Today's walk report: 070121

 Cat food, cat food, crow food...

About a week ago I was thinking about how best to deal with dry cat food waste created by an array of sloppy birds on my patio. Some days are worse than others and yesterday was ridiculous. I'm not inclined to bend over, pick up the mess and put it back in Stan's dish because... I'm not inclined to bend over. Sweeping it into a pile and putting it back in the cat dish introduces too much foreign matter and I don't care to do that to Stan. So, what to do?

This was the situation yesterday. I swept up that pile thinking I'd leave it there for the birds and they would prefer that over Stan's bowl. A couple of hours later it was a mess again.

Long ago Google figured out my interest in birds and I'm constantly reminded of this on YouTube. For several months now they have assisted in turning my attention toward Corvidae, corvids, more specifically, ravens and crows. I am particularly fascinated by the intelligence of these two families of birds.

Since post vaccination my renewed vigor for walks has had me out and about just around the crack of dawn. It's mostly quiet, other than some light traffic along one avenue for the first 1/4 mile there is little human activity for the bulk of the walk. I like that. However, there are a few spots where I frequently encounter crows. One place in particular almost always has a murder of crows. A murder of crows is the collective noun for a group of crows. This is especially true on garbage collection day. That day is today. I decided to offer a healthy option for the crows diet rather than them picking at the overflow of trash cans. Purina Cat Chow Naturals.

As I approached I tried two methods to summon the crows to my intentions. I wanted them to know it was me delivering a meal and that my act was friendly. One, as I approached I held up and gently shook the zip lock bag containing the cat food. Two, I let out a low decibel very human sounding, caw, caw, caw. They were watching from a tree and also some utility lines above and across the street.

I didn't stop walking, went up to the next house, turned around and watched them close in on the cat food.

Corvus brachyrhynchos – American crow

Here's a not too related song about cat food. I love this song.