My late grandmother spent the last two years of her life living in an apartment on the West Bank, with windows facing west towards the big towers. She lived alone, but the crows kept her company. They came in droves, and filled the trees of her neighborhood, fascinating her. She always reminded me that Crows are very smart birds, second only to the Raven. She recorded their activity in her journal and always wondered, "Where do they come from, where do they go"?
I think she was right about their level of intelligence. I once witnessed what appeared to be some kind of Crow funeral service. There were hundreds upon hundreds of these birds gathered in a grove of trees at the U of M. They were all facing in the same direction towards the lead crow, who held a stick in its mouth, standing beside a dead friend. Everyone listened as the leader waved a stick around in a figure eight pattern over its head. They all bowed in a moment of silence, I was astonished at what I was seeing. Suddenly the lead crow called out a long mournful note, the crowd went wild. They all took off heading across the river towards the west bank. Has anyone else noticed this kind of behavior by crows in the city? Are they up to something we should know about? Who has been studying their behavior and activity besides my gramma? Are there more or fewer than we had around here in years past? Conor Waite Park _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
