SUSPICIOUS CROW: Powell River Orphaned Wildlife Society (PROWLS) received a call about a crow in bad shape in a little alley just behind the shops along Marine Avenue.
Upon arrival, PROWLS president Merrilee Prior received many offers of help from the shopkeepers as they all followed after it. Even though the crow was later discovered to have a broken wing, it sought escape rather than capture and finally found shelter in a 10-foot well by the qathet Regional District offices.
Still agitated, it calmed a bit when Merillee called out: “We don’t bite!” It was then scooped up in a net taped onto a long pole.
Once back at PROWLS, after its broken wing was wrapped, it was placed on a course of antibiotics and pain medications.
Finally in a kennel with a plate of food (meat, pellets, egg, grapes), the crow was still suspicious, but being around the other birds in rehab seemed to slowly calm it and by the end of the day, it took some meat. With a separated shoulder joint, time is required for healing.
A crow’s flight style is unique: a patient, methodical flapping that is rarely broken up with glides. Highly cunning and inquisitive, they have been observed stealing food from a northern river otter. As one bird pecked the otter’s tail to distract it, other birds swooped in and stole the fish.
