Tweets --

On Monday, 24 June, Caitlin Strand reported watching a single crow
apparently hunting a full-grown squirrel on the U Dub campus. Her story was
intriguing because I had a similar experience a few weeks ago up in
Canmore, Alberta. I was walking along the river one evening, doing some
very casual birding, when I heard a commotion in some nearby trees. Two
magpies seemed to be chasing a red squirrel, and at first I presumed it was
because they had a nest nearby. As I stood to watch, it dawned on me that
the magpies were keeping quiet, rather than squawking, as I might expect if
they were engaged in nest defense. Instead, it was the squirrel that was
making the racket. It ran from one pine to the next, constantly looking
over its shoulder and apparently trying to escape them. The birds worked as
a team, matching the squirrel's every move and seeming to anticipate its
next move. They would take opposite sides of a tree, and sometimes go above
and below where the squirrel was. Slow-motion poetry in black and white. I
began to wonder if they were planning to set out their best china and
flatware. The three of them gradually worked their way toward me. The
magpies saw me but scarcely glanced my way; the squirrel didn't notice me
until he was about four feet away. When he caught sight of me he pulled up
short and his eyes bugged even bigger. Then he *really* didn't know what to
do, trapped as he was between three deadly forces. The wheels churned in
his tiny skull, and I wondered what he would do next. There really wasn't
much he *could* do, as the cover and escape options were limited. He was
too afraid of me to make a run for it on the ground. Finally I decided he
deserved a break, and stepped away a few more feet. About the same time the
magpies decided they had other things to do, and flew away. The squirrel
visibly relaxed a second, then burst out in a stream of invective, as if to
blame *me* for the whole episode. He must have decided I was in league with
the magpies, and maintained his verbal abuse for quite a while as I walked
away.

I, too, would be interested in other anecdotes about "hunting" crows, jays,
et al.

Those corvids -- gotta love 'em.

-- Janet Hardin
Port Townsend, WA
wings at olympus.net