Drama queens on the loose

This morning, a little mini-crow drama took place in front of the cabin. Crows are, among many other things, drama queens. Like my Baby Dog, their self-appointed task is to announce to the world anything that seems to them to be Out of Place or Wrong. In and of itself, this isn’t a bad thing, but the way they carry out this task leaves something to be desired, at least by human standards.

The problem is that minor infractions of the forest are capital offenses in their eyes. In human terms, crows would sentence a trespasser or a jay-walker to death. They over-react. And so, they become a bit like the boy who cried wolf. After a while, they are simply ignored, which I imagine only heightens their outrage.

So this morning, when I heard one of the local crows fussing, I paid no attention. In a bit, crow #1 was joined by crow #2 and then crow #3. Eventually, I don’t know how many crows showed up, but there was no shortage. By now I suspected that juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, who is a favorite target, or perhaps one of the Great Horned Owls was nearby. So I went to investigate. I didn’t see anything. The crows continued to fuss and scold.

And then I saw him. The neighbor’s cat, an old, fat and neutered male that I believe is at least slightly deaf, was stretched out and asleep underneath some undergrowth, apparently having missed his owner’s evening call to return inside. The crows were outraged. The cat was asleep (at first I thought it was dead) and unaware of the excitement it was causing. Eventually the cat heard me approach and woke up, blinking and stretching. The crows followed him all the way home. The cat ignored them.

This cat hasn’t hunted in years, if at all. The crows didn’t care about that. As far as they were concerned the cat was as dangerous as a hunting and healthy bobcat. I could hear them following the cat as it headed back up the hill to its house and breakfast.