It's been a long, rough winter. It's early April, and yet snow is everywhere. The crows had been so quiet these past months. I remember one very cold day this winter seeing two crows standing in the snow, one right behind the other. They were silent. I can't imagine what it must have been like for them to experience this extremely cold winter. I believe on that day the wind chill factor was 42 degrees below 0. I saw them while I was getting in a cab to go to school.
Some weeks ago, they became quite vocal again, although they haven't nearly reached their full noise potential yet. The other day I saw two crows in a parking lot between two parked cars next to something that appeared to be a bag from a fast food restaurant. One of them was dragging the bag with it's mouth even though a puddle of water was right there. The drags were short efforts, not one long drag. After I passed the car that impeded my vision from them as I was walking, I saw that they had been successful with the bag. They had come out between the two parked cars and the bag was with them. One of them used it's beak to turn the bag upside down and food came out. One of them picked up some kind of nugget with its mouth. It was really something to watch, as crows are so intelligent.
Although it was a nice experience, I still feel somewhat disconnected to them. Back in Schenectady, New York, I felt like I was "right with them." But these crows are different. I feel no connection to them and I don't know why. Maybe it's the environment I'm in. It's much easier to feel connected with animals when you are in a park or a college campus that is stretched out. This campus isn't, too open, at least in the areas I usually see the crows. There are houses and buildings all around and I don't feel my heart opening up. Is it me? Or, are these crows just so different? I will tell you though, these crows have guts! I know crows can be bold, but one crow was perched on a sign and someone walked right by. That person was very, very close and that crow showed no fear...did not flinch...did not fly away. I think that other birds would have just naturally flown away. But I think it takes more for a crow to be scared. Still, the person was soooo close. I'm guessing that this is a wonderful sign, that they crows have not been persecuted or bothered in this area. I'm happy for them.
