# Crows Gone Wild! What are they doing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501 "2014-06-10T20:38:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Suicide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Suicide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suicide)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/21 "2014-06-11T01:50:30Z")
should i have intervened and broken it up? or is it crows will be crows ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/22 "2014-06-11T02:22:08Z")
Shoulda recorded it. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/23 "2014-06-11T03:31:12Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > should i have intervened and broken it up? or is it crows will be crows crows will remember you and hound you forever if you mess with them. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/24 "2014-06-11T03:52:25Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > i’ve also heard that if a crow gets killed, no other crow in his flock who witnessed the killing will ever let themselves be killed the same way Are you 10? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/25 "2014-06-11T04:25:43Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Are you 10? **Moderator Note** Let’s not insult other posters in this forum. No warning issued. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/26 "2014-06-11T06:18:57Z")
“Jonathan Livingston Crow, stand to center for shame!” ---
**Author:** ![Suicide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Suicide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suicide)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/27 "2014-06-11T08:58:25Z")
fact: a bunch of crows are in an area, one gets shot by a hunter, none of the rest of the crows will ever return to that area… ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/28 "2014-06-11T09:15:18Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > fact: a bunch of crows are in an area, one gets shot by a hunter, none of the rest of the crows will ever return to that area… I would love to see a cite for that. As a teenager I went crow shooting - this was not sport, but culling. We stood under a tree where they were nesting and just blasted away. We didn’t even bother to pick up the carcases. The following year the crows would be back. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/29 "2014-06-11T11:30:07Z")
> [@racepug](#): > > I work at a university that has a world-renowned experts on crows working at it. I’ve met him a few times - he sometimes takes the same bus home that I do. :dubious: A world-renowned crow expert takes the _bus_? I’m picturing him tooling around in a chauffeur driven crow mobile. Some sorta ecology minded affectation, this bus thing? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/30 "2014-06-11T13:38:19Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Oh, in the issue, one character (Abel) claimed to know what the crows were doing. The crow in the center was telling a story. The rest were critics. This cracked me up. > [@Reply](#): > > Ravens (closely related to crows, both members of genus corvus) have been known to mob other ravens to censure them for bad behavior – stealing food, territorial intrusions, etc. There is a corvid mob justice system that escalates punishments – first verbal warnings, then gentle peckings, and eventually the deliberate group execution of the criminal if that individual continues to do things the group doesn’t like. > > In a similar situation (but probably not what you saw) juveniles also gang up on adults to chase them out of their feeding area, presumably because individual juveniles can’t outcompete individual adults. > > Source: Book called “Mind of the Raven” Thanks, **Reply** , this sounds perfectly feasable. I’m also going to leave a call out to our resident crow expert, **brachyrhynchos** , just in case she happens to check in and can offer any additional comment. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/31 "2014-06-11T14:04:21Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > i’ve also heard that if a crow gets killed, no other crow in his flock who witnessed the killing will ever let themselves be killed the same way > [@Suicide](#): > > fact: a bunch of crows are in an area, one gets shot by a hunter, none of the rest of the crows will ever return to that area… Not sure if you’re second post is correct (let’s see a cite for it), but it’s NOT the same thing as what you originally posted. I think you’re new around here, so maybe you’re not aware that this forum is for posting factual information. You might want to look for a reputable cite for things you’ve “heard” before posting. Much of what we all “know” is not correct. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/32 "2014-06-11T14:24:24Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > From The American Society of Crows and Ravens: > > [http://www.ascaronline.org/crowfaq.htm](http://www.ascaronline.org/crowfaq.htm) There’s an “American Society of Crows and Ravens”? Who knew? Clearly not me. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/33 "2014-06-11T15:11:51Z")
Because the first crow unfriended the others on Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/34 "2014-06-11T15:39:13Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Are you 10? > [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > Let’s not insult other posters in this forum. No warning issued. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator I was curious also, no insult intended. Per the registration agreement: > [@](#): > > Minimum age for registration on the SDMB is 13 years. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/35 "2014-06-11T15:46:25Z")
I’m pretty sure they were teasing the one in the middle about it’s hairy legs. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/36 "2014-06-11T17:12:55Z")
> [@Suicide](#): > > i’ve also heard that if a crow gets killed, no other crow in his flock who witnessed the killing will ever let themselves be killed the same way No, you’re thinking of the Borg. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/37 "2014-06-11T17:53:11Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > We stood under a tree where they were nesting and just blasted away. We didn’t even bother to pick up the carcases. The following year the crows would be back. My next-door neighbor used to do exactly the same thing. The damn crows would be back _the next day_. I don’t think they’re quite as smart as everybody makes them out to be. ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/38 "2014-06-12T20:31:43Z")
> [@racepug](#): > > I work at a university that has a world-renowned experts on crows working at it. I’ve met him a few times - he sometimes takes the same bus home that I do. Now, I’m not the expert that he is but I know he’s referred in books of his about crows to “crow assassinations.” I wonder if that is what you were witness to. Marzluff? Crows can be pretty territorial about things, expecially at this time of year when kids are coming off of nests. It’s possible they were beating up an intruder, but that’s entirely speculation on my part. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/39 "2014-06-12T21:07:29Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I’ve seen crows mob a young bald eagle and a peregrine falcon, but never another crow. What a dastardly gang! When thieving magpies fall out. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501/40 "2014-06-12T23:25:09Z")
> [@brachyrhynchos](#): > > Marzluff? Aboard public transportation? It is to laugh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crows-gone-wild-what-are-they-doing/690501.md?page=3)