Backyard Hobbies

[Stevo]

I'm hoping my crows will eventually get used to me and come down and eat while I am in the backyard. So far, some of them will come down and eat if I am by myself, sitting on the patio. Even then, they are skittish. If I make any sudden movements, they'll take off.

One of the problems I have in that regard is that most of the time, when I go out back, our little dog comes with me. The crows definitely don't trust her.

[Stevo]

Saw a young little possum in my backyard last night. No doubt she or he was lured into the yard by the leftover dogfood and peanuts my crows leave behind (they don't always leave anything).

[KATM]

Stevo, be careful with leaving such food out in the yard. Reason? Rats may be attracted.

Years ago, a woman I know left food out in her backyard for birds, and was unpleasantly surprised to find rats had found it. Her house was in a suburban neighborhood; the only business near her property was the community swimming pool. I don't recall the time of year that this happened, so don't know if the pool was open at the time, with the possibility of other refuse in trash cans there that could have attracted a rat population. But I would err on the side of caution.

[Jim Barrett]

Stevo, hope your backyard is still in one piece after last night. The weathermen on 56 were staying busy.

[Stevo]

Stevo, be careful with leaving such food out in the yard. Reason? Rats may be attracted.

Years ago, a woman I know left food out in her backyard for birds, and was unpleasantly surprised to find rats had found it. Her house was in a suburban neighborhood; the only business near her property was the community swimming pool. I don't recall the time of year that this happened, so don't know if the pool was open at the time, with the possibility of other refuse in trash cans there that could have attracted a rat population. But I would err on the side of caution.

Thanks for the warning. That crossed my mind, but so far I haven't seen any signs of rats. We live out in the country, with no businesses or trash dumpsters nearby.

[Stevo]

Stevo, hope your backyard is still in one piece after last night. The weathermen on 56 were staying busy.

Sorry I missed that message back on St. Patrick's Day.

Today we're having some big thunderstorms. Hopefully, we won't get any of the bad stuff.

[Stevo]

I try to switch up the crows' food from time to time so they don't get bored. They love meat scraps, but I don't always have those on hand to give them. I just ran out of Purina Dog Chow, which they like, so I bought a 50 lb. bag of scratch grains (for feeding chickens and game birds). Scratch grains aren't chicken feed pellets. I tried the pellets once before. The crows turned their beaks up at those.

I put some scratch grains out this morning. The crows came and eagerly gobbled them up, so now I know I didn't waste my money. I still throw in some peanuts and whatever else I have on hand, and I always give them fresh, clean water in the bird bath out back.

[Jim Barrett]

For the last two weeks we have had many Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings, Baltimore Orioles and a Painted Bunting. Of course several different Humming Birds. This is addition to our normal Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Mourning Doves.

[Stevo]

I moved my songbird feeder out to the front yard. The crows eat in the backyard, and they scared off the songbirds. I never saw them actually bother the songbirds, but after the crows showed up, the songbirds quit visiting the backyard feeder. They visit it in the front yard, since the crows don't usually land in the front yard.

[mabrams]

Not a fan of Crows since they do drive away other birds.

OTOH, I am a co-administrator of the Crow YDNA project
Crow DNA - Background | FamilyTreeDNA

[Jim Barrett]

Although they aren't in my backyard, I enjoy watching the pairs of hawks at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/red-tailed-hawks/, the pair of falcons and pair of osprey at https://www.oppd.com/environment (scroll down to see the live cams). I prefer for the crows to stay in someone else's yard. They eat my deer corn and pecans. I only shot deer with my camera.

[Stevo]

I found out this morning that my crows really like cheese. Quite a while back we bought a package of cheese slices of the size suitable for crackers. We didn't eat them fast enough, so a lot of the package went moldy. I cut off the worst of the mold and fed the remainder of the package, which was still a lot cheese, to the crows. They gobbled it right up. Hope they don't expect more of that. It's a little too pricey to make a regular part of the crows' diet. They got it only because none of us would eat it.

[Stevo]

I found out this morning that my crows really like cheese. Quite a while back we bought a package of cheese slices of the size suitable for crackers. We didn't eat them fast enough, so a lot of the package went moldy. I cut off the worst of the mold and fed the remainder of the package, which was still a lot cheese, to the crows. They gobbled it right up. Hope they don't expect more of that. It's a little too pricey to make a regular part of the crows' diet. They got it only because none of us would eat it.

Sorry for being a boring old duffer, but as a retired guy, feeding the crows in my backyard is a big thrill each day. Here's another thing I found that they really like: Ballpark Franks, i.e., hot dogs. I slice three of them up each day (when I have them) and put them out for the crows. Man, they love them. Crows like meat. That's one thing I have found. I have no doubt that if I died in my backyard, they would strip my bones in short order.

[Stevo]

Crows also like watermelon. Just found that out. We bought a watermelon that wasn't as sweet as we like, so we ate only half of it. I put the other half out in the yard. The crows ate all the red part and left only the rind.

[Stevo]

The crows also like oranges. Just found that out.