There seem to be more crows around these days. One was hanging around the area the other day. I had my little Weber fired up, Mesquite charcoal and Alder chunks for smoke. Had a couple nice racks of pork riblets going. Yum! So, Mr. Crow is perched on the neighbor's 8ft. wood fence, about 20 ft. from the Q. I pull the top off to check the meat, I come in through the back door to get more sauce. As I come back out the door, what do I see? Mr. Crow swoops down and lands on the rim of the Weber, and tries to grab a rack, while his feet are getting very hot! He had to forget that plan fast, off he flew. To quote Bugs Bunny, "da noive of dat guy". Funny what critters will do. I dumped some whiskey on the area he beaked, and let them go another 30 minutes. They tasted even better having survived a rib napping. Don't know where Mr. Crow had dinner.
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MR. CROW
- Thread starter Rudi
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Dumpster robbing has emboldened them. The best crow bait I have ever seen in a Big Mac box from mcDonalds. Put a rock in one side and let the lid flap in a nice breeze. I have seen crows nearly turn a backflip when flying along then they spot a Big Mac box!
Ivan the Butcher
Member
You are what you eat! Up North crows eat lots of garbage and road kill, so they taste like decomposed stuff! I hear that down south, there are flocks that live by raiding Pecan groves! I'm told they taste pretty good. I'll still pass!
Ivan
Ivan
THE PILGRIM
Member
Tommy Lee Jones wailed on about Crows here in Albuquerque.
I don’t recall ever seeing that many except down in the Bosque,
That’s the trees down along the River.
I don’t recall ever seeing that many except down in the Bosque,
That’s the trees down along the River.
I worked in a power plant that was separate from the main production plant. We popped a lot of corn for people coming down from the plant on break. It seems that we always had about half a grocery sack left early in the morning. We would discard the stale corn behind the power house every morning. The crows caught on quickly and come in to eat every morning. The crows would pick up about 10-12 pieces lining their whole mouth and fly away and I suppose hide it, then return for more. Fun to watch.
I have also seen more crows lately here in NE Kansas than ever before.
I have also seen more crows lately here in NE Kansas than ever before.
kthom
Member
Pilgrim,
Not to say that TLJ doesn't know the difference, but I'll bet that what he was really complaining about were the millions of Grackles that inhabit that city and every other place where I have ever been or lived, including way out in the country. Restaurants and other businesses here in West Texas have had to remove all the trees from their parking lots so folks could park their cars and walk across the parking lot to get in the places. At least cows don't normally poop on top of cars, but I have seen cars that you could not touch, much less see out of the windshield, because of the Grackle droppings left in just the hour that the owners had spent inside the places. Customers just did not return after one session of that.
I detest! Grackles. They are everywhere in very large numbers. I could tell you stories! Yes, there are crows in large numbers also in Albuquerque and most other places as well, but the crows can't hold a candle to the mess made by Grackles. WalMart Parking lots are full of 'em and they park themselves on your vehicle to get a better look at whatever the folks walking to and from might drop on the pavement. They always leave there calling cards there. If you don't remove it quickly, it will take off the paint! And you ain't got enough fluid in a completely full windshield washer system to clean off the windshield with your wipers either!
gman51
Member
For as long as I can remember I had not seen a crow around here but after the fires to the North of me a few years ago I started seeing crows. Well I heard them at first and didn't know they were crows till I heard them cawing to each other. Now that you mentioned them I haven't really heard or seen them for awhile now.
I never heard of crows stealing from a hot burning BBQ.
I never heard of crows stealing from a hot burning BBQ.
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Somebody real smart once told me that crows were songbirds. I know they are smart, where they are hunted they will fly the minute you stop the vehicle. I declared war on them one summer I spent by myself up at a Canadian lake. Every now and then I enjoyed sleeping in after sunrise, not with the crows roosting nearby, they were worse than a barnyard rooster. My neighbor was a sweet little lady with a very soft heart that liked to feed them dog food. I didn't have the heart to bark at her but quietly started hunting them with a wrist rocket, once I got one I hung him upside down out in my acreage, I was told they hate that and will leave the area. It sort of worked but not enough to please me, I warred on. One day I was laying out in the sun on the wharf after going for a swim and watched a crow perch atop a spindly tip of a fir tree, his buddy came along and tried to knock him off, eventually succeeding, the took turns playing "King of the Tree" and had me in stitches laughing at their antics. That got me to studying them and I learned to have more respect for them and I called the war off, we lived in harmony. They have a working vocabulary of dozens of words, each one has its own name. I understand how tough they can be on other birds and animals but nature is a tough bitch.
