This story doesn't surprise me at all. Ravens, which look similar to crows and are probably from the same bird family, have always been considered among the smartest creatures in the animal world. I read an article about them a couple of years ago that was totally fascinating. The most amazing thing about them is their apparent ability to understand cause/effect relationships for a series of events.
The article or one of the follow-up letters contained a description of one raven that would sit in an oak tree along a busy road, dropping acorns down on the road in the hopes that a squirrel would get run over by a car while gathering them. The raven would then feed on the carcasses of these dead squirrels.
a description of one raven that would sit in an oak tree along a busy road, dropping acorns down on the road in the hopes that a squirrel would get run over by a car while gathering them. The raven would then feed on the carcasses of these dead squirrels. That's nothing.
There was a crow in my hometown who would steal Mrs. Murphy's pies by dressing up as a traveling vacuam cleaner salesman. When he would dump out the ashes on the carpet and ask her to go get her vacuam to try it first, he'd grab the pies and vamoose.
She never did figure it out.