Crow Won't Go

August 16, 2012 5:48 AM

Baby crow wants love. [slyt]

(Though the rest of the family would prefer it left that human alone)

posted by quin (47 comments total)

Damned wildlife laws, why can't I have a crow friend?
posted by The Whelk at 5:53 AM on August 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

You got some crazy eyes there mr crow.
posted by elizardbits at 5:55 AM on August 16, 2012

The crow has decided he's humanotherkin and his parents can't stop him.
posted by The Whelk at 5:57 AM on August 16, 2012 [20 favorites]

Sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.
posted by Gator at 6:02 AM on August 16, 2012 [19 favorites]

It's probably just trying to warn us about what the owls are planning.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:07 AM on August 16, 2012 [9 favorites]

That was so... so... awwwwwwwww!
posted by Splunge at 6:07 AM on August 16, 2012

"Man, look at the eyeballs on this animal. I'm stick around until it dies and then I'll feast for days!"
posted by DU at 6:09 AM on August 16, 2012

humanotherkin

Now I am imagining otters cosplaying as douchey frat bros and it is delightful.
posted by elizardbits at 6:09 AM on August 16, 2012 [33 favorites]

No! It's too! charming! My heart! ...meeeeltiiiing...
posted by Mizu at 6:12 AM on August 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I can't deal with how cute this is. I'm hurting inside!
posted by Coatlicue at 6:14 AM on August 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Now I am imagining otters cosplaying as douchey frat bros and it is delightful

Ariel is basically a deranged fangirl.

Back to crows! Staggeringly intelligent, I want one just so I can run controlled language tests.

Note this is also the only reason I'd ever want kids.
posted by The Whelk at 6:14 AM on August 16, 2012 [6 favorites]

Crows are so incredibly cool. They recognize individual people, develop attachments, and have an incredible social life. I raised ducks once upon a time, and I loved them, but crows are just the bees knees.
posted by nevercalm at 6:16 AM on August 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

....

So that's how it's gonna be huh?

Traitor.
posted by The Owls at 6:17 AM on August 16, 2012 [16 favorites]

I hope that dude does his research and then when the crow comes back next season it will remember him and they can be seasonal friends forever!
posted by Mizu at 6:17 AM on August 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I don't know. I looked at this guy's YT account and found the first video from this series. It seems that if he carelessly or deliberately imprinted the young crow on him:

I found a baby crow the other day and decided the cat that was laying in the road was too close, the crow couldn't fly so I took him home, mommy and daddy crow were pissed, but it was getting dark out and I know how crows disappear when it's dark and they'd leave poor baby here to deal with kitty, and whatever else would find a plump little flightless crow tasty.

So this is the 3rd day, and me trying to let him go somewhere safe. Guess I failed because when the parents followed me to the cemetery, they were chased away by other crows in the area. Though they followed me all the way there and I let the baby crow go, the parents left. And the other crows were quiet, and just looking... I decided to take him back home, after sitting near by and having him follow me around and climb up on me onto my shoulder each time I sat down.

I think I might be in a bit too deep with this guy right now, he thinks of me as another parent, great now he has 4 parents, Becky, Myself and his biologicals. :/

All 4 crow videos were posted on the same day (4 years ago) and none of them show the crow successfully rejoining his parents and flock over the three days that they were filmed. In this video, he mentions but doesn't show that the other crows approached and tried to feed the baby crow.

Again, I found a baby crow, decided to help him and then let him go.
While in my kitchen window Mommy flew by and he freaked out, hes seen other crows fly by but this one he yelled to, and it stopped in mid flight and reversed direction, lit on the house behind mine and started flipping out.

It flew off and came back a few moments later with 2 more crows. One of them flew over and clung to the screen that the baby was in, and he opened his wings and made that "feed me" call.

I decided to try to let him go out back to see if theyd help him out or what. Turns out they did, they tried to feed him while he was on my shoulder, one landed ish momentarily on my shoulder and tried to cram a half of a beatle in his mouth, but it went in my pocket instead and the baby was sad. I let him down on to the ground where I figured theyd have better luck feeding him and all he did was call to me and follow me around the house. I sat down on a wall by the edge of my driveway on the side of the house, and he walked right over and hopped up on me. I think I got a video of that.

So cute video aside, what happened to that crow?
posted by maudlin at 6:23 AM on August 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

Yeah, I found that weird. If you don't want the baby crow to come over to you then walk away. It's not that hard.
posted by MuffinMan at 6:29 AM on August 16, 2012

While the baby distracts the sucker, the other crows are hacking his bank account...

