"Cathy F." wrote in message
...

;-) Crows are apparently much shyer than I'd assumed they'd be. I've
been feeding several of them for a couple of years now (peanuts & walnuts
tossed out onto my front walk, drive, or lawn), and only a couple of them
are now brave enough to come within about 15 feet of me. But they sure
come swooping over as soon as they realize something's on offer, & sit up
in the trees or on the wires until they figure it's "safe" enough to come
down & to get their treats. Then they often do a side-step feinting sort
of deal till they get to the goodies. And if a squirrel shows up, they
never try to block the squirrel - always jump up into the air & avoid the
squirrel instead. Are fun(ny) to watch.


They are reputed to be extremely intelligent. I'm not sure I buy that idea.
If they were that smart they ought to be able to figure out the difference
when somebody's a threat or if somebody's a friend.

There was a weird story I heard when I was a kid. One of my chums told me
that if you raided a nest and caught a young crow they could be taught to
speak just like a parrot only better and much faster --- but you had to slit
the tongue lengthwise first.

I don't know how stories like that start but I heard it over and over again
from a lot of people so it wasn't something he made up. I honestly doubt
that anybody ever tried it. And if they DID - why should slitting the
tongue enable them to speak better than a non-cut tongue?

Pretty gory. If I were a crow and somebody slit my tongue I'd be smart
enough to get away at the first chance.

Pat