The birdemic has begun!

[Canadave]

About half an hour ago, I'm walking home, and turn up my street about a block away from my building. All of the sudden, "whump!" Something hits me in the head. A split-second later, I see a crow flying away. Odd, but I figure it was taking off, and misjudged how close I was or something. But lo and behold, seconds later, it swings by again and rams my head once more! Then it flew off to a tree across the street, and started cawing at me.

I know crows will sometimes attack people if their near its nest, but it seems a tad early for that, yet. And I didn't have anything shiny on me, either, so I guess it was just being malevolent?

The alternate explanation, of course, is that the uprising has begun. Anyone else witnessed unexplainable attacks of late?

 

[thestrangequark]

Obviously the crow harbors the soul of one you have horribly wronged in some way. If I were you I'd be sure all my windows are closed and doors are locked!

 

[Canadave]

^ No worries. My apartment is really old, and most of the windows are painted shut.

 

[iguana_tonante]

There is something good about being attacked by a crow, tho. They kinda taste like chicken.

 

[Miss Chicken]

In Australia is quite common for people to get attacked by plovers or by Australian magpie, as these videos shows

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wHreVKgOT4[/yt]

[yt]hhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naygb8FVuzE&feature=related[/yt]

 

[Canadave]

There is something good about being attacked by a crow, tho. They kinda taste like chicken.

Not a lot of meat on 'em, though.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Well, if you are lucky it might bring some friends for the next round.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Sorry to say it Canadave but I have more sympathy for this guy than I have for you

 

[RJDiogenes]

When birds attack me I just tell them to flock off.

Worst-case scenario:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjj32CavzU0[/yt]

 

[scotpens]

There is something good about being attacked by a crow, tho. They kinda taste like chicken.

Actually they taste like shit. That’s why humbling yourself by being forced to admit you were wrong is called “eating crow.”

(No Sheryl Crow jokes, please.)

 

[Jadzia]

The alternate explanation, of course, is that the uprising has begun.

When you're asleep tonight, this crow could find it's way in. Even though the windows are painted shut, it could still manage to find a way in, as wildlife always does, not matter what defenses we put in place. Sometimes we just can't explain it.

So you would be wise to listen out for any strange noises tonight, just to be on the safe side: things like tapping noises, and flapping noises, or the sound of things being knocked over by the bird.

They always go for the eyes. So you might want to keep them hidden safely under the covers while you sleep.

But when you wake up tomorrow morning, the crow could well be perched on your bed, waiting for you to open your eyes, so it can peck them.

If I were you, when I wake up I would make sure there is no bird on my bed before I opened by eyes. It's not much effort to check really, and it'd be worth it if it saved my eyes.

I sure wouldn't want my eyes pecked out.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

About half an hour ago, I'm walking home, and turn up my street about a block away from my building. All of the sudden, "whump!" Something hits me in the head. A split-second later, I see a crow flying away. Odd, but I figure it was taking off, and misjudged how close I was or something. But lo and behold, seconds later, it swings by again and rams my head once more! Then it flew off to a tree across the street, and started cawing at me.

I know crows will sometimes attack people if their near its nest, but it seems a tad early for that, yet. And I didn't have anything shiny on me, either, so I guess it was just being malevolent?

The alternate explanation, of course, is that the uprising has begun. Anyone else witnessed unexplainable attacks of late?

You're screwed, man. Just move away now while you still can. You pissed off a crow somehow, and now they're holding a grudge against you. They're going to pass it along to all the other crows in the area for generations to come.

Craig joined a team of researchers from the University of Washington to study crows' ability to distinguish among human faces. The researchers wore a caveman mask while trapping and banding crows on the Seattle campus, a traumatic experience for the birds.

From then on, anyone who donned the mask was harassed by the crows. It didn't matter who wore the mask - the crows responded to the face, not the body type or gender of the person.

When the researchers who had done the trapping wore a mask the crows had not seen before, one of Dick Cheney, the birds ignored them. The scientists also conducted experiments with more realistic-looking masks of people's faces and found the same results.

Not only did the crows recognize dangerous people, but they remembered them for a long time. Almost three years after someone initially trapped birds wearing the caveman mask, the crows still responded negatively to the mask.

And they shared their knowledge with other birds. Crows that were nowhere near the trapping incident also harassed the caveman, and young crows that hadn't even been born when the negative event occurred learned about the caveman from their parents.

"One of the most surprising parts of the study was the persistence of the crows' negative reactions over time, that for so long after a single event, they still remembered what they had learned about the caveman," Craig says. "It was also surprising that the crows passed on the information about the negative person to other crows and to their offspring."

http://www.willamette.edu/people/archives/2010/02/crows.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html

Video

Your only options are to go to war against the crows, wear a mask for the rest of your life, or do some kind of crow witness relocation program and move far far away.

 

[Trekker4747]

Oh no!

Invest in some sulpwnls!

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgAbVfh6WYg[/yt]

 

[scotpens]

You're screwed, man. Just move away now while you still can. You pissed off a crow somehow, and now they're holding a grudge against you. They're going to pass it along to all the other crows in the area for generations to come.

Yep, they’re smart birds. And talented too!

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKjJMcJG9z8[/yt]

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Crows are also the only birds that can mimic human racial stereotypes.

 

[thestrangequark]

In my culture the crow is the bringer of light, a positive force. Perhaps you are lucky!

 

[scotpens]

Crows are also the only birds that can mimic human racial stereotypes.

Oh, puh-leeze. The crows in that wonderful scene from Dumbo are authentic black characters, not stereotypes. And they’re funny.

Unless you were intentionally being facetious, of course.

 

[Trekker4747]

Crows are also the only birds that can mimic human racial stereotypes.

Oh, puh-leeze. The crows in that wonderful scene from Dumbo are authentic black characters, not stereotypes. And they’re funny.

You've met a black person, right? Because the crows are very broad interpretation of what a "black person" acts like.

 

[propita]

Crows are mean. My Dad always said to never piss off a crow; it will attack. Of course, it doesn't sound like you were provoking it, but maybe it felt threatened.

 

[scotpens]

You've met a black person, right? Because the crows are very broad interpretation of what a “black person” acts like.

The crows are singing and dancing, and that is how a lot of black entertainers talked and acted in 1941.

From Wikipedia:

The crow characters in the film can be seen as African-American stereotypes. The leader crow was originally named “Jim Crow” for script purposes, and the name stuck. [Note: that name is never heard in the film.] The other crows are all voiced by African-American actors, all members of the Hall Johnson Choir. Despite suggestions of racism by critics such as Richard Schickel who have criticized the portrayal as racist, others reject these claims. Defenders note that the crows form the majority of the characters in the movie who are sympathetic to Dumbo’s plight, are free spirits who serve nobody, and intelligent characters aware of the power of self-confidence, unlike the Stepin Fetchit stereotype common at that time. Furthermore, their song “When I See An Elephant Fly,” which uses intricate wordplay in the lyrics, is more oriented to mocking Timothy Mouse than Dumbo's large ears.