Crow Gives the Bum’s Rush to Coyote

crow-pixabay

There are times when having the ability to capture images on video is worth its weight in gold. Alas, I can only tell you in pale, puny words about what happened yesterday in my back yard: a crow gave the bum’s rush to a magnificent-looking coyote. (Which is a good thing. Read on!)

 

I was sitting in a chair at about 9:15 a.m. watching the hen in my back yard teaching her chicks how to hunt and peck — which is just about the cutest thing in the world. They were about six feet away from me. My cat, Hunter, was sitting on my lap, napping. (He knows not to chase chicks…but I always keep an eye on him and Patches anyway whenever the chicks are out, even though the mama hen knows how to harass and harry the cats when necessary.)

 

I was dressed warmly and wearing a hoodie. All seemed well.

 

Suddenly, I heard a goat snort, the hen rushed her chicks into the hay barn from where they’d been hunting and pecking, and a crow off to my right set up a fierce, outraged squall. I turned my head to the right just in time to see the crow dive bombing a full-grown coyote. The coyote was fewer than 60 feet from me, ducking and dodging and heading for the roadway along the goat fence with all deliberate speed, suddenly realizing he wasn’t welcome where he was and that he would not be allowed to stay if the crow had any say in the matter. I realized that, if the animals hadn’t alerted me, that coyote would have gotten a lot closer…close enough to snatch a chick or chicken. (I was so being still and silent watching the chickens that he may not even have noticed I was there.)

 

The whole thing was a magnificent display of the interplay between species…and of how clueless (and vulnerable) a human being can be without dire warnings from other species! I have  a distinct appreciation now, and the rock-solid belief, that humans may not have survived as a species for long without the ever-present alarm systems that they had around them in the form of birds and beasts.

 

I have often seen “our” crows run off chicken hawks, but this is the first time I’ve even seen one run off an adult coyote!

 

Needless to say, I fed the crow afterward!  And they share the chicken food and treats, too.

 

They’re the best unpaid security force a chicken owner can have!

 

All hail the crow!

 

 

 

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Kris Smith

1 Comment

  1. Edward Eugene Smith on May 1, 2017 at 5:36 pm

    Another amazing testament to the intelligence and wonder of our fellow creatures. A moment under the sun you will never forget!

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