Crows double as cleanup service

HOLDEN – We at Fields Pond Audubon Center have watched with interest the clever nature of crows. We have a large picnic table near the Audubon Center building. Picnickers are very careful not to leave any food or litter behind.

Not five minutes after our nature camp children had a snack there, crows swooped in to clean up – even though it looks pretty clean from the building. After 15 minutes picking and pecking around in the pebbles under the picnic table, the crows were gone. Not a tiny crumb was left to indicate that people had just finished eating there, thanks to the crow cleanup crew.

One recent night, Carl Young, town manager of Orrington, was driving past the Fields Pond Audubon land. First, he saw lit up in his headlights two deer crossing the road. He was driving slowly, knowing that deer frequently cross there.

Next, he saw a mouse crossing the road. And then an owl followed. Both mouse and owl disappeared into the darkness, and he did not know the outcome of this chase except that he hit neither with his car. But he thinks that the mouse may have tried to take refuge underneath his car.

This is not as far-fetched as it may seem. At the Fields Pond Audubon Center, we have had this report from New York City: A house sparrow, also known as the English sparrow, was observed being chased by a hawk. The sparrow flew under a car, which was stopped at a red light. The observer was in the car behind. The hawk swerved and flew aside. At the next red light – a block away, the house sparrow was seen flying out from underneath the car.

House sparrows are clever about cars. They are often seen picking dead insects from car grilles in parking lots of fast food establishments. Such a site produces food for those clever house sparrows year ’round -protein in summer, French fries in winter.

To learn more about Fields Pond Audubon Center, 216 Fields Pond Road, Holden, call 989-2591.