Hunting small critters?
Yeah, my first thought was listening for or following a mouse under the snow.
Also, a perfect spot to put this video of a crow sledding on a roof: - YouTube
She had just been excommunicated from her murder and was trudging because she was sad and sore and afraid to fly because the others might get a bead her if she got up too high and try to chase her down with malice.
Reading only the preview I would have said that one has an udder and one doesn’t
(yeah - of course cows trudge, how else do you expect them to walk?)
Uncle Cecil’s April 18, 1997 column reviewed the Alice in Wonderland riddle Why is a raven like a writing desk?
One might say it was ravening.
That’s “cow” with an r. :dubious:
cower?
A bird slowly walking, trudging along
a walking dead zombie, not singing a song
Crows on drugs
Actually, crows have a very lovely, soft warbling song. Unfortunately, few hear it. They also rattle, clack and make other non-caw vocalizations that you might not expect from a crow.
But I agree that listening to ravens is a great way to pass time.
Our neighborhood crows never seem to make a sound. I wouldn’t mind a bit of cawing or what not. I’m just so happy they are here. I don’t know where they came from. They showed up about 3-4 months ago and all the pigeons left. No more stupid cooing and grunting incessantly all day. No more building nests in the roofs and eaves. Yay for crows!
I haven’t really see our crows trudging, so much as, shuffling down the sidewalk. They also don’t land in the street like those stupid pigeons used to do. Again, I say, Yay for crows.
Crows not only trudge…they hold grudges. AND, they tell all of their friends about the mean human who trapped them so suddenly the person will be harassed by crows or ravens every time they walk out the door.
I’ve heard that - that they actually recognize humans! I have a lot of admiration and respect for crows; I’d keep some as pets in my backyard if not for the terrible racket they make.
Edit: It occurs to me that the things in the Cracked article might be the basis of the old superstition about tipping your hat and being polite to crows you meet.
Really. Our crows go where ever they think there might be comestibles to be had. Our two-legged mammalian varmints have a nasty habit of tossing fastfoot detritus out the car windows, leaving crap to land in the street. The crows investigate, hence, we see them in the street, though I cannot recall having seen a dead crow in the street. I did once see a mallard boy expired on the yellow line, and a couple years back, the first robin of spring was pavement pudding. The crows are faster than that. No matter how hard those two-legged mammal varmints try.
The “trudge” idea made me think of this old cartoon that I saw no later than 1955 at a theater. Surely it’s been on TV since, so others may be familiar with it. This clip doesn’t say so, but others at YouTube identify this Minah Bird as being associated with a little black kid name Inki – if you want to look for other clips.
The one-two-three-four-five-hop, all done in time with Fingal’s Cave Overture, was really a memorable thing to my little kid self.