Golf at our course has it challenges. One of the most difficult challenges is protecting your snacks when you leave your cart. No quicker can you ensure your alignment, get your stance and take one last look at the target, when it happens. From the corner of your eye you see your peanut butter crackers, wrapper included, skirting across the sky. Yes, in the beak of a crow, your fuel for the next five holes has left the cart. Simultaneously, your playing partner is in hot pursuit of these bandits, shooing, yelling and waving their arms giving you an excellent excuse for shanking your ball thus missing your target by 20 feet.
Stopping at the club house after playing Hole Nine for a pit stop, beverage order or refill, food purchase, etc. we then proceed to Hole 10. Players have developed unique ways of hiding food from what Zoologists refer to as "feathered apes" while playing this and other holes. If a golfer reaches the green in regulation (GIR) he or she has three shots to protect their food before putting. It is the green area where a Murder of Crows wait in near by trees. As soon as you walk towards the green they swoop down, surround unoccupied carts and the hunt is on. Even if you hid your snacks well, the ratio of food flying the Friendly Skies" or not is about 8 to 1.
Frequently my "significant other" and I have lunch at a restaurant with outdoor dining. On our last visit we observed a Murder of Crows visiting empty tables to steal the wrapped crackers from the condiment holders. Just like on the golf course, I watched these opportunists worked as a team like a well-rehearsed orchestra. Tell me, how do the authorities charge a crow for littering. The wrappers fall to the ground somewhere?
Crows as well as ravens, parrots and a few others have the largest brain-to-body size ratios of any living birds. Comparatively as smart as chimpanzees, crows also have an adaptable palate and unique skills to secure their next meal. Not sure about the restaurant, but Hole 10 is surrounded by water. So here is the question. Are these intelligent winged thieves stealing for bait to catch fish or are they opportunistic creatures exploiting a guaranteed food source?
Disobey your mother! Eat quickly or protect your stash.
