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Comment by sharkweek | Hacker News Reader

So fascinating!

There is a young girl in Seattle who made friends with the local crows by feeding them, they soon were bringing her regular gifts in exchange for her snacks - http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31604026

I tried to do the same thing in my backyard for about three weeks until one day my wife caught me putting little pieces of bread on our porch railing. She asked what I was doing and I explained making friends with the crows (what else?!). She asked me to stop so I did.

My only hope is that they attack her now and not me, with some level of understanding that she was the one who ruined all the fun...

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Your hope may just come true. Crows are extremely intelligent and they live quite a long time. When I was a kid I went on a vacation with my family to a cabin by a lake. A man living in the neighborhood had a pet crow. The crow would get cosy around our dining table that was outside trying to grab some food, so my mother chased it away once. After that for the next 2 weeks we stayed there the crow would fly over every day and take a shit on my mother's laundry. There were 5 people in the family, but the crow would somehow always pick my mother's clothes. This is a true story.

To put the story you linked in context, it's less "little girl feeds a couple of crows" and more "large scale feeding operation" that pisses of the neighbors: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Neighbors-sue-to-stop...

Not enough data to draw a firm conclusion from here, but I've heard enough stories of busybody neighbors to be suspicious of anyone who comes in claiming that bird poop has caused $200,000 worth of property damage. You'd expect the whole neighborhood to be leveled every time a starling migration comes through.

I'm not sure if it's ever happened in the Pacific Northwest, but bird poop can contaminate areas with a pathogen that persists in the soil and causes a tuberculosis-like lung disease. I think there was even a town in the Midwest that had to be abandoned because of it. Bird poop is also a vector for various parasites that can harm you and your pets. (Plus it's gross.)

Edit: It's called "histoplasmosis".

Could it be Hopkinsville? http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/kentucky-town-unde...

Apparently there are a lot of rogue forces that can completely ruin a town. See Centralia, Peshtigo, Dust Bowl, Lake Peigneur, etc.

Well, that's one interpretation, and the city and health department have made statements disagreeing with it. We'll see what the courts say eventually, it's scheduled to go to trial in August 2016. http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Crow-feeding-Seattle-...

I think this says a lot : "A petition signed by 51 neighbors filed a petition with the city of Seattle failed to prompt action."

Here's another link, with video: http://www.kiro7.com/news/neighbors-sue-parents-portage-bay-...

The problem I see with "little girl feeds a couple of crows" is that the "couple of crows" will inevitably grow to a larger number...

... and then, in all likelihood, a murder.

:) I've written about my encounters with hooded crows on Hacker News in this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11540261

Which type of nuts and seeds did you use?

Mostly cashew, but they love peanuts in the shell and instinctively knew what it was and how to open them.

Perhaps you can change her mind with this:

http://www.thecrowbox.com/

I normally wouldn't add this useless comment, but this made my wife just about wet herself laughing.

If you are going to feed wild birds nuts and seeds is a more appropriate food to put out for them than bread.

That bringing back the lost lens cap is kind of amazing. I'd like to see that video.

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