Vast Blackwing Conspiracy
Comments: 9
Weed species and vermin thrive around humans. Just something about us, I guess. The crows in Tokyo have been scary for a long time — and they’re getting scarier. My daughter and I have been menaced twice by crows atop a nearby apartment building whose roof we sometimes visit to enjoy the view (the last time was a couple of days ago).
Crows ‘Invading’ Japan
Yufuko Oikawa/Amy Bickers, VOANews.comJapan’s crows have become an urban plague, harassing city dwellers. They squawk continuously at dawn, waking up sleeping neighbors. They peck holes in garbage sacks and toss trash onto normally tidy city streets. And the big, jet-black birds have been known to attack people. Japan’s Wild Bird Society estimates that about 130,000 crows live in the country, a third of them in Tokyo. That is about four-fold increase from 20 years ago.
I’ve heard that various flocks of crows have learned the garbage schedules for different parts of the city. They move from one tide of garbage to the next, following the swell of foodscraps. It’s like Endless Summer for an oily black itinerant welfare species.
The way they look at you is a bit creepy. We supply the food and are then nothing but irritations to them.
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Posted to General Rants • 2003.06.28 (Sat) • 10:05
Comments
Posted by gomichild 2003.06.28, 10:15
I remember sitting by a river once to tuck into a bento. I looked up and about 30 crows had snuck up on me. I ate nervously as 60 beady little eyes watch my every mouthful.
It was just like a scene from Hitchcock’s “The Birds”…
Posted by Miguel Arboleda 2003.06.28, 13:50
Really we shouldn’t be surprised. It’s not the crows that are “oily, itinerant welfare species”, but us. Our stupid, wasteful, overindulgent habits are already killing us. We eat like bacteria and stop at nothing to get more and more. When a crow (probably a lot smarter than we are, simply because, unlike us, they have to use their wits daily to survive) sees this superabundance, doesn’t it just make perfect sense that they partake of the bounty? Tokyo didn’t have so many crows thirty years ago because Tokyo generated almost no garbage then. Even milk bottles were recycled.
It’s scary all right seeing these efficient, bold, well-organized creatures that remind us too much of ourselves. And perhaps a good taste for us of exactly how we must appear to all the rest of the wild world. We overrun the whole world, and then we have the nerve to be outraged when another creature does the same to our world.
Humans are weird creatures.
Posted by Miguel Arboleda 2003.06.28, 13:59
PS: If you really want to have a Hitchcock experience, go to the National Park for Nature Study just next to Meguro station. Walk there around 3 to 4 o’clock, just before closing time. Whoever started the place in hopes of giving people the experience of seeing wild animals in Tokyo probably never figured in the hordes of jungle crows that would invade in the last ten years. Not only will you experience your first bird poop monsoon, but the rustling of thousands of feathers overhead and the ninja-like menacing, shadowy presence in the canopy truly gives you the feeling of “You are entering the haunted forest. Turn back now before it is too late.”
Posted by Adam Rice 2003.06.29, 05:01
I had an experience similar to Miguel’s in Arisugawa Koen. I wandered down a path that I had never taken before, and it was like walking into a bad neighborhood. Or a Hitchcock movie. I was surrounded by these enormous crows, and they didn’t seem too happy to see me.
Last time I went through, there were signs in that park warning that crows had been attacking people, especially women with shiny hairclips.
Posted by Pooped On 2003.06.29, 19:30
While walking through the park, I once stared at a crow sitting on an overhanging branch. And the bastard shat on me! I swear it timed its pooping perfectly. Don’t stare at crows.
Posted by Ethan 2003.07.02, 06:15
I actually find it funny to hear all the references to Hitchcock about “menacing crows” with their “beady eyes”! Why? Because the movie “The Birds” is just that, a movie! It’s fictional, and nothing like that has ever happened. Also there were more than just crows in that movie!
But people will be people, and what we don’t understand, we fear. Such as crows. Why are we afraid of a little bird?
I think it’s because crows are so smart. And so much like us! They know how to think and plan ahead. That’s why they can poop on your head if they want! And who among us hasn’t wanted to play a practical joke at one time or another?
Anyway, we see these smart birds doing things that ordinary birds don’t do, and we fear that. We think they just might try to take over!
As for their “attacks” on people, most of them are for two reasons: 1. They are afraid you are going to hurt their young in a nearby nest (with good reason - see this article) and so they are trying to scare you away to protect their young. 2. They are attracted to something you have, and are trying to see if they can get it (shiny things can be popular amongst crows, too, as they are amongst people), so if you are concerned about that crow swooping at your head, try taking out or covering that shiny hairclip! 3. (Okay, I said two, but thought of another!) They just want to see your reaction! Afterall, there is a reason why crows, ravens, and all the corvid clan are traditionally thought of as tricksters!
If you really are concerned about the crows, try taking a different course of action. Try educating yourself about them. You might be pleasantly surprised to find that they are a fascinating creature! Not to mention smart, friendly, creative and resourceful. And they are mostly harmless - much less dangerous than we humans are!
Posted by Miguel Arboleda 2003.07.02, 10:45
Hooray for those who bother to really see, Ethan! Since I was a kid I have watched so many people assume so many things about animals, but never take the time to really understand what the subject of their fear is (I guess it’s that way with everything, really. How many people take the time to truly see and understand a homeless person?). Crows and ravens are among the most intelligent birds in the bird kingdom. National Geographic did an article a number of years back on animal play. There was one series of photographs showing crows sliding down a snowbank. Nothing could explain this behavior except that they were having fun! For more information on these amazing creatures, here is an interesting book by Bernd Heinrich: “Ravens in Winter”.
Posted by MacDara 2003.07.04, 03:15
The crows around my neighbourhood, particularly the hooded crows, are almost like gangsters. The jackdaws are their hoods or henchmen, and now and then one might see a magpie try to ingratiate himself with the group. I’ve been watching them for years. They know who the locals are, they loiter about like a gang of hoodlums on the corner and only scatter when a stranger passes through. I’m more interested in their behaviour than creeped out. And of course, I’m taking some anthropomorphic liberties in my descriptions here. But still…
Posted by riccard0 2003.07.17, 03:52
Smart indeed, they are
[via Hivelogic]
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