentally. These inter-species communications can drive you nuts!

Dave Thomas

5/22/2025