A crow who likes to surpise me

By Jamie Lutton:

I more or less have a set routine when  I walk to work. I get my latte at this one stand, then either walk down Broadway or Harvard, to work, five blocks away. If I see a crow, and she sees me, she or he usually flies to a tree overhead, or a wire, and stares at me to get my attention. Sometimes, several crows do this. When this happens, I usually  then walk down Harvard, so  I can quietly  toss them dog treats, to  not disturb other pedestrians.

Two days ago, yesterday, and today, a crow landed at my feet, the same crow, I believe, and went 'Aw, Aw, Aw' very loudly.  He got very close to me. I knelt down, and talked to him for a minute, while I fished out a treat for him. Yesterday, and today, he got chicken, as I had bought some for lunch.

Today, he approached me again;  landing at my feet and cawing very, very loudly. He made me jump, as I did not see him coming. I never, ever see him coming.  I got down, and fished out some chicken for him from my bag.  He hopped around for a minute, picking up the chicken and putting it down,then eating on the spot. He did this with an audience of other crows on the sidewalk, today who did not approach me nearly as closely. He then took some dog biscuits I offered, flying away across the street, flying low.

I have tried many times since then to try to get a crow to get this close to me. This crow, and this crow only, has decided I was okay, and comes up close me on his own to demand a treat.

He always picks the exact same spot on the sidewalk too; right across the street from the coffee shop, these three days.  And he approaches me; I am always surprised by him, landing at my feet and demanding my attention.

I don't have a name for him; but he has a bold, clever heart.  Very fat, big and mature; he always sticks around long enough for me to get a good look at him, while I kneel on the ground, fishing in my bag for a treat for him.

I know he has my number. He knows that what I want is to look at him and his buddies. He seems to be saying 'gotcha' when he lands at my feet, making me jump a bit, when I see him.  Then he caws very loudly for a treat.

A real joker.  I will miss him while I am gone to visit a friend. Hope he finds me next Tuesday, when I return.

                               

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