Edgar

Sometime in July 1996, our neighbors found an injured baby crow on the side of the highway. They rescued it and took it home, but it wasn't long (approximately 29 hours, if you're interested) before they got tired of its incessant cawing, insatiable appetite, and prolific pooping. They named him Edgar Alan Poop, and began looking for a place to dispose of him.

And so it came to pass that Edgar was given to our family, and it fell upon my sister & myself to take care of him. We took him in, and renamed him Edgar Allan Crow, for propriety's sake.

I would like to point out one thing to anyone who feels like taking in a young bird - its really not all that much fun. For the first week, Edgar did nothing but cry and eat and poop. I can see why our neighbors wanted to get rid of him. He also smelled terrible, and made any place we kept him (my sister's closet being the primary location) also smell. Oh, and all her clothes, too. And he shed.

For those who don't know much about a baby bird's growth and development (which included me for the first while), their first few weeks are spent growing feathers. The feathers poke through the skin covered by a white coating, which then begins to flake off and expose the true feather. This process is quite itchy to the baby bird, and it complains a lot, and wants to be petted, scratched, or rubbed, even more. Doing any of the above is guaranteed to cover you in a layer of waxy white flakes which look suspiciously like dandruff, except with larger flakes, and much, much more of them.

Then we discovered something else - these flakes of skin (while looking very distateful on a black silk blouse) are terribly appetizing to feather mites. That means that if you pet the bird, or even hold it for feeding, you not only get covered by avian dandruff, but you get the pleasure of many teeny little bugs running all over you.

Not a pretty thing, I assure you.

However, Edgar did grow out of his 'feed me every two hours or I'll scream' phase, and even grew a decent coat of feathers. This was cause for great celebration, as it meant we could now keep him outside!

We built him a sort of 'aviary' out of glass panels and chicken wire, less to keep him caged, and more to keep the cat away from him. (Yes, thoughout this whole episode, we'd also been pressed to keep little Edgar away from my sister's cat). Edgar was vehemently opposed to being left alone outside at first, and we had to keep him company quite a bit. Eventually, however, he became accustomed to it, and even got used to the idea of sleeping outside. (The first few nights we took him in as soon as it got dark).

Whenever the cat was secured in my sister's bedroom, we took the opportunity to let Edgar wander the back yard. He absolutely loved it, and invented hundreds of games to play. His favorites included hiding flower petals or bits of dirt in strange places (like inside shoes), and Tease the Dog.

The dogs (we have two, a black lab-greyhound cross, and something which is mostly blue heeler) really didn't take well to this. They would bark at Edgar, and snap at him. We immediately leapt to poor defenceless Edgar's rescue, and told the dogs off. The dogs got the idea, and just tried to stay away from the bird. Edgar, of course, delighted in chasing them around the yard, pecking at their tails, and especially stealing their toys and food.

It should be noted that Edgar had still not learned to fly at this point. His tail had been damaged in whatever accident left him along the highway, and it had not grown in properly. Some of his wing feathers were missing too. Seeing as he was not around any other birds, it never occured to him that wings were for anything more than flapping to scare the dogs.

My sister and I tried various methods of teaching him to fly. Our favorite was to put him up in the apple tree, and leave him there until he would jump down, flapping furiously. He didn't particularly like this little trick, and would caw indignantly. After a while, though, he decided he quite liked the view, and would stay in the tree for hours.

It was during one of these times that the cat got loose. It wandered into the yard, and, seeing a bird in the tree, made a run at it. Luckily, my sister caught the cat, but Edgar had panicked and flown out of the tree and halfway across the yard before he knew what was up. From then on, he began to use his wings for locomotion as well as a scare tactic. He still wasn't very good at flying 'up' but he got much better at chasing the dogs, and even at using a little wing-power to hop up the steps to our balcony.

Now the balcony is his favorite place to be. He knows that we live in the house, and that the dogs are allowed in & out, so he scratches at the door, pecks at the window, and caws until people pay attention. He also sits on the rail where we keep the cat's food dish, and will eat cat food if we aren't quick enough at getting him bread crusts or hamburger.

When the cat saw Edgar eating from his dish, he wasn't sure what to make of it. He tried sneaking up on Edgar, but Edgar just moved over and cawed at him. He batted at Edgar, but Edgar puffed up and hissed, and started pecking at him. The cat eventually gave up, and decided that Edgar must not be a real bird, because obviously a real bird would be terrified of cats. Now, the two of them get along about as well as Edgar and the dogs. At any rate, we took the mesh off his aviary so he could fly when & where he wills, since the cat is no longer a concern.

Edgar seems to enjoy the relationship we have. He gets free food, company, and occasionally he even gets petted (tho people who dont know him are confused about how to pet a crow). He'll hop up onto your arm if he feels like it, and will quite willingly sit on your shoulder, especially if you have food for him, or are wearing shiney earrings. Sometimes he even admits that he likes you, and will nibble affectionately at your hair. If you baby talk him or laugh at him, though, he's as likely to nip your ear.

Pretty intelligent birds, crows. Smarter than a lot of people, I think.

UPDATE: Edgar was released back into the wild, and by all reports is doing well. When last seen, he was twice the size of the other crows in the area, and every bit as mischievious.

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