The crow has been entering my life in all sorts of ways for a while now, so when I came across a video of one snowboarding on New Year’s Eve (first in queue), I decided to make it my totem animal for the year, forgoing the usual resolutions list (or rituals thereof). I did research immediately, curious and unaware of what this bird might mean to me as a guiding symbol. As anyone who knows me can attest, I’m forever fascinated by animals and have always understood deeply and empirically that they are far smarter than “science” gives them credit for. Though if Nature, the popular program on PBS is any measure, that ignorance may be fading away. There was a wonderful, humbling doc on a man who raised wild turkeys, and one about creatures that decorate and aestheticize their homes. They even aired a program on crows as well (A Murder of Crows), the accompanying text below being one of the most comprehensive I could find online (though it doesn’t begin to scratch the surface):

“Crows live everywhere in the world except Antarctica and are a part of myths and legends in many cultures. Their reputation in the stories varies from comical to frightening, godlike or wise, bringers of light and bringers of death, though a “murder” of crows refers to a flock of crows, and not to anything murderous, at all. They may be all these things, but what we are learning is that they are especially smart.

New research has shown that they are among the most intelligent animals on the planet. They use tools as only elephants and chimpanzees do, and recognize 250 distinct calls. One particular talent they have been discovered to possess is the ability to recognize individual human faces and pick them out of a crowd up to two years later – a trick that might make even Hitchcock shiver with fright.

They thrive wherever people live and have used their great intelligence to adapt again and again to a constantly changing world. Some memorize garbage truck routes, and follow the feast from day to day. Others drop nuts in the road and wait for passing cars to crack them open. And some build their nests from items we throw away – like wire clothes hangers.

These are social birds that mate for life and raise their young for up to five years. And they learn from each other’s misfortunes. When one is killed in a farmer’s field, it’s not uncommon for them to change entire migratory patterns so that no crows fly over that field for as long as two years.

These birds might have a scary reputation, but what may prove to be the scariest thing about them is how much they know about us, and how little we know about them!”

So hooray for Nature, and for the fact that this clever creature’s obvious intelligence and sense of play finally gets it due, hopefully broadening our associations with it beyond death. And because I believe knowledge gained in situ (and without constraint) is somehow truer to the way of the crow, the videos (click on each pic) presented here are amateur stuff all found on good old Youtube (take that SOPA!). In addition to snowboarding, there’s friend-making, chattery pet stuff, and a not so cute display of rabble-rousing in which one crafty crow entertains himself by getting two cats to fight! Enjoy!

Postscript: Someone sent me this link to Ted Hughes talking about “crow concept”, that I wanted to add:

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