Posted on 04/11/2019 8:03:21 AM PDT by csvset
MELAKA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Crows have become a menace here, driving residents to despair while leaving one local councillor trying to figure out why the birds are targeting women's undies.
Melaka Historic City (MBMB) councillor Tan Chin Gwan said he was perplexed by why crows were snatching undergarments placed on clotheslines, especially at the city's commercial hub of Kota Laksamana.
"These thieving birds are a menace as they have swooped down and snatched dozens of panties since June last year."
"I have received more than a hundred reports of crows terrorising condominiums and high-rise residential areas in Kota Laksamana in the last 10 months, and 20 per cent of the complaints have been on missing panties," he told The Star here on Thursday (April 11).
"I am still baffled by why these crows are snatching panties, and where they go to hide them," he said.
Mr Tan added that crows have been brazenly flying into hotel premises, eateries and schools to steal food, scaring people in the process.
He said the bird population has grown so much that the MBMB pest control unit has been forced to cull them.
"In February, 81 birds were shot within the Kota Laksamana area and the operation will be continued till the end of this month," he said.
Mr Tan said that with their beaks and sharp claws, crows are also frightening away tourists, while hoteliers have complained of these creatures stealing food served at open-air restaurants.
"There have also been reports of hungry crows injuring hotel staff, as well as damaging rubbish bins at housing estates," he said.
Mr Tan added that schools in Bandar Hilir have been forced to place safety nets to stave off the avian siege.
"It's now 'normal' to hear of crows attacking pupils at canteens in a bid to grab their food," he lamented.
When it comes to counting crows, Mr Tan said the crow population in Melaka is estimated to be in the thousands, and they are now scattered across different areas within the city.
Hummingbirds are great...we make our own hummingbird nectar (heh, not like it is hard to do)
They are fascinating, not only because they are unique, but because they are fasincated by humans and don’t seem to be afraid or intimidated by us at all.
We have hummingbirds that look in at us. They hover there, looking in the window. They aren’t looking for nectar because it is there...they are just looking at us as we look back!
My father and I were talking one day while watching our black cat Sam get dive-bombed by a blue jay. Sam was an outdoor cat and extraordinary hunter.
Well, the Jay came too close, and in a flash Sam ran, leaped high in the air flailing madly with both front paws fully extended and splayed out nearly double their diameter with the claws also fully extended, and took down that unfortunate Blue Jay by a single tailfeather.
My dad and I looked at each other in amazement as Sam stalked slowly away with that Blue Jay in his mouth.
My dad was not all that into our family cats we owned, but as he got older (and Sam did too) I think the two of them bonded, and he developed quite an affection for that muscular, jet black cat.
One morning, Sam didn’t return. I walked out along the road near our house, and sure enough, I spotted a black form on the side of the road about fifty yards away and I knew it was him, he had been hit by a car. I picked him up and brought him back to the house to bury.
I told my dad, and while he didn’t display much outward emotion (for men of his generation, that wasn’t his style) his eyes told a completely different story. The loss of Sam definitely had an effect on him.
We have a pair of huge ravens at the ranch. They have a large vocabulary, and sometimes sit in a tree just outside the office and chatter away. Very smart birds, don’t miss a thing.
I dropped a blue m&m in the road one afternoon, and within an hour it was gone.
They sit on the edge of the trash drums, pull the bag up and put it under their foot until the trash is at the top and ready to be picked through.
They are interesting critters, are they not? I always wanted to own a bird, but...I think they can have very concentrated personalities, so maybe not.
I sat next to a woman at a wedding one time, and we discussed a wide range of subjects, and she turned out to be Irene Pepperberg, an animal behaviorist who studed and wrote a book about a gray parrot named “Alex” (who lived 29 years!)
When I asked her what it was like living with an intelligent bird like that, she said it was like living with a tempermental and willful teenager!
She said it became very possessive of her, and if she brought any guys home with her, Alex would attack them! I thought after that maybe I didn’t want a really concentrated personality like that living with me for a few decades!
That was an interesting wedding...I had an astrophysicist from MIT sitting next to me on the other side...we talked about mathematical tranforms, and I remember thinking “Hey...I understand what this astrophysicist is talking about...”
Barely!
I love posts like this, thanks!
Glad you liked it! Honestly, I know my posts are often too long for a lot of people to read...and I understand. But I like writing them...writing is fun.
I’ve read that for example a group of pure white birds cannot tolerate any differences amongst themselves and if one of them has a little tiny speck the others will zero in on it and peck the poor thing to death for having that little speck.
Birds are mean.
They seem to love the Gartenmeister fuschia plant,,,
...or try a laser pointer pen. Run it up and down a wall, if there is one, and see what happens...
or the ultimate, I believe, if you have their confidence, try putting some nectar in a red cola cap and hold you hand out with it in your palm; the results may be heart-stopping :)
This are the things I plan to do when I retire!
You’ll love it!
Have you read the book *The Big Year*?
[better than the movie] IMO.
also:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/10-great-books-on-birds-a-big-year-reading-list/
I am putting that on my list today! Thank you-
If I were an old batcheor, I would get me a crow!
Old, bachelor, crows and panties.......Nope, not even going there.
Hahahahaha...I think Alas Babylon! covered that at post #10...I hadn’t even thought of how that sounded!
What I was implying is that I don’t think I could have a wife AND a crow in the same house with me!
Yesterday afternoon we took our feeders down prior to being hit with thunderstorms due to the forecasted winds. This morning when I put them up, a Crow made the announcement . It cawed as soon as I hung them up.
Yeah! Hey everyone...food’s back!
There are a lot of crows where I am right now up near the Canadian border to New Brunswick on the Atlantic...
Saw a Merlin today sitting on a power line. Stopped my car and turned around. As I pulled over, it took off. Beautiful flyers! Just smaller than a big robin or about the same size...:)
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