Riding in the Flock

[Zoot Katz]

As you may have heard me mention before, there are crows that accompany me on the bicycle.
They're my airborne traffic calming posse and they work for peanuts.
They don't follow other cyclists up or down the popular bicycle route that goes by my door.
I made some cheesy videos with my still camera strapped to the rear deck of the le Béte.
The camera is in a fixed position so doesn't capture the birds flying overhead, in front and alongside.
They went up on Vimeo today if you're interested.
http://vimeo.com/8656033
http://vimeo.com/8656196
http://vimeo.com/8656258

 

[Ypedal]

That's kinda weird..

waiting for you to become road meat ?

 

[Zoot Katz]

That's kinda weird..

waiting for you to become road meat ?

Yeah, it scares me to think all you'd find is my bike and shoes.
They probably just view me as a soft, slow moving garbage truck.

 

[TPA]

Target Practice.

Kinda like shooting skeet in reverse.

 

[Zoot Katz]

Target Practice.

Kinda like shooting skeet in reverse.

If a crow shits on you it's because they were aiming.
I've bopped a few with peanuts and some of them have caught the peanuts in mid air.
They're amazingly intelligent creatures. I'd rather ride with them than the idiots on some group rides.

 

[Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh]

it's murder

 

[enoob]

its kinda like the old Hitchcock movie Birds . better be carfull if that flock gets big enough they aint gonna wait till your road kill they'll just gang up and take ya. :wink:

 

[AussieJester]

I think the crowz are attracted by your shiny Kettle helmet

KiM

 

[Zoot Katz]

I think the crowz are attracted by your shiny Kettle helmet

KiM

Really they're after my nuts.

 

[Takemehome]

Smelly feet Zoot ? :lol:

 

[AussieJester]

Naaagh its his chrome dome kettle helmet i tellz ya Crowz like shiny items for their nest, if he's
not careful a Murder of them will...erm 'Murder him' and steel the whole helmet and use the whole thing
for their nest

KiM

 

[PedalingBiped]

a few months ago the SEATTLE TIMES had an article about a UW professor that was in tree banding a baby crow. The little crow started crawing and local crows picked it up.
Later that day he was walking across the campus when a crow flying over spotted him and started crowing at him. this went on for weeks. He wanted to find out if crows could ID humans so next time he banded a baby crow he wore a ape mask.
Then he had other people wear it. (tall, little,big, small, male, female) Crows would start crawing when they say the mask, did not matter who wore it.
Then he had one person wear the mask upside down. He said a crow flying overhead actully tucked his head and turned it up side down, recognized the mask and started crawing.

So, watch out Zoot, no matter what you wear, crows actually know what your face looks like!!!

 

[amberwolf]

[youtube]dbwRHIuXqMU[/youtube]

 

[paultrafalgar]

Kim is right, of course, it's the shiny helmet they like. Reminds me of an ex-colleague of mine who was touring in the outback in Australia and was attacked by an Australian Blackbird (? Kim will know the species it is) from behind while riding a bike. When he recounted the story to locals, they told him to wear a reversed baseball cap that had eyes painted on it, so that the birds would think they were being seen and that this would prevent any further attacks. It did. Paint eyes on the back of your kettle, Zoot!

 

[dogman dan]

And the crows told each other the shiny helmet guy tosses food.

 

[AussieJester]

All jokes aside i have NEVER in all my many thousand of miles on the road seen a dead crow on the side of the road caused by a human, they pick at road kill but damn they never are road kill...IMHO a magnificent intelligent bird and yes we have ALOT of them in OZ, as common as heads...


KiM

 

[Cackalacka]

Shucks, I was going to drop some witty word-play, and I see Toorbough beat me to the punch.

Hopefully these dark companions are auspicious and dig your style, Zoot.

 

[Zoot Katz]

And the crows told each other the shiny helmet guy tosses food.

That's a fact except I rarely wear the kettle. It's usually the white kayak hat or black bandanna Nutcase helmet.
What the camera doesn't capture is the birds flying in from the north, east and west to greet and intercept me. They're called in by the birds already following or waiting on the wires along my route. I like to think they call me "bike nut".

Even when I don't take nuts or kitty kibble for them they still follow just "knowing" that I'll toss them snacks. The rain gear doesn't have convenient pockets but they've not yet come to associate that with "no nuts today".

 

[vanilla ice]

I hate our local crows but thats freakin awesome...

 

[dogman dan]

Yeah, never feed the crows at home. I've seen em chase a dog away from his dinner bowl. Here they come for the winter and hang till spring. If they decide to party at your house, get ready to hear cawing for months. Don't plant a pine tree that has warm needles in the winter by the bedroom window.

Whatever you wear on the head, they know you now Zoot.

 

[Zoot Katz]

Yeah, never feed the crows at home. I've seen em chase a dog away from his dinner bowl. Here they come for the winter and hang till spring. If they decide to party at your house, get ready to hear cawing for months. Don't plant a pine tree that has warm needles in the winter by the bedroom window.

Whatever you wear on the head, they know you now Zoot.

It's too late for that. There are a couple cedars and a fir tree in the yard.
When I take out the garbage, walk to the store or doing yard work there's usually 8 to ten birds hanging around or following me.
What they really like is the witch hazel tree in the yard. They select and break off twigs for their nests. There's something in the bark that repels certain types of insect pests.

Here's the back story on how the whole thing started.

 

[vanilla ice]

For sure they are smart buggers.. but sometimes loud and annoying. A big flock hanging out at your house all night truly can suck! Our local guys don't just caw in daylight. Luckily for my neighbors I have some camera equipment. Break out a big flash and let em have a few zaps.. then they go hang out a couple blocks down where we can barely hear them.

 

[Zoot Katz]

For sure they are smart buggers.. but sometimes loud and annoying. A big flock hanging out at your house all night truly can suck! Our local guys don't just caw in daylight. Luckily for my neighbors I have some camera equipment. Break out a big flash and let em have a few zaps.. then they go hang out a couple blocks down where we can barely hear them.

Almost all of the crows in the area roost in Burnaby near BCIT. (British Columbia Institute of Technology}
It's amazing to watch long streams of birds flying east about 40 minutes before sunset.
There are a few staging areas on my normal routes where hundreds of them gather before heading east to join the rest of the birds.
If you're out at BCIT when they arrive there are literally tens of thousands of birds arriving and sorting out who gets what branch for the night.
That's noisy but awesome.

A friend who works near BCIT worked late one night and was almost afraid of walking to his car as the vacant parking lot was covered with crows that reluctantly, and somewhat begrudgingly, slowly moved out of his way.

 

[julesa]

a few months ago the SEATTLE TIMES had an article about a UW professor that was in tree banding a baby crow.

That was Dr. John Marzluff. I met him at a party last year, interesting guy.

 

[Stevil_Knevil]

Almost all of the crows in the area roost in Burnaby near BCIT. (British Columbia Institute of Technology}

..are secretly developing opposable thumbs