Crow Attack

I saw something incredible Wednesday morning. A group of crows has taken up residence in a stand of trees not too far from the back of my house. I have always been a bit fascinated by crows. I am not sure why, but they are very interesting birds. In our culture they are often associated with death and are considered morbid. I do not understand why this should be so because death is as natural a process as any other –but then, there are many things about our culture which I do not understand. My religion often pictures crows with the Goddess-as-Crone or the Goddess-as-Warrior.

Crows are always up to something. They are almost always doing something worth watching. Until Wednesday I had never seen them defend their nest. I had heard about this before, of course, and read about, but I had never seen it. It is one of those things you read about and think –no, that can’t be true.

Wednesday morning I went outside with the dogs. It was just after dawn. There was plenty of light but the sun had not yet rose over the mountain. The dogs went about their morning routine and I am watching them when suddenly this law “caw!” goes out. I look up and towards the stand of trees where the crows are nesting. I see nothing at first. “CAW!” went the sentry, louder and more demanding this time. Suddenly there was a great disturbance, and then an entire flock of crows starts screaming. Then they take wing and descend en masse to one area, cawing and screaming. I could not make out what the disturbance was, but I could see them through the winter bare trees. The next thing I know, the crows are doing some incredible aerobatics and chasing something through the trees. A few moments later it was over, and the crows had settled back onto their roosts. Occasionally one would caw and another would answer, but the intruder did not come back.

The whole episode only lasted a few minutes. But it was amazing to watch. Maybe there’s a lesson in there about community we humans could emulate? ;-)