No crows around here but we have Ravens. The y come down from the high country when the snow flies. And winter here in the foothills. Camp robbers per excellence. Cat & dog food are their favorites. They roost in a pine tree out the back door. But most have gone up hill now.
ParadiseRoad
Member
...we have crows and ravens out in our trees most mornings...
...they caw...trying to get my wife to bring out stale bread or corn chips...
...interesting to watch...especially the big ravens...
...the squirrels make a run at them...trying to bite their feet to get them off the deck and away from the food...
...the big ravens peck at the squirrels...and continue with their business...
...they caw...trying to get my wife to bring out stale bread or corn chips...
...interesting to watch...especially the big ravens...
...the squirrels make a run at them...trying to bite their feet to get them off the deck and away from the food...
...the big ravens peck at the squirrels...and continue with their business...
My newest FIL wanted to go crow hunting so one of the places we went was behind my parents house. My dad called and said my mother did not want us to shoot the crows as she was feeding them scraps and liked to watch them. Ok, fine. We hunted some other places for a bit.
Then about two months later, I get a call from my mother.
Can ya'll come shoot some of these crows?
Seems they had gotten to be quite a nuisance.
Then about two months later, I get a call from my mother.
Can ya'll come shoot some of these crows?
Seems they had gotten to be quite a nuisance.
I have had a perpetual war with crows. They have expanded their population mainly because of all the people. They eat almost anything. Ravens and crows are really hard on songbirds and gamebirds/animals. Now my wife feeds the darn magpies. They are also hard on songbirds...but they harass snakes. Especially rattlesnakes. So I guess they have ONE redeeming factor. They make a terrible mess though...and their nests are incredibly large and fall from the trees onto our "lawn"...yeah right...lawn.
gman51
Member
I read that if you want to hunt crows then put an decoy owl outside and just wait. The crows hate owls and will flock to it. Crows are very smart but a decoy owl will fool them. Crows usually have a scout crow checking things out warning or informing other crows of danger or safety in the area.
In mid 80's, there used to be huge number of crows, especially in the valley and along the river. During the fall evenings, they'd take flight and there'd be a literal river or crows. It used to be a sight to see! Then they slowly disappeared.
I live on the westside and there are some a number of raven pairs that show up in the fall. Ravens are in pairs, crows, in groups. And ravens don't caw...
We used to hunt crows quite a bit. and gman is right. crows HATE owls. But they quickly learn the difference tween a decoy and a REAL owl. I, at one time, had a fairly large Great Horned Owl...He was somewhat injured and couldn't fly. I used that owl to hunt crows one year..or at least a part of the year. That was the meanest nastiest bird I ever dealt with. When we were gonna go shoot near a crow roost...we'd take that owlwith us...on the way to the shooting area..I'd use the ol 222 on a crow out in a field. When we put the owl out on a post we had rigged up with a roosting stick on it I'd give him the dead crow. He'd pick on it a bit. When the scout came out looking around we'd call him over...he'd see the owl with a dead crow...and that was all she wrote. We'd let him go back to the roost and here they'd come. The best we ever did on one stand was 71 crows before they finally realized what was happening.
Crows aren't usually that dumb though. I finally had to let that owl go. He thought he was starving to death. I couldn't kill enough mice rats and squirrels to feed that sucker
Rigor Mortis
Member
Ben Franklin said that if people were birds few would be smart enough to be crows.
jrm53
Member
Back in the early 50's when we had Christmas vacation from school I used to hunt them with my brothers model 67 Winchester single shot rifle and a box of .22 shorts with a pocket full of hard Christmas candy I had lots of fun and it was a long time before I ever hit one. They are very smart birds and a worthy adversary. Jeff
What is the best way to eat crow?
