Saturday 28 February 2015

Stone the Crows

A CaRT member of the bankside staff discovered over 200 dead crows floating in the Tinsley Canal at Sheffield. The location was close to the point where the M1 crosses both the River Don and over the Canal. There was concern and some speculation that the Crow fatalities in such significant numbers may have been as a result of an Avian Flu infection.  Avian Flu is capable of crossing over to humans.

An Ornithological Pathologist was brought in to examined the remains of all the crows and to everyone's relief she confirmed the problem was NOT Avian Flu. The cause of death appeared to be from a series of vehicular impacts. However, during analysis it was also noted that varying colours of paints appeared embedded in the bird's beaks and on their claws.

The trust then employed the service of a company specialising in paint analysis. It turned out that the analysis of the paint residue type revealed that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with Lorry's. While only 2% were killed by cars.

The Trust then hired an Ornithological Behaviourist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills. The Ornithological Behaviourist quickly concluded that when crows who are a Corvid species regularly eat road kill. They habitually have a look-out crow to warn of any approaching danger. They discovered that while all the lookout crows without exception could shout a loud clear "Kah", not a single one observed could shout "Lorry"

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