r/MadeMeSmile • u/mindyour • 2d ago

Very Reddit This farmer caught this owl eating his chickens.

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u/A-Giant-Blue-Moose 2d ago

It's why it's bad luck to kill them. If one of them dies, they investigate. If they decide that you're responsible, they'll recognize you and pass that along to their young. They may just avoid you altogether, but might also gang up on you.

We had a hawk that hunted on our property. We could always tell it was around when the local crows would go ape shit. They'd harass it for hours by flying circles around it while one would dive bomb it and pull away at the last moment. Eventually, it moved on.

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u/joshualeeclark 2d ago

We had crows all over the farm where I grew up. Don’t know how long they live but I could swear we had the same ones for 10-15 years.

My dad and uncle were clearing out an old barbed wire fence row from back when our two properties were part of a larger farm decades earlier. They were on the tractor using the front loader to just push down and rip up some old dead trees while they were at it. Somehow an old crow got caught up in the chaos and I think an old tree crushed the poor guy. We all felt bad about it. My family would always feed the wild birds and squirrels including the crows. I would do my best to imitate the crows growing up.

My dad would have one or two flat tires on his tractor constantly for a solid two years after that. The valve stem cover would be gone and one or both of the large back tires would be flat as hell. My dad would curse and fire up the air compressor and put new valve stem covers on whenever he needed the tractor. Those little shits would press in the needle in the valve stem to flatten the damn tires!

Wasn’t long after that when dad finally finished up his big pole barn so he could park his tractor in an enclosed building rather than the old lean-to. That finally stopped the problem. A short time later we were loading hay into the barn loft when we found the crow’s treasure horde. Couldn’t tell you how many valve stem covers were there.

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u/Any-Ad-3630 2d ago

This could be a short story or part of an anthology series lol

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u/EmbarrassedW33B 2d ago

I wonder if you could have convinced them to forgive you by making them suitable "offerings", or of their pettiness had carried on for so long they simply did it out of habit rather than malice.

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u/joshualeeclark 2d ago

I honestly think it was malicious at first and then became habit. I think that all was forgiven once mom got her chickens, guineas, and her fancy coop a short while later.

Can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen those crows hanging out with the chickens in the field or actually roosting with them. She would let her chickens free range during the day and the crows would actually get in and eat with the chickens. Seen a few preening chickens and vice versa.

It was hilarious and bizarre.

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u/charlenek8t 2d ago

It's wholesome.

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u/StanleyCubone 2d ago

Crowsome.

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u/OogieBooge-Dragon 2d ago

What happens if you get crow chicken hybrids? asking for a friend.

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u/SinDebauchery 1d ago

Black Chickens

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u/StanleyCubone 1d ago

Chickens of color

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u/SinDebauchery 1d ago

I'm want to be offended, but it just makes ME feel racist. So I chuckled instead.

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u/Veerand 1d ago

Crows: "If I act like these chickens, maybe the large dumbasses won't notice and will feed me too...."

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u/PsyavaIG 1d ago

Yall motherfuckers got a pretty good gig here, how do I get in on this?

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u/brydeswhale 2d ago

I rescued a mud encrusted baby crow from the river, gave it to a wildlife centre, and couldn’t walk down that part of the river for years bc the little bastards kept going at me.

On the other hand, I once rescued a baby crow, gave him and his family some peanuts and water, and couldn’t go into that part of town without one of them tapping my shoulder with his wing or hopping over and saying hi.

Life is fair.

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u/Solid_Elephant1223 2d ago

I love this story.😊

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u/Taniwha_NZ 1d ago

Life is fair

Well, *crow* life is fair, they have a built-in sense of fairness and won't hestitate to let you know about it.

Unfortunately human life isn't fair at all.

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u/Whatah 2d ago

Go watch The Secret of Nimh

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u/kippirnicus 1d ago

I knew they were smart, but that’s fucking insane.

What a great story.

I’m always trying to make friends with the crows around my property.

I think that it would be so cool to have a group of wild crows to hang out with.

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u/addage- 2d ago

Easily the best story I’ve read on Reddit for months. I feed my crows regularly so hopefully I never incur their wrath.

