I am not sure when or how it happen but at some point I became a bird lover. It may have been a parakeet or that first zebra finch but if I have to identify the exact moment, I think it was when I got ducks. And from that point on I became some sort of rehabilitation and old ducks home for abandoned, abused, injured and even lonely ducks in the West End.
If you have ducks, people will seek you out and give you more ducks. Kathy and Ron Hjelmeseth found abandoned ducks at the hatchery. They were still quite young and probably would not have lived, so, yes, I took them.
Jeff and Linda McGinley had two ducks that needed a home, yes, I took them. Nancy Tuttle’s daughter had raised an Indian Runner in the Seattle area but it needed a home in the country, yes, I took it.
Kay at Sol Duc Clinic called me at work one day. They had an injured duck in their parking lot, pet carrier in hand I captured the duck, of course, I took it. The Forks Police Department called there were two Muscovy ducks at the Elks Lodge, all right, I took them.
A delivery man was getting a divorce and needed a home for a Canada goose and it was a cranky goose, sure, I took it. So, when Ivan and Diane Cowles, living on Shuwah Road, had an old lonely Khaki Campbell that was a little crippled from a dog mauling, how could I refuse? I took it.
A few days after the arrival of the Khaki Campbell, while washing my car, a crow flew in and landed right next to me. This was strange — I slowly walked over to the crow and it jumped on my shoulder. This was no ordinary crow. The crow came every morning and would leave in the evening. I had a feeling he was leading a double life, but what and where?
While talking with a friend at the grocery store I mentioned the amazing crow that was visiting my house. She told me that the Cowles had a pet crow, they were the same people I got the Khaki Campbell from! Had the crow followed the duck to my house or was it some unbelievable coincidence? I called the Cowles and sure enough it was their crow named Moe.
Moe was smart and he was trouble, he hid dog food in the grill of my car, he stole the dog’s ball and pecked at their feet. My labs were terrified of him. I finally cut a straw in half and filled it with peanut butter and that kept him out of trouble for a while. On rainy days he would sit on the front porch and wait until it stopped raining. And then one day Moe was gone.
Recent experiments at the University of Washington seem to prove that crows recognize people’s faces. But would a crow be able to recognize a duck? I will never know.
I know many people hate crows but I am saying if you ever got to know one, you would love them.
So, did Moe decide to become a regular crow? Or did some misfortune befall him? I know I will never look at a crow the same way again. Moe, is that you?
