Today's Photograph of the Day...Ode to the Crow. Why the Crow? BeCAWs... Crows are the only Birds that I know of who actually know how to make Tools and use tools. They know how to solve complex problems. They have a broad vocabulary. And they are oh so sneaky...
I was in a car once waiting for someone when I saw a murder (an appropriate name!) of crows in a tree watching something. After a while, I saw a squirrel on the ground, looking about furtively... but never UP, the direction he should have been looking. After a while, feeling safe, it dug a hole and hid a little morsel of food in it, carefully burying it before running off with visions of savory treats in its head. Not a chance!
For here comes old Black-Eyed Pete as sneaky as one gets, with his posse of black-hearts (and feathers) keeping lookout for him. He lands a few yards away, looking around to see if that buffoon's going to come back. Nope, coast is clear! He saunters nonchalantly over to the squirrel's treasure and unceremoniously flings dirt all over the landscape as he retrieves lunch, then flies off with it towards his cohorts to a fiendishly fresh feast.
You could hear them cawing delightedly, mocking that poor squirrel. Imagine his surprise later. "You know, I could SWEAR I buried it right here!"
As a well-fed sparkling black eye looks on.
