6 ms·
Crows are known to give "presents" to humans they like, such as dropping small pieces of metal they picked up, or worms. Also, crows have very rich tribal behav
by tannhaeuser 7y ago
Crows are known to give "presents" to humans they like, such as dropping small pieces of metal they picked up, or worms. Also, crows have very rich tribal behaviours going on. There's a town close to mine called Husum (in North Germany) where there's a multi-year battle going on between crows in the park. You immediately notice it by the noise, and in fact by dead crows lying on the ground.
- eps 7y agoCats tend to bring gifts too. My grandmother used to receive that of dead moles, freshly caught mice and what have you, invariably placed dead center on her pillow. She wasn't a fan of that cat before, and she didn't like it much better after. No idea why.
- sethammons 7y agoOne theory I heard on cats leaving dead things for you is that they think of you as a non-effective cat that needs help killin things, similar to a mom cat teaching kittens to hunt.
- IanSanders 7y agoWonder what one can do to "prove themselves", perhaps let the cat witness them catch something? Sounds like a great research subject.
- sethammons 7y agoInteresting thought! You could take folks who regularly get dead animal presents and then have their cat witness them catch a rodent or bird, and see if the presents continue. I'd enjoy that read or youtube video, haha.
- wavefunction 7y agoYeah the constant stream of dead wild animals at the paws of housecats would be HILARIOUS. And then turn around and demand coyotes be killed because they're eating people's pets! HO HO
- MS90 7y agoBite a rat to death in front of the cat and consume it raw while maintaining unbroken eye contact.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y agoLeave an elk carcass on their pillow, that ought to shut them up.
- garren 7y agoI’ve read this, too. Cats leave you gifts not because they’re being particularly friendly, but because they regard you as an incompetent hunter. You see the behavior in indoor-only cats as well though, say, leaving toys on your pillow, etc. In that case, I wonder if they’re reciprocating? You feed me, I feed you (kind of).
- Sharlin 7y agoThe gift-bringing behavior of domestic cats is not well understood. The "incompetent hunter" hypothesis is, well, just a hypothesis. I don't think any particular assumption of ineptitude is required on the cats' part; Occam's razor says that they're simply doing what they think is their part in keeping their family unit well-fed.
- zentiggr 7y agoWe've had more than one cat that absolutely loved playing fetch. When my wife figured out how to toss a bouncy toy from the bedroom and two rebounds to get it down the stairs to the first floor landing, it was game on for Gabriel... And I've had a fine afternoon tossing a rubber ball that would bounce all around the living and dining room in billiard-style angles, and have an hour or more of lazy returns and rethrows.
- elhudy 7y agoCats are responsible for killing up to 25 billion animals annually and have directly contributed to the extinction of at least 33 different species. Growing up our family cat brought us a constant stream of rabbits, birds, and moles. It is actually a problem that nobody talks about, because cats are cute. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife
- throwaway_tech 7y agoI think this is one of the reasons cats were worshiped/revered in ancient Egypt (for 3,000 years in religious practice). They were the official protectors of the pharaohs chambers against snakes and scorpions.
- Porthos9K 7y agoThis is why I don't let my cats roam freely outside. If they want outdoor kitty adventures, they can have them on a leash.
- drakonka 7y agoTo me it seems like everybody talks about it. I've lived in the US, Australia, and now Sweden, and almost everyone seems to have some sort of awareness of and opinion on this issue.
- Smithalicious 7y agoEveryone talks about this asinine shit all the time. It's not like cats kill more than ferrets and foxes did before humans caused their populations to decline.
- reading-at-work 7y agoI disagree. If that were the case many of those smaller species would have gone extinct ages ago due to natural predation from wild foxes and ferrets. Domesticated cats are a new issue because they often hunt with the same voracity of wild animals, but don't experience the natural pressure on their population that wild predators do because they're human pets. If there were as many human households with domestic foxes as there are with cats, then foxes would absolutely be considered an unnaturally potent problem for wild rodent and bird species too.
- jacobmoe 7y agoMy mother's cat used to carry live mice into the house and release them. He'd bat the stunned mouse around but not kill it. I would have to catch the mouse and bring it back outside. The exact opposite behavior you want from a cat.
- Pigo 7y agoI wonder if this kind of behavior is connected to the etymology of the term "murder of crows".
- naravara 7y agoCrows also eat carrion and listening to a bunch of them squawk all at once definitely sounds like they're a crowd at a colosseum demanding someone get killed.
- MS90 7y agoI remember reading a story a while back about a kid that threw rocks at a tree full of crows one day when he was walking to the school bus. After that day, the crows decided that this child was the enemy. Many kids walked past the tree on the way to the school bus every day and the crows completely ignored them, but when little rock thrower walked by he'd literally get shit bombed by 20-30 crows all the way to the bus. Every single day. I guess they give presents to people the don't like also :)
- derefr 7y agoI wonder if anyone’s ever done an experiment on the social connectivity of crows, by first somehow pissing off an entire flock of crows; and then tagging a particular individual crow, and repeatedly being friendly to/appeasing that crow, and seeing how long the it takes for the message that you’re not such a jerk after all to spread among the rest of the crow population.
- gricardo99 7y ago> flock of crows This is called a murder of crows. I've always found that term odd, and it seems derogatory. I don't know the origin.
- thrownblown 7y agoand multiple ravens are referred to as a "conspiracy" whereas a group of owls is a "parliament" and gather several vultures and you get a "venue" I recently heard this used in a podcast and I got distracted by the term and looked up all this nonsense. TIL multiple jellyfish are a "smack"!
- abrodersen 7y agoI've been to Husum! I and my family stayed there when we visited. I'm an American, but my ancestors emigrated from that area. It's a beautiful town and we were shown the utmost hospitality by both the people there and our distant relatives that live nearby.
- tannhaeuser 7y ago"Brodersen" (if that's your family name) definitely wouldn't sound unfamiliar in Frisia.
- burtonator 7y ago> You immediately notice it by the noise, and in fact by dead crows lying on the ground. We're not sure they're exactly mourning but crows have "funerals" ... it might also be that they're trying to ascertain why they died to avoid a potential threat. ... could be both too.
- m463 7y agoThey also battle hawks. If I ever hear a lot of commotion (crow-motion?) I frequently see a hawk in the midst of it getting driven off by dive bombing crows.