Crows are clever.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:32 AM on August 16, 2012 [19 favorites]

It seems that if he carelessly or deliberately imprinted the young crow on him

This is exactly what I thought. Baby birds imprint easily on anything that moves around them, and after a while the imprinting is permanent. This baby crow thinks the human is its parent. It has basically no chance of surviving in the wild at this point.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 6:37 AM on August 16, 2012

So cute video aside, what happened to that crow?

Way to ruin it. I mean you're right of course, but still.
posted by cashman at 6:37 AM on August 16, 2012 [6 favorites]

No, don't worry, I'm just - ah - chopping onions. Yes. I'm making a 10am lasagna. Leave me alone.
posted by Mooseli at 6:39 AM on August 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Quoth the raven, "WILL YOU BE MY MOMMY?"
posted by drlith at 6:46 AM on August 16, 2012 [15 favorites]

Yeah, I can't watch this. I'm too worried about the ultimate fate of the crow.
posted by maryr at 6:59 AM on August 16, 2012

I'd swear my dad once told me a story about how, when he was a kid he 'adopted' a crow and taught it to talk. The crow (it might have been a raven?) lived with him for the summer and then spilt. He never saw the bird again, that he knows.

So, I'll assume that the crow made out all right in the end.
posted by From Bklyn at 7:06 AM on August 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

That crow is now a telemarketer and your dad is a troublemaker.
posted by elizardbits at 7:07 AM on August 16, 2012 [9 favorites]

Urban Legend bad for wildlife: parental baby birdie units will NOT abandon babies if they know where they are. This learned as volunteer for Wildlife Center. Humans in your intent to do good, if a baby is on the ground and you've got pissed off birdie parents in the area - leave them be. Our human egos aside that think we always know best? Ma Nature's got this people ......
posted by cdalight at 7:08 AM on August 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

The parents are right freaking there. GO INSIDE AND LEAVE THE FACKING BIRD ALONE.
posted by Malice at 7:10 AM on August 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

When I was a teenager, one summer, we found a baby crow that had likely fallen out of it's nest. We took it in and fed it this most putrid smelling mixture of cooked apple and catfood that the wild bird people recommended. He lived in a cage in the kitchen until he got a bigger and feathered out. Ended up all his feathers didn't grow in properly which might have been why he was pushed out rather then fell of his nest. My Dad ended up building him a tall perch on the sundeck which became his home.

If we opened the window of the kitchen "Petey" would hop off his perch and hang around the sill. When Mom was working he would move onto the island and sit and watch her. He drove the cats crazy but the never attacked him.

When winter came closer my parents decided that it wasn't a good idea to keep so my Dad spent several days looking for an option. We ended up taking Petey to the city zoo where he took up residence in the petting zoo much to the joy of the employees there.


My friend across the street also found a young crow. In this case they nursed it until it could fly. The parents never left and would yell and scream when they went out onto the deck. After a month he was able to rejoin them. "Jojo" had a really unique caw and for several years would seemingly come and visit my friend and family when they were on the deck or in their backyard.

Crows are wicked cool birds.
posted by Jalliah at 7:27 AM on August 16, 2012 [19 favorites]

Please, sir, can I have some more worms?
I recently became a new daddy to a baby crow. (Squee!) What do these guys eat? Is there a wildlife feed store near Williamsburg? Should I buy organic?
posted to Ask Metafilter by The Great Imprinter at 9:57 AM on August 16, 2012 (17 comments) [add to favorites] 1 user marked this as a favorite

Carpet cleaning recommendations
Does anyone know of a solution that will get dried bird shit out of carpet? The affected areas are all saxony, though one berber rug got hit too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by The Great Imprinter at 4:03 AM on September 8, 2012 (8 comments) [add to favorites]

Noise cancellation machine
Mrs. Great Imprinter and I have had trouble sleeping lately. What are the best noise machines or noise cancellation machines out there? Nature sounds not needed.
posted to Ask Metafilter by The Great Imprinter at 11:26 AM on September 30, 2012 (38 comments) [add to favorites] 8 users marked this as a favorite

Dear God, won't somebody please help us?
There is currently a Hitchockian swarm of birds outside my house at the moment. They occasionally crash into the windows, though none have broken through yet. I've already closed the fireplace flue and we're assembling spare wood to cover the windows. Is there anything else I should consider? They can't squeeze through the mail slot, can they?
posted to Ask Metafilter by The Great Imprinter at 2:55 PM on October 4, 2012 (98 comments) [add to favorites] 125 user marked this as a favorite
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 7:40 AM on August 16, 2012 [40 favorites]

Wow, that's so sad. If only there were something he could have done instead of sitting there videotaping the whole thing.

