Crazy clever crows

Are we underestimating these feisty feathered felons?

Having watched this video (click these clicky words to see it) on YouTube, and a couple of similar ones, on the BBC News site (I tried to upload them here, but Blogger wasn't having it...), I was struck by how little we know about birds, or other animals in general, specifically regarding their intelligence, and how little attention we pay to them. In fact, it perhaps shows our lack of intelligence that we think in this way...

We are human, therefore we are the best, end of story.

That seems to be the general consensus, but maybe we've been underestimating the beasts around us. Perhaps they're the ones with the upper hand... We're only just realising now that crows are clever enough to use everyday items as tools, and even to create their own tools, despite apparently not doing it in the wild. That's quite a major discovery. How many people have actually looked inside a crow's house? I'm not talking about the nest here - that's just where they want us to believe they live. I mean the small semi-detached bungalow down the road. You might think that fat smelly guy lives there, but actually, it's owned by crows. He just rents a room. Has anyone actually seen inside the crows' lair? Have you seen the tools they've got in there?! Black and Decker, eat your heart out! These guys are the masters.

I think the only reason we're discovering crows' ability to use tools now is that the crows have decided we're taking so long to catch onto them, that they figure they can taunt us a bit, make us think we've discovered something crazy. They'll start nicking our bank cards and PINs when we use the ATMs next. I bet those cheeky claws could work the bank machine... Either that or they'll give us bird 'flu. While laughing maniacally. Through their maniacal beaks.

We're still going to be totally unprepared when they attack, in their tiny crow tanks, and with their miniature crow-mounted missiles (some might call them 'turds', but I think 'missiles' sounds more ominous).

Remember where you saw this first...and don't say I didn't warn you!


*This article may or may not be total bullsh*t and/or the dribbling excretions of a mind virtually melted by boredom