rockbobmel Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 I am leaving my house daily at 5:30AM eastern time. Every day I hear thousands (it sounds like) of crows in a nearby tree. Just now, I got home and there were at least 1 or 2,000 of them circling above, squawking. WTF is going on?? I never seen this before.. It's like Hitchcock........There is a funeral home next door. Maybe they are feeding the DBs to the crows to save money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codhead Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 "Eaters of carrion, ravens were messengers of death, pestilence, andbattle. It was believed that these flesh-hungry birds could smell thescent of death upon a person before they died - even through the wallsof a house. In paintings, the raven may be seen flying overbattlefields, eager to feast on the dead. After the Battle ofArmageddon, ravens will descend upon the lands of the wicked. [isa34:11]. Morrigane, the celtic goddess, is accompanied by three ravens: Babd, Acha and Neman, the three goddess of war. Thesebirds were thought to have a special taste for the bodies of hangedcriminals and to enjoy plucking out the eyes of sinners. Christiansthought they carried off the souls of the damned and associated thisbird with Satan." Seen some little red dude with a pitchfork running around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 That's okay Bob. There have been a lot of them in our area lately too. Of course, I live about a block from the infamous crematory, where the operator left over three hundred bodies laying around. Pretty strange. The crematory is gone and they are now turning the property into a memorial park. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 ...and a bird sanctuary... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Down here the grackles will congregate like that. Never seen that many crows at once though, it must sound awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockbobmel Posted February 12, 2006 Author Share Posted February 12, 2006 OT, They're noisy. I wouldn't say awsome though. I like nature sounds, but this is kreeeepy...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 I absolutely hate crows and ravens..... They circled my house when times were rough. All I can say is that I wish I had a 12 gauge with buck shots. And lots of ammo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 ...and a bird sanctuary... [][][][][] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuned4life Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 when you have crows flocked together they are called "a murder of crows". here in rural western n.y. they survive the winters mostly on road kill and manure that the farmers spread on the fields. we have 21 acres of mature hardwoods and a few times every tree was black with crows. for whatever reason they stay all winter now. under normal circumstance its nearly impossable to get close enough to shoot a crow with a rifle. in late march the murders of crows seem to go crazy. they will land in the trees and on the cabin and not fly when approached. its impossable to sleep in the morning because from first light the sound is deafening. no matter how many i shot they will not leave. ive never seen a raven in n.y. state, ive seen a few in northern pa. very rare in these parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyjoe72 Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 RUN AWAY!!!!!!!!!AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 what is the difference? I always thought the huge ones are ravens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 On one visit to Disneyland (S. Cal) the park was overwhelmed with crows/ravens. Been to D-land many times but had never experienced this. Must have been 10,000 birds. Do they congregate for migration, mating, war mongering.....???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuned4life Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 what is the difference? I always thought the huge ones are ravens raven: largest member of the corvidae family. (corvus corax-common raven) 27 inches long (size of a large hawk), 50-60 inch wingspan, glossy black or purplish black, live 25-50 years. ravens prefer wilder areas away from humans. crow: also a member of the corvidae family, corvus brachyrhynchos-common crow. 17 inches long (size of a large pigeon). 40 inch wingspan, black, lifespan 5-10 years. thrive around humans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 thank you tuned4life, also I looked it up (we live in a goggle world) to oscarsear's question, they are migratory birds and thus protected by the federal government from killing, trapping, selling, etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauln Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 There is an easy way to get the birds to avoid your area. Birds are a hazard at airports and many techniques, some very exotic and expensive, have been employed - but they fail. There is; however, a sure fire method that most use now. Get some spools of very thin bare wire and string it up high from place to place - try to get long spans from tree to tree or whatever is around. Bird's have a greater density of light sensitive cells in their eyes than humans (hawks' and other high flying hunters are 25 times more dense). Their periferal vision is much more excitable than ours, and the barely perceptible thin wire drives them to distraction. They will constantly fell threatened and anxious, and will move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 then why do pigeons and sparrows sit on telephone wires? I say place the klipsch outside and watch some PBS Nature with hawks or eagles. Maybe when the eagle or bird of prey scream they might get anxious. They probably have a cd of hawk and eagle cries too... Then go for the 12 gauge buck. If that fails chop the tree down [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauln Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 then why do pigeons and sparrows sit on telephone wires? Those telephone wires are thick. There is never any uncertainty that they are there. The "scare off" wires need to be very thin like thread. You can see a telephone wire miles away even though it is only the width of a dime because your visual system can extract features of its length and "fill in" the rest. For humans, a thread sized wire will become invisible from a few dozen yards away. The greater acuity of bird vision makes the detectability of these thread sized wires come into and out of visibility. This is what makes them nervous and leave the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Crows don't eat cow manure! What planet are you from?! They eat the insects and worms that are attracted and/or worms that come up from manure spraying in the liquified form. For crying out loud! The reason that these flying varmints are over populating is that there are restrictions on hunting them due to human population in close proximity. Like coyotes, they will adapt and exploit that. A very very smart bird. Where there is hunting, there are less crows. DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 I remember one crow (thought it hasn't been done by others) actuall joined the ranks of dolphines, monkeys and so by actually making a tool and using it to get food. The crow was given a paper clip in which it bent it into a hook and pulled a basket of meat that had a handle in a glass tube that the crow's head could not get to normally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 I've seen something like that at a bad location. DFW Airport. The were great numbers of some black bird in the trees at dusk. They put up a terrific racket. I can only guess that the officials don't have a good way of getting rid of them and there is the chance they'll move out of the trees, and onto the field. Which would be worse. Maybe it is mating or migration. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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