Like, I don't know, maybe go into the house?
posted by Naberius at 8:34 AM on August 16, 2012

Relatedly.
posted by aught at 8:49 AM on August 16, 2012

For reasons I can't quite express well, this reminds of the plastic bag "wanting to play" from American Beauty (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHxi-HSgNPc).
posted by icefish222 at 8:52 AM on August 16, 2012

Yeah, I found that weird. If you don't want the baby crow to come over to you then walk away. It's not that hard.

You try walking away from a friendly baby crow. How could you? You couldn't. I couldn't. He couldn't.
posted by cmoj at 9:03 AM on August 16, 2012 [8 favorites]

Sure. It's easy. But then my pet tyrannosaurus rex follows me everywhere.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:08 AM on August 16, 2012

"You are not my mother. You are a SNORT."

(yes, I'm a one-trick pony)
posted by humboldt32 at 9:26 AM on August 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

He's probably thinking "HA! Now you have bird flu cooties".

Nevermore.
posted by stormpooper at 9:51 AM on August 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Maybe he is looking for sour poffins.

(or should that be in all caps for added effect?)
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:19 AM on August 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I have braved the trauma of reading youtube comments to bring you the happy ending:

what happened?! i need to know. i can't believe this hasn't gone viral yet.
jillycake21 1 year ago

He eventually kept yappin and his parents came down and started feeding him again and he's been doing fine since ^_^
WillowFox in reply to jillycake21 1 year ago

Did the little crow ever attain independence????
klingongal 1 year ago

Yep and he remembers me! It's awesome and I am so happy for him.
WillowFox in reply to klingongal 1 year ago

posted by Mizu at 11:51 AM on August 16, 2012 [10 favorites]

I'm glad this little fellow seems to have turned out okay. But this kind of situation can be dangerous for the birds involved due to the hazards of imprinting on humans, which crows and ravens are particularly prone to, and which can lead to birds who are unable to be socialize with their own kind or be set free.
posted by bookish at 12:40 PM on August 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

While the baby distracts the sucker, the other crows are hacking his bank account...

And commiting acts of terrorism.
posted by homunculus at 12:50 PM on August 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

And meanwhile, last week while I was out of town, my husband got swooped (and scratched) by an owl while out riding his bike in the park. I told him it was probably coming to give him his invite to Hogwarts -- he was not amused.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 12:58 PM on August 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

I once accidentally adopted a crow when I rescued it from my window well where it was trapped with a not so friendly cat. It followed me all over my front yard, into and all over my backyard while I did my yard chores and repeatedly tried to enter my house. All because I lifted it out of a window well using a tree branch and shooed away a cat.

Here he is in the window well.

Here he is hanging out on my patio.

Here he is trying to get into my living room.
posted by srboisvert at 2:19 PM on August 16, 2012 [10 favorites]

As if there aren't enough reasons to wonder about Penn State, they also have a crow harassment program. Perhaps he should have tried some of these techniques.
posted by Toekneesan at 2:29 PM on August 16, 2012

Just a little more on the subject of crows and other corvids from ASCAR, the American Society of Crows and Ravens. Despite the name, I'm pretty to very sure it's run by non-corvids. The other 'fun' fact is that in captivity a crow can live for 30 years.
posted by From Bklyn at 2:39 PM on August 16, 2012

Crows are really smart, and very social, the dolphin of birds. Which may be why adoption isn't unheard of. I remember witnessing crows morn the death of another crow back in the early oughts, when West Nile was wreaking havoc on US populations. A whole family group just screaming about the death of one of their kin. Their sorrow seemed painfully evident. You can read about that crow epidemic in this American Birds article. Fortunately populations quickly bounced back.
posted by Toekneesan at 3:16 PM on August 16, 2012

maryr: "Yeah, I can't watch this. I'm too worried about the ultimate fate of the crow."

He got shot by what was supposed to be a stage prop gun. It was a really sad bit of news.
posted by symbioid at 5:07 PM on August 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

Took me a minute there. Well played.
posted by cmoj at 8:10 PM on August 16, 2012

Man, it's been a long time since the gothy 90's, hasn't it?
posted by maryr at 9:38 AM on August 18, 2012