Following are three stories “for the birds” and some “I did not know that!” tips.

Our friend, Syd, prized his trucks and rode in them as proudly as a cowboy on his prize steed.

Forty years ago, Syd began tossing food out to the crows because their “presents” kept the insect population down in his garden. “Birds eating bugs,” said Syd, “is a safer method for controlling insects than exposing my pets and children to toxic sprays!”

Crows fly 40 miles a day in search of food and Syd’s yard was a favorite treat of theirs! Over the years, the black bird group’s population grew as they were socializing and cawing on his telephone wires. Crows are one of the most intelligent birds and can recognize a human by its face. And they sure knew who Syd was!  Each morning, he had a devoted noisy feathery crew waiting for him.

The busiest bird waiting area (the wire) ran directly above Syd’s vehicles’ parking spot. One day, one of the birds pooped on his new truck.  Syd marched out, looked up at the birds and announced, “I will feed you, BUT you have to promise not to mark my truck!” They both kept their promise. Not one mark was left by the trapeze swinging birds above a succession of shiny trucks.

When Syd was 78-years-old, he was in and out of the hospital for a few days. His family fed the birds.  The crows held their morning vigils and kept their promise of keeping his truck clean.

The morning that Syd died, when his daughter returned to his house, she saw that the birds had acknowledged his passing with a huge white plop on his black truck.  They knew! They never returned to his home again.

A second crow story is about the English Duke of Westminster, who was building a condo across from Christine’s condo in West Vancouver, Canada. “Shortly after the Duke died,” said Christine, “75 crows descended, in black clouds, from all directions onto the arm of the construction’s crane. They held a vigil for 30 minutes before flying off.  Then, adding to the mystery, not one crow has been seen atop the crane since!”

A third crow story happened to Lewis at a race track, while he was marking race cards with a pen.  A crow flew in the room, marched over to his table, snatched up the pen and flew out.  Lewis ran after the bird and pen, but the crow flew up onto the roof, caw-laughing down at him. (Crows are intelligent, curious and love sparkly things, just like women are with jewelry!)

The apologetic race track staff gave Lewis another pen.  He had his head down, studying his race card again, and guess who silently flew back in?!

The crow grabbed the second pen and jumped off the table with Lewis and the staff in hot purr-suit.  The crow remained one step ahead of them and took off - with the pen -  giving him something to crow about!

The crow was obviously preparing his emergency plan and earthquake proofing its nest with pen reinforcements! And, yes, crows and their “cronies” have knees called elbows!

Video
Watch Canuck, the crow, who stole the knife from a crime scene!
https://www.thedodo.com/canuck-rescued-crow-canada-1822831628.html

- Birds keep insect populations down safer than pesticides and birds are environmentally safe. For this reason, we always have bird feeders and a bird bath to attract birds.

- Aloe Vera farmers use ducks in their fields for “bug patrol”.

- Birds need your help feeding and watering them in freezing weather and droughts.

- Yard free-range chickens excavate your soil, eliminating so many pests that it is sensational, plus they deliver a healthy egg to you each morning!

- When baby bird season arrives, they need their busy bug-hunting parents.  So, when the birds spot an enticing bird feeder, make sure it is not a deadly one! Never hang bird feeders above a platform/bench that cats can hide under and/or stand on, jump up and grab distracted birds.  When a bird lands on the bench for the dropped seeds, the bird quickly becomes a cat snack.

- Low hanging bird feeders allow cats to jump up and catch birds.  This also applies to hummingbirds. Cats call bird feeders hung up under six feet a "meal-deal"!

- “Countless hummingbirds are dying,” informs Tips ‘n’ Tales reader Ila in Hope, BC Canada, “because feeders have perches. Snip perches off hummingbird feeders before you hang them up.  When a bird stands on a perch, they fill their crops with cold water. It is dangerous on cold mornings, because the cold water shocks their system and they fall paralyzed to the ground, where they are taken by cats. The effect is the same as your hands not working when they are cold. Without feeder perches, the birds must circulate more, and they can’t drink enough at one time to have this effect.”

- Crows and raccoons are early risers and will gladly inspect your trash bags prior to the garbage truck’s arrival.  Place garbage out the morning of pick-up day, not the night before.

Does your pet having something to “crow” about? Tell us!
angelscribe@msn.com

Mary Ellen's Silver Persians swam their way into readers and viewer's hearts! They have appeared in International magazines and newspapers around the world. (France, England, Canada, China, Germany, USA, etc.)

Also, several National and International TV shows featured the swimming felines teaching pet-water-safety. And their furry faces appeared on a line of shirts.