Flash Post 240!

Button, do you remember the post I shared with you telling you about how ingenious crows are?

I do. If the story of The Thirsty Crow is anything to go by–a story you had told me–they would be, by far, one of the cleverest amongst the bird species.

Relaxing by the Taj poolside this afternoon, Dost and I found a kind of wire mesh stretching from one end of the pool to the other but much higher up. On enquiring, we were told that the mesh had been put there to keep the birds away.

Away from what?

From swishing down and carrying away food from the hotel residents plates. I, immediately, pointed out to Dost a crow that had just swooped down and was sitting a little distance away from a table occupied by a family of foreigners and waiting in the wings to go for a morsel of food heaped high on a plate and fly back to perch somewhere and eat what he had just carried away in peace.

Or feed it to his family!

And why not? If the human family could have a plateful of food in front of them why couldn’t the crow family? I just saw him go for the goodies and escape.

Atta boy.

And he’s back again and again and again. Yes, I actually counted the number of times he managed to sneak inside the huge cage where we were all busy with either eating or swimming or chatting or observing or sitting in silence and escape with food held between his beak.

He’s obviously located that secret door from where he can enter and exit as many times as he wants and not get caught. How could you tell it was the same crow?

Could well be a crow from the same family. Perhaps they’ve shared the location of the secret entrance amongst themselves and taking turns at piling goodies on their family table for a Sunday night feast!

Wow! And, that too, without spending a paisa!

That’s ingenuity, I guess.