To be scared that I’m still marked by the crows?

[ChoccyOrangeYum]

A couple of years ago I walked the dog on a local field. I know nothing about birds but I was later told it was their breeding season.

Anyway we must have got too close to their nests as they suddenly started flying around irrationally, making a hell of a racket screaming etc and then started dive bombing the dog. The dog thought this was fun so started chasing the crows. All hell broke loose basically and we were suddenly surrounded by crows going mental. We made a quick exit!!

I left it a few days then took the dog back on the field but after speaking to locals about the crows I stayed away from the back of the field (where they’re breeding) and kept dog in lead. As soon as we stepped on the field the noise started up again and the crows appeared and started dive bombing again! There was someone else on the field with a dog who the crows were totally ignoring!

We left and after a bit of research I found that crows remember faces and don’t forgive easily 😬 so we didn’t go back on.

A whole year later we went back on assuming the old crows won’t be there anymore but we were on there 5 minutes before it all started again. These birds are not bothering anyone else on the field, just me!!

Anyway my neighbour has suggested we go for a walk in the field tomorrow morning but I’m shit scared of the birds. Will they still go for me if I don’t have the dog?! Will they ever move on from the incident 2 years ago or am I banned from the field for life?!

My horrible dog killed a juvenile crow she found injured on the ground. That was about three years ago. The crows still have her marked. Fortunately she was with DH at the time so I’m okay!

What treats dod you take?

Reading this, I am relieved my two cats now favour ratting.

Good luck with the walks, today.

Love this thread.

I once read about a woman and daughter who fed the corvids in their garden. They would then bring them gifts. The woman was a keen photographer and out on a walk one day lost her lens cap. It appeared on the bird table later on.

I do love the idea of using a Boris Johnson mask as per PPs idea (or equally appalling human) mask. If enough of us did and then tried to annoy the corvids… just saying.
But anyway, enough politics and back to Corvids.

Hope they forgive you OP.

Well crows are now officially my new phobia. Thanks all.

My cats sometimes sit on my neighbour's doormat. A few years ago she was annoyed with me. 'Your cats have ripped my doormat to bits!' I apologised and got her a new one, same stuff, coconut fibre. Then I looked out the window really early one morning and two magpies were gouging and ripping chunks out of it. The feckers were stealing it for nesting material; it was a really wet spring and everything else was soaking. They are a very clever family of birds, no wonder there are so many of them.

We don't have crows but jackdaws come for whatever I put out. A few years ago I stuffed some wool into a suet block feeder and hung it up, thinking that the small birds would take wisps for their nests. A few did, but the jackdaws went crazy for it. They'd lined up and take turns to pull out clumps of wool, then go the back of the queue to let another jackdaw have a go. There was a line of about 10 jackdaws with their beaks stuffed with wool. Now whenever we get a delivery with wool packaging I save it for the jackdaws.

As someone with a bird phobia, I now never want to go outside 🙈

Good luck!

Oh that is a great idea! It reminds me that when we used to brush our moulting dog outside all the fur would be taken by the birds.

I opened this thread thinking it was a Botox-gone-wrong scenario and you were grumpy it hadn’t got rid of your crow’s feet. 😂 The actual scenario is far more entertaining!

Eagerly awaiting an update. Did you take treats?

Yes, we need an update!

Are you there OP?

They are incredibly clever birds. I hope you have made peace with them.

No return yet OP?

She said she'd either be 10 minutes or an hour so we need to wait a bit yet.

I agree food is the way forward. Crows do pass on information to other crows, and they do not forget faces, so you need to shift the dynamic by giving them treats. It might take a while , they are highly intelligent.

Yes but we know how long the wait in A&E is usually on New Year's day.

Seriously though- hope it goes well OP. I want to make friends with our crows now!

they seem to like macdonalds chips
they are very clever, they manage to take food out of the bin, opening the bags with their claws

I like crows, they chase off the Sparrow Hawks. I’ve posted this before on a similar thread:

The Highways Agency found over 200 dead crows on the M4 near Bridgend recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu.

A Pathologist examined the remains of all the crows, and, to everyone's relief, confirmed the problem was NOT Avian Flu.

The cause of death appeared to be from vehicular impacts. However, during analysis it was noted that varying colours of paints appeared on the ...bird's beaks and claws. By analysing these paint residues it was found that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with lorrys, while only 2% were killed by cars.

The Agency then hired an Ornithological Behaviourist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills.

The Ornithological Behaviourist quickly concluded that when crows eat road kill, they always have a look-out crow to warn of danger. They discovered that while all the lookout crows could shout "Cah", not a single one could shout "Lorry"

Crows are really intelligent. We have a pair in our garden and they come back at DDs meal times to get whatever she's left. If there's nothing left they sit on the steps outside our living room window and wait. We love them.

Feed them. Leave gifts. Get them to remember you as good, not the person who endangered their babies.

I hope they enjoyed whatever gift you offered to them!

This thread should be in Classics surely

They are protecting their young from predators - dogs. Surely you can walk in the field just gave them a lot more space for a while. And food helps too.