Thanks to a friend, Fig has an opportunity to possibly appear in a National Geographic channel show on animals. They want to show interesting behaviors such as talking (in human language) or puzzle solving, things like that.
I find those things very interesting, but personally they are not as intriguing as a Crow's ability to communicate. I think by far the most interesting thing about the Crow is their ability to listen, learn, and apply what they learned by listening. This makes them like us. In the other direction, it is very interesting that they can play with us, and during play, they will suggest what they would like to do. Catching that sort of thing on film will be very hard. Finally, I think it is very important to show the Crow's natural gentle, affectionate side, because that will soften people's fear, and loathing.
It is good to show people that Crows are smart, and interesting, BUT I want to be very careful not to send the wrong message, that Crows make good pets. Because they don't. Crow intelligence may be cool, but Crows are like children. You can put them on a schedule, but you cannot break their routine, or abandon them to go on vacation. If a Crow bonds with you, that animal is your child. For this reason they are the most terrible choice for a pet. The utter worst. There is no convenience. If I come home late, Fig will go through all the emotions that a child goes through, worry, panic, fear, sadness, anger, anxiety, depression, and eventually she will start abusing herself. If I left on vacation, she would not last two days. She would be a total wreck. Would your kids be cool, left at school? Same thing.
I have only a few days to try and capture the things I think have the most educational value to the public, and for Crows' welfare. And Fig has a serious phobia of my iPhone, and cameramen. I am going to need to disguise the phone and trick her somehow.
Wish me luck. See you on TV...maybe.
Update: Oh dear. Long story short. For the first six months I had Fig, I was helping her learn her local Crow lingo by showing her movies of Japanese Crows from around the neighborhood in her family. At the time she really enjoyed watching those very much, perhaps they helped her remain connected. How much she learned from videos is probably insignificant though. Anyway, over time, she became more and more estranged from her family, and last breeding season she was viciously attacked by them as an outsider. Thankfully she was not injured, but after that attack she decided that the Crows she had been watching on my iPhone were to be feared. She would not even let me make movies of her any more. I tried to film her for this TV program by disguising the camera, but she remembered the eye of the camera which was the only thing visible to her, and she felt stressed by it, and started picking at her leg feathers on one leg. This is a typical stress reaction for her. She has not done it for almost a year, so it was a pretty good indication that the camera was what stressed her out. Anyway, I need a bit of time to reintroduce the camera to Figgy, and build some positive associations with it, otherwise I am going to have a Crow with one bald thigh. This should not take too long, but I had to take a raincheck on her educational debut.
Update: I am reconditioning Fig's association with the camera. Everyday, I introduce the camera to her, then feed her several meal worms while filming. She loves meal worms and this is the only time she gets them. It seems to be working. Also, I am avoiding letting her see the display side. She still picks anxiously at her leg, not removing any feathers, but already her camera anxiety seems to be waning. Food is a wonderful tool. I never could have held a camera so close previously, I got a bad scare the other day though. I found a wet object on the floor which looked exactly like a yanked patch of leg feathers with skin!!!!!! Phew, turned out it was only a leafy cherry tomato top. Fig had plucked the leaves in half leaving flat ends. That just about gave me a heart attack.
Update: Camera reconditioning coming along. Fig now looks at my phone and immediately switches her mind to immagining scrumptious mealworms. She reaches down to touch her legs from occasionally, but has not pulled out any feathers. I have even been playing her wild crow calls again without freaking her out in the least. Fast progress.
I find those things very interesting, but personally they are not as intriguing as a Crow's ability to communicate. I think by far the most interesting thing about the Crow is their ability to listen, learn, and apply what they learned by listening. This makes them like us. In the other direction, it is very interesting that they can play with us, and during play, they will suggest what they would like to do. Catching that sort of thing on film will be very hard. Finally, I think it is very important to show the Crow's natural gentle, affectionate side, because that will soften people's fear, and loathing.
It is good to show people that Crows are smart, and interesting, BUT I want to be very careful not to send the wrong message, that Crows make good pets. Because they don't. Crow intelligence may be cool, but Crows are like children. You can put them on a schedule, but you cannot break their routine, or abandon them to go on vacation. If a Crow bonds with you, that animal is your child. For this reason they are the most terrible choice for a pet. The utter worst. There is no convenience. If I come home late, Fig will go through all the emotions that a child goes through, worry, panic, fear, sadness, anger, anxiety, depression, and eventually she will start abusing herself. If I left on vacation, she would not last two days. She would be a total wreck. Would your kids be cool, left at school? Same thing.
I have only a few days to try and capture the things I think have the most educational value to the public, and for Crows' welfare. And Fig has a serious phobia of my iPhone, and cameramen. I am going to need to disguise the phone and trick her somehow.
Wish me luck. See you on TV...maybe.
Update: Oh dear. Long story short. For the first six months I had Fig, I was helping her learn her local Crow lingo by showing her movies of Japanese Crows from around the neighborhood in her family. At the time she really enjoyed watching those very much, perhaps they helped her remain connected. How much she learned from videos is probably insignificant though. Anyway, over time, she became more and more estranged from her family, and last breeding season she was viciously attacked by them as an outsider. Thankfully she was not injured, but after that attack she decided that the Crows she had been watching on my iPhone were to be feared. She would not even let me make movies of her any more. I tried to film her for this TV program by disguising the camera, but she remembered the eye of the camera which was the only thing visible to her, and she felt stressed by it, and started picking at her leg feathers on one leg. This is a typical stress reaction for her. She has not done it for almost a year, so it was a pretty good indication that the camera was what stressed her out. Anyway, I need a bit of time to reintroduce the camera to Figgy, and build some positive associations with it, otherwise I am going to have a Crow with one bald thigh. This should not take too long, but I had to take a raincheck on her educational debut.
Update: I am reconditioning Fig's association with the camera. Everyday, I introduce the camera to her, then feed her several meal worms while filming. She loves meal worms and this is the only time she gets them. It seems to be working. Also, I am avoiding letting her see the display side. She still picks anxiously at her leg, not removing any feathers, but already her camera anxiety seems to be waning. Food is a wonderful tool. I never could have held a camera so close previously, I got a bad scare the other day though. I found a wet object on the floor which looked exactly like a yanked patch of leg feathers with skin!!!!!! Phew, turned out it was only a leafy cherry tomato top. Fig had plucked the leaves in half leaving flat ends. That just about gave me a heart attack.
Update: Camera reconditioning coming along. Fig now looks at my phone and immediately switches her mind to immagining scrumptious mealworms. She reaches down to touch her legs from occasionally, but has not pulled out any feathers. I have even been playing her wild crow calls again without freaking her out in the least. Fast progress.
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