PlazaJen: Passion Knit

OK, so I was reading Erika's woodland mice adventures, and she had edited the post to add that maybe she should put a big automated owl on the back seat of the Honda, both to repel mice and what a conversation piece that would be!

It reminded me of when we bought the plastic owl (that does :not: turn its head or make noises) when we lived in the apartments of Widow Creek. James also brought in some crow calls. Because if you want to hunt crows, you have to call for 'em. You know. Didn't you? Me neither. One other thing I didn't know is that - much like lions and hyenas - crows and owls are mortal enemies in the animal kingdom.

Anyhoo, we had the plastic owl on the balcony because there were an abundance of pigeons, and they do what pigeons do best - shit everywhere - and we were trying to create a deterrent. But in addition to pigeons, Widow Creek (and much of Kansas City) has numerous flyways for crows, and piles of money have been spent down on the Plaza to relocate the birds, because of the mess they cause. SO! One spring evening, looking for entertainment, we popped the crow-calling tape in the stereo, opened the patio door, and sat back to watch what would happen.

It was like something out of a Hitchcock movie. I don't exactly remember what particular crow calls we were blasting (Yo HomeCrow, Your Momma So Stupid She Couldn't Be in an Aesop Fable if She Died?) but it involved Help! Owl! Crow! In! Trouble! noises, and within moments, there was one Extremely Pissed Off crow, perched across the parking lot on the building opposite ours. Then two, three, four more crows alit on the roof, all agitated as can be. We couldn't stop laughing. The crows couldn't identify where exactly the trouble sounds were coming from, and I don't know if they even connected with our plastic shell of an owl, but there they were, stomping all around, calling to each other, some flying off and circling to attempt to identify the source. We wondered if anyone else in the building was perhaps baffled, and/or getting alarmed by the gang of angry crows gathering.

I know Erika's tried NPR to get the mice out, but maybe she needs a tape of a predator. (I commented that I think the mice are muttering about world politics and shaking their little heads at the foolishness in the world. And probably complaining about the stale granola she's leaving to test the repellents...) Anyway, her situation prompted that funny memory & I thought I'd share. If only we'd had a tape that repelled evil old ladies who hallucinated noises and made their neighbors miserable. (Oh, yeah, it's called METALLICA.)