The New Hobbit Hole

[HairOfTheDog]

Interesting story, I think:

Tonight when I went out to care for my horses, a crow was dead in my horse's water bucket. I had noticed in the past crows gathering, drinking, bathing in the water buckets... they are large buckets... pictured here, behind the dog: Webshots pic

I am surprised if a healthy crow would drown in there... they are not big enough that a crow who fell in should not be able to fly or jump out. I worry that it was sick. For the horse's safety I washed both troughs out with bleach and refilled them, but back to the story for now.

The interesting thing about this story is the behavior of the other crows... I picked up the dead bird by the feet and walked with it out of the paddock and into my woods. Then I noticed a crow in a nearby tree squaking loudly. When I passed behind the barn, it flew to another perch where it could watch me. It clearly cared that I was carrying the crow.

I walked down a path laid it off the path out in my woods, and the other crow followed and squawked the whole time. Other crows began coming and for the next 20 minutes or so, there was a LOT of squawking... Several crows gathering back in the woods where I had laid the dead crow. I could not see after I walked away, but I assume they found and checked out the dead one. After awhile it quieted down.

I was touched that it seemed very much that the crows were upset and caring and/or grieving the loss of one. I don't know a thing about crows, and would not have thought necessarily that they had a closely bonded flock, or a dedicated mate. Is there a bird expert or wildlife biologist in the house? Or any idea, if it was a diseased bird, if washing out the bucket with bleach was sufficient?

[HairOfTheDog]

Floating freezer stories are funny! What do yoiu think of my crow story above?

[2Jedismom]

I think it was a coven of witches from your grove. Didn't you say you had a place where you thought they met? I bet that's what it was!

;-)

Strange, though...seriously.

[HairOfTheDog]

hhmmm... a connection I had not considered! I laid it back in the witches circle, actually...

[2Jedismom]

I knew you did...

[HairOfTheDog]

So is a dead crow a bad omen on the place, or my horse, or me, I wonder.

[2Jedismom]

If I were superstitious, I might have to say "It's not looking good!" But I'm not so the thing I worry about is bacteria. Sounds like you did the right thing, sanitizing with clorox.

Did the crow have any injuries on it? Could it have been drunk? No kidding, some berries make birds drunk and I wonder if it was drunk and fell in? It could have just been ill and succumbed while drinking?

The clorox was the best thing to do.

[2Jedismom]

Gonna take a quick soak. brb

[2Trievers]

Around here HotD, a dead crow is tested for West Nile ... please be careful!

Crows are notoriously communal. My hunter/gatherer son has a tape of crows in disress that he plays from a portable sound system. Within minutes crows are circling and calling overhead. The longer you play it, the more crows come, from miles and miles away. It is the MOST incredible thing to see. BTW, he also shoots some of the crows. They do tremendous crop damage to our orchard and farm. The flocks have to be thinned out once in a while and this is the most efficient way of doing that unpleasant task. &;-)

[HairOfTheDog]

It didn't appear to have injuries on it. I looked for that. I thought it looked a little bit naked like it might have been losing its feathers... but on closer examination I think that it was just wet, and the feathers on its underside were all flat. I didn't see anything that looked overly wrong with it, other than the fact that it was dead, of course!

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, thanks for that heads up! I will call the vet tomorrow... I have been hearing about West Nile, but I don't think it is here. At least the CDC is not showing it to be here:

CDC Map:

Horses: Cases of WN virus disease in horses have been documented, either by virus isolation or by detection of WN virus-neutralizing antibodies in 1999, 2000, and 2001. Approximately 40% of equine WN virus cases results in the death of the horse. The horses most likely became infected with WN virus in the same way humans become infected, by the bite of infectious mosquitoes.

In locations where WN virus is circulating, horse should be protected from mosquito bites as much as possible. Horses vaccinated against eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), western equine encephalitis (WEE), and Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) are NOT protected against WN virus infection. A West Nile virus vaccine for horses was recently licensed, but its effectiveness is unknown. Horses infected by WN virus develop a brief low-level viremia that is rarely, if ever, infectious to mosquitoes. There is no reason to destroy a horse just because it has been infected with WN virus. Data suggest that most horses recover from the infection. Treatment would be supportive and consistent with standard veterinary practices for animals infected with a viral agent.

[HairOfTheDog]

I am clear over in Washington state, BTW..

[2Jedismom]

Did you bake them in a pie? I woulda.

[HairOfTheDog]

hehehehehe

[2Jedismom]

Matthew was just now sleep walking...don't know what that's about. I asked him what he wanted and he said "Nothing" and I said "Why are you up?" and he said "Nothing" again...LOL! He went in and laid down with Steve...now what am I gonna do?

Guess I'll hit the couch, I hate to bother either one of them, and I can't pick Matt up and toss him back into his top bunk!

I have to read for the kids at the church tomorrow...I'm reading If Only I Had a Green Nose by Max Lucado. It's really cute, about doing wierd things to fit in and being snooty. I like it!

[HairOfTheDog]

Goodnight! - I am gonna hit the couch myself soon... very soon.

[Overtaxed]

Good Morning everyone!

I assume they found and checked out the dead one.

Are you sure they weren't around to scavenge it?

Maybe they were the Crebain from Bodega Bay.

[ksen]

The movie struck me as being a propaganda vehicle for the abortion industry.

That's why we've never watched it.

Well, I wish you woulda' warned us before my wife picked it up at the library (yet another reason to be suspicious of it).

The way it started I thought it would be anti-abortion, or at least somewhat negative towards it, since the main character, Homer Wells, did not want to perform them and he was a nice guy. While Michael Caine's character, Dr. Larch, did perform them and he was kind of a lout.

One of the main storylines was to get Homer to see the error of HIS ways, instead of Dr. Larch. Very sad, my wife was ready to put her foot through the television.

Oh well, live and learn. Maybe now she won't bring home so many chick flicks, I guess there IS a silver lining to every cloud. ;^)

BTW, Good morning all!

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

The way it started I thought it would be anti-abortion

Kevin, Kevin, Kevin, this is a mainstream Hollywood movie about abortion. There are no good pro-life people in the world of Hollywood.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

The way it started I thought it would be anti-abortion

Kevin, Kevin, Kevin, this is a mainstream Hollywood movie about abortion. There are no good pro-life people in the world of Hollywood.