A Bad Winter For Crows

Now that the weather's warmer it's hard to remember, but this last winter was a bad one for crows. We get them every year here, it's part of their migratory pattern. Corvus brachyrhynchos. A small flock or murder usually settles near the dump or in one of the empty lots. They typically arrive in mid-November and are gone by the first snow. At one time, we affectionately thought of them as symbols of changing seasons, mascots for late fall. But this year, the crows brought friends, came early and stayed late, like bad party guests.

By the time the pumpkins were out for Halloween, our cars were covered in crowshit. We'd never seen a murder so big. Crows were on every roof, in every tree, and more arrived every day, at dusk. (We never saw them during the day). They were aggressive too, in ways never witnessed before. On Halloween night, they were swooping in at folks, perhaps attracted by the colorful costumes and shiny foil-wrapped candy. Trick-or-treaters had to run from one house to the next swinging their candy bags overhead. The crows would flap down, snatching hats and rubber noses, scaring the kids. I watched it all from the upstairs window, in the dark, smoking. Now and then a big black shadow would come and smack against the glass. My guess is they were interested in the glow of my cigarette.

The first snow came and went, melting quickly, as it tends to nowadays. The crows stayed. They stayed through Thanksgiving, and well into the holidays. It snowed again and the crows stayed. Their presence went a long way towards souring the general mood of the season. Crows chewed through strings of lights, stole ornaments and garland from trees. Carolers were shouted down by a deafening chorus of caaah-caws overhead, or sometimes they were just chased away. We were forced to cancel this year's Nativity play in front of St. Liborious -- the crows had annexed the manger and one of the Wise Men got bit on the finger.

After the New Year, when the real cold finally set in, the crows became noticeably less hostile. They stopped divebombing pedestrians. No longer did they tap on your windows all night, or hiss at you as you ran from your car to your front door. Maybe the freeze mellowed them a bit, slowing the cold blood in their veins. Or maybe they got bored with us. By mid-January, the crows were downright timid. You could shoo them off your stoop without getting your ankles nipped. Knowing they were now scared of us, we made it a sport to chase them from tree to tree. Their numbers were thinning. The chorus was quieter. And one night, at sundown, the crows just weren't there. It was the first of February, and the last crow had left. Back to where they came, I guess, or down south somewhere, like Arkansas.