We have a pretty large crow population in our area, which is not surprising, given where we live. However, not everyone loves crows like we do – especially monocropping farmers who don’t want them in their corn fields, for instance. Some days, I’ve seen at least a hundred crows in some of the fields around here.
There are five crows who have made our property their home base, and we are thrilled, because it’s actually been an intentional effort on our part to accomplish this. “Why would anyone want to invite crows to stick around?” you might ask. Well, besides being really intelligent, beautiful, and mischievous animals (that’s enough for me right there!), they are also quite effective at deterring hawks. And when you are keeping poultry, that’s a pretty valuable service they can provide. Having a murder of crows around means no chicken murders committed by raptors! Why not work with nature on these things?
So each morning, we put out some cat food, corn, or stale bread ends on a little platform above our fence charger. Often, we’ll hear them talking to each other about it. Did you know that they can recognize faces, and tell their friends whether to trust you or not? They are still very cautious around us, but we are building trust with them. Not only do they enjoy the treats we leave for them, at least two of them seem to really enjoy hanging out with our ducks. It’s kind of uncanny to see them out there just standing on the ground near our waterfowl, like they are just naturally meant to be together. I always enjoy seeing it.
Of course, because of their cautious nature around humans, it was not easy to get these photos, and I apologize that I couldn’t zoom in further for better quality. But hopefully this gives you an idea of their goings-on.
The weather has been a bit schizophrenic these past few weeks, and it has created some issues for us with our water supply out in the barn – our fix on the hydrant failed. I cannot stress the importance of avoiding our mistake of purchasing one of the “Made In China” hydrants that Tractor Supply sells. I really wish they’d carry an American made brand, because we will replace this one with a better quality product once the weather (and our wallet!) allows.
I’m trying to get back on track with regular blog updates – so hope to see you back here soon!
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