Within a block of the downtown Vancouver office where Jim Osa国际传媒橪eary used to work, multiple crow nests could be found in the leafy trees lining the streets.
sa国际传媒淛ust about every day someone would come in and say sa国际传媒極h, I got attacked by a crow,sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� Osa国际传媒橪eary said.
He knew crows are smart sa国际传媒� pointing to their use of tools and ability to remember physical traits sa国际传媒� but the former Langara College GIS program instructor knew he could help people outwit the birds.
Itsa国际传媒檚 what led to him creating , which allows people to log where crows attacked them and lets them leave a description of the incident.
Around 30 crow kerfuffles from in and around Victoria were cataloged on the interactive website this year sa国际传媒� with several incident clusters tracked downtown. Accounts from those incidents described how crows dive-bombed, clawed and swooped at people.
The birdssa国际传媒� common tactic of attacking from behind makes it unsettling for people who have no way of preparing, Osa国际传媒橪eary said, adding hesa国际传媒檚 heard stories of talons getting caught in longer hair.
sa国际传媒淲hat the CrowTrax site has become, in a way itsa国际传媒檚 kind of therapy. People need to tell to tell their story,sa国际传媒� he said.
Osa国际传媒橪eary opens the website to submissions during nesting season every year, but he always gets emails by early spring urging the site to go live because people have gotten attacked and want to avoid cranky crow routes.
He hopes more users worldwide will flock to CrowTrax and hesa国际传媒檚 in the midst of implementing AI to filter out bogus entries, which will allow him to keep the site open to submissions year-round.
Osa国际传媒橪eary was surprised to hear of a crow attack downtown on Oct. 16 as he said itsa国际传媒檚 less common at this time of year. Theysa国际传媒檙e not the only birds feeling feisty this fall as the Town of Sidney had to post an Oct. 12 notice about owls behaving aggressively around people at Reay Creek Park.
Nadia Xenakis, a BC SPCA wild animal welfare specialist, said itsa国际传媒檚 a strange time of year for owls to go after people, but noted wildlife will generally show aggression if they feel theysa国际传媒檙e threatened or provoked.
sa国际传媒淪o they could be defending their territory, their mate or their young,sa国际传媒� she said.
Some owls born in the spring may still be learning how to hunt and another possible explanation for the recent encounters is that people in the park may have been in between the birds and their prey at the time, Xenakis said.
She and Osa国际传媒橪eary said crow dive-bombings usually correlate with areas where theysa国际传媒檙e being reliably fed. That can also lead to more crows nesting in urban areas, Xenakis said.
sa国际传媒淎n easy way to circumvent that is to never feed wildlife,sa国际传媒� she said.
Both animal observers noted crows can remember certain traits sa国际传媒� especially if theysa国际传媒檙e associated with people who antagonized or threatened them sa国际传媒� so the birds may target other people with similar traits.
Osa国际传媒橪eary cited one study where a researcher dressed as a clown and bothered crows on a university campus. The researcher then returned in the clown costume a year later and sa国际传媒渆verywhere he went the crows harassed him,sa国际传媒� Osa国际传媒橪eary said.
Xenakis said most issues with birds are seasonal or temporary as they look to protect their young, so itsa国际传媒檚 best to avoid problem areas if possible. If running a gauntlet known for angry birds cansa国际传媒檛 be avoided, itsa国际传媒檚 recommended people walk with an umbrella or cover their head.
Another issue is nesting animals are being forced closer to people as bird habitats are destroyed or encroached on.
sa国际传媒淲e need to have areas where they can exist and we can give them space so they donsa国际传媒檛 need to have these defensive behaviours,sa国际传媒� Xenakis said. sa国际传媒淏ut we also shouldnsa国际传媒檛 be feeding them because that will draw them into these areas where we are then having conflict with them.sa国际传媒�
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