New homes

Mamma Mia has left, taking her kittens. The rosemary bush is back to being just a rosemary bush instead of a shelter for single mothers, and seems unnaturally quiet. I don't know where she went. I came home and she was gone.

I have been rejected. I miss the hissing and growling from the rosemary bush. I hope she has found a good new home.

Speaking of new homes, down on the corner from our house there is a big tree, and in that tree some crows are building a new nest. I am offering no prizes for guessing what they are using to make this nest. I was going to try to get a picture on my way out today but the sun was behind the nest, and on my way home I forgot. But anyway, it's just more of the same, and I am becoming quite blasé about the whole thing. If the question of what crows build their nests from ever comes up in a quiz I'll be able to answer it right away. They build their nests from wire hangers. I don't think I have never seen any other kind, come to think of it, aside from the carrion crow's original nest. It seems that wire hangers are the new standard.

Kenju asked where they are getting the hangers. They are getting them from people's washing lines, I suppose. People hang their washing out on house and apartment balconies, and frequently use the free hangers from dry cleaners. Either that or the crows have found a way to break into dry cleaning establishments.

I saw a crow the other day on someone's balcony. I thought it might be there to steal a hanger or two, as there was some washing, but as I went past it had been distracted by a small bird in a wire cage hanging from the end of the balcony. It looked pretty funny, the crow peering into the cage as if to say, What on earth are you doing in THERE?, or, perhaps, Holy cow! look at all that lovely wire! I did not have my camera, unfortunately.

I will keep my eyes open for crows stealing hangers so I can get a picture, but don't hold your breath. I would have to be extremely lucky. I have seen a crow flying with a hanger only once, and by the time I got my camera out it was out of sight. It seems a little odd that I have only seen that once, though, considering the number of hangers involved, and I'm beginning to wonder if they commit their burglaries at night. I sometimes hear them in the wee hours, flying around and making raucous noises. I can't imagine the difficulty of trying to manipulate multiple hangers in the dark, but I suppose it is possible.

Maybe that is why they have those magnificently large cerebrums. It's evolution in action. The crows that poked their own eyes out with wire hangers died off, but the puzzle-solving brainy crows survived and flourished.

Give them a couple of years and they'll be standing for election.