The Crow of The World - Nursed Back to Life
In our house we’re celebrating the recovery of a favorite ‘pet’ - a wise old crow who’s been coming to our garden for years. Just as ‘Alf ‘ is a real dog from my local garage, ‘The Crow of the World’ is also based on my real-life bird friend. We call him ‘Hook Beak’ - for reasons you can guess from his photo.
He’s the cleverest and bravest of the crows, always first to come down when we throw out food. He swaggers up, looks right in at the window with his beady eyes and squarks at us when he’s hungry. If food is too dry – he takes it to a bowl of water and sits for a few minutes whilst it soaks and softens. If there’s any left over, he hides it for later – digging little holes in the grass and covering with dead leaves or moss.
We were very sad a few weeks ago when he got a leg injury and was limping badly. All the other crows were pecking at him and he couldn’t get a look-in at mealtimes. He became unkempt, feathers all scruffy and he seemed scared and awkward around the other birds. We were worried he wouldn’t survive, especially with the constant bullying - which meant he couldn't get his share of food. Knowing he was happy to come down alone whilst we were still in the garden, we made up some pasta (his favorite!) mixed with tinned dog meat. Sure enough he flapped down to feed on his own, with us stood by the rest of the flock were just too scared. So he got his 3 meals a day in peace and this weekend he’s looking glossy and sleek and his limp has more or less gone plus he can once more hold his ground in the pecking order. He’s also very busy delivering food to a nest in a nearby oak tree – we think he may soon be teaching a young apprentice all his tricks!