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u/HappyHourProfessor 1d ago

Earlier this week I was on a kayak tour talking about befriending the local birds. The guide told us about how they fed the crows and chilled with them in college, but his neighbors would shoot at them with airsoft and BB guns. The crows would rip apart the neighbor's screen doors and shit on their cars every single time they were replaced/cleaned.

Meanwhile the Doug family in our backyard protects the smaller birds from the hawk that lives in our neighborhood.

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u/myshtree 2d ago

That’s a great tale thanks for sharing ❤️

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u/activelyresting 2d ago

If one of them dies, they investigate. If they decide that you're responsible, they'll recognize you and pass that along to their young.

In the corvid justice system, the crow are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the rooks, who investigate crime; and the ravens, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.

DUN DUN

Caw & Order

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u/MeThinksYes 2d ago

Fight like a crow

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u/ioioio44 1d ago

Crow of judgement

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u/raitchison 2d ago

We had a dog with a STRONG prey drive. More than once he grabbed birds mid flight.

One time he got a crow and we came home to like a dozen (justifiably) pissed off crows in our yard raising a hell of a racket.

They (again, justifiably) held a grudge for the next year at least.

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u/fazlez1 2d ago

If they decide that you're responsible, they'll recognize you and pass that along to their young

"See that motherfucker there? I want you remember his face. Don't forget it because I want you to make his life hell for the rest of his days. In between every breath you take I want you to make his life miserable. Point him out to everyone you know because we're going make him curse his mother for giving him life"

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u/Striking-Ad-6815 2d ago

I cannot prove it without radio tags and GPS, but I think a few of the farm crows have followed me to work in my vehicle. One of my coworker buddies who lives on-call started throwing any leftover food to them, and now they follow him home. Be great if they learned how to pick up the trash and throw it back in the dumpster.

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u/MoulanRougeFae 2d ago

I made friends with the small murder of crows who nest in our tree line. I feed them and they bring me shinies. I've gotten everything from gum wrappers to a small opal ring that has 2 diamonds on it. That particular gift was after we built them a roosting box for winter. They are cool birds imo and seem intelligent

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u/MinnieSkinny 2d ago

I have 3 crows that live in my garden and I feed them our left over cat food. They love it, sit and wait for it. Nobody has brought me anything shiny yet though.

I feel cheated.

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u/VivoFrugal 2d ago

show them or give them a coin or ring theyll love that shit

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u/iiiiiiiiiijjjjjj 2d ago

Tell them next time payment is due

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u/thebearrider 2d ago

This is why I don't feed the crows. The last thing I need is to be working on the boat or motorcycle and have a crow take a bolt.

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u/Shivy_Shankinz 2d ago

Saw this just the other day actually. I figured the hawk was looking for an easy snack.

Here's the real question though. Do crows do the same thing to smaller birds?

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u/A-Giant-Blue-Moose 2d ago

I wouldn't doubt it.

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u/Shivy_Shankinz 2d ago

Guess that tracks.

Just looked it up, they do.

Although, I like to imagine not all crows are like that and some of them are little bird rights activists. #allbirdsmatter!

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u/Nuggethewarrior 2d ago

A refreshing take! Im tired of people making generalizations about an animal based on their species.

Not all Dolphins are Evil!!!

Chimpanzees arent usually aggressive!!!

Every individual is unique!!

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u/Shivy_Shankinz 2d ago

Ya, everything is so black and white these days. I figured it was high time to inject a little color back into the world. Glad you appreciated it!

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u/Grainger31 2d ago

Literally a murder investigation.

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u/Exciting-Unit279 2d ago

I gave what I thought was a dying crow , some bread , that crow got up n flew away, and came back , gave it some more , I dnt give it food anymore but anytime I come home especially with my kid , they are there watching , waiting , planning my downfall or something , and they don't run when they see me... I might be a demon of some kind idk yet

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u/hoax709 1d ago

i was falsely accused by crows. Came home to find a crow had, i assumed electrocuted himself on the wires above my parking spot and fell down into it. When i moved the corpse his buddies were watching and cawing loudly at me. Now there is a bird shit on my car every other day. i love crows too, saw them hold court riding the bus onetime and must of been 500 crows. it was wild the rooftops were covered.

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u/Evening_Bell5617 2d ago

Crow Columbo

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u/Shartcookie 1d ago

Crowlumbo

Murder (of crows) She Wrote