Pet crow/ raven

[Exloration_La]

After seeing the videos below and reading the info below about how incredible theses birds are I am thinking about getting one which you can legally obtain here: http://www.corvitude.com

Any of you have any experiences to share?


talking crows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nqpo9F_4Sc


Kitten and Crow Couple

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0xRrtS-_Wk

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my pet crow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s87RV8crRtc

how to pet a wild raven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJBJEY3TM5c

Smart crow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ykewnc0oE

pet raven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMQBorGECag

Clever Crows
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7329182515885554944&q=crow


The Care of Ravens
By Stephanie R. K.

http://www.restarea1mile.com/ravens.html

American Crow

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Crow

http://www.corvitude.com/corvidranchlinks.html

http://www.corvitude.com/corvidranch.html

[Shanti]

Your link, http://www.corvitude.com (http://www.corvitude.com/), doesnt go to a place to buy a crow or raven.

Also, even if you can find a place to buy a crow, that doesn't make it necessarily legal.
And crows/ravens are not all the same species. That too effects whether what you want to obtain is legal.

Since I dont know where you want to make such a purchase, I cant comment on whether I think its a good or bad idea.

[Tanya]

It is illegal to by any native wild animal in the US without a rehaber's license.

If you want to work with these birds, contact a registered rehabber. Often birds are too injured to return to the wild, and if there is a trained caring person to look after them, they may be given into their care rather than euthanized. These birds, injured as adults will always be wild, and afraid of humans... not exactly pet material... :(

To get a bird like that to really become tame you have to rear it from a chick, and obviously, an abandoned chick has a good chance to grow up and live a normal life in the wild, so it should be given that oppertunity.

Here, rehabers sometimes end up with hand reared birds who are used to people and choose to stick around to some degree or other. (see my article in Mystic Wicks Magazine Spring 007)

They hang around the house, but live normal bird social lives. These birds seldom learn to talk, but they form thebest sort of relationship with an animal, in that they are wild creatures still who choose your company, not pets who are culturally isolated from their own species.

[Exloration_La]

Also, even if you can find a place to buy a crow, that doesn't make it necessarily legal.
And crows/ravens are not all the same species. That too effects whether what you want to obtain is legal.
.

OKAY…. I did not intend this whole thread to be about the legality or how to legally obtain a crow, so lets please not make this whole thread about the legality of owning , how to own or where to get a license etc as for me that would be a very boring thread…

Instead lets share if you have owned raised , saved a baby crow or even close counters with crows in your back yard or feeding them in your back yard.. That stuff is much more fun tot talk about. If I wanted to talk legal stuff all day I could go to a legal forum or something…

[RoseKitten]

I think you'll find that most people here won't give advice to help you with an illegal activity, especially one that in the long run probably means that a crow was taken away from the wild at some point, not because of injury, but because someone wanted to sell it as a "pet." :) Just sayin'

[Piney Boy]

As already suggested contact a sanctuary or zoo in your area, it'll give you a great opportunity to work up close with many fascinating creatures. My wife is a zoo keeper and got me into this program years ago. Its not only really rewarding, but also an excellent way to learn about species.
A crow story:
Two years ago while hiking off of a ridge line on the Grand Canyon's North Rim a crow was laying into me with sound. The higher I climbed the more it squawked, but never did fly away. Well, when I reached the little summit I came face to face with a HUGE elk, or wapiti to be a little more scientifically correct. I stopped in my tracks, bird still screaminig away. The wapiti looked up from grazing, gave me a once over, and returned to its grazing. Don't know who the bird was warning me or the wapiti. They have be known on many occasions to aid hunters in game spotting, so as to claim a little food reward themselves. Smart birds indeed.

[donatello51]

Here where I live we have dozens of crows around all the time. They are wild and come and go as they please. We do nothing more then put food out and they come around every spring and stay all summer. They talk to us but I'm unable to speak coherently to them. I caw at them and they answer back sometimes but I have no context for what we are saying to each other and I've no clue as to syntax. I have a book called Animal Speak and so I'm reading up on totems and power animals and spirit guides. I personally can't ever imagine keeping one of these or the ravens or any of the other birds as pets or captives. I don't need any damage to my karma due to my being a "keeper" and not a "helper" to them all. I and my family have taken several crows and sea gulls and pigeons to the humane society shelter for broken wings and foot injuries. We have stray cats in the neighborhood and lots of thoughtless humans who like to shoot at them. I respect the birds as I do all animals and I'd not jeopardize my connections with them to own one.

Obviously you see things differently. I don't own my dogs it is by his and her choice that they live with me. I live with no birds or fish or lizards or since they are wild animals. I will someday live with horses since they are creations of man and not wild as nature intended animals.

Gentle Path fellow travelers. You can admire or detest my path but you can not walk on it.

[Tarbh Nathroch]

I had a neighbor while growing up who had a pet crow. It was injured, he helped it. When it was well again he let it go, he gave it the opportunity to leave it chose not to. An amazing animal, social and smart man this bird was smart. But there were problems it was a wild bird so it’s nature and intelligence would sometimes be an aggravation for the man. Some destructive behavior, harassment of other animals…things you would expect from a smart 4yr old child. If you end up with one…you read to be pretty determined, please for the love of living things don’t split its tongue so it can talk like a parrot.

[Shanti]

This is why you are getting info on the legal aspects:
I am thinking about getting one which you can legally obtain hereAs for species as I mentioned...crows are Corvids. They are over 100 species of corvids in the world. If a species is not from the US, it MAY be legal to keep here as a pet. But it would have to be legally obtained, usually from a pet store or breeder where its from domestically bred stock.

As for stories. Crows and Jays are common around here. They are loud and love eating the young they take from the Grackle nest.
Here farmers can legal kill crows do to their destruction of crops.

[Agaliha]

Um. I believe haing a crow or raven as a pet is wrong--legally and otherwise. It's illegal in the US as far as I know, in WA for sure. It's also illegal to kill them too.

SEE:

Crows are classified as migratory birds, although few migrate more than from one neighborhood to another, and therefore are protected by federal law. Unless one has a federal permit (these are difficult to obtain), it is illegal, a criminal offense, to keep a crow or raven. These laws have a rational basis -- to keep people from buying or selling native birds in pet shops, as was once a common practice. Also this protects birds from idle, would-be pet keepers whose intentions are good, but are so lacking in expertise that they end up abusing the animals. An adult crow, or even young ones past the imprinting age, are among the most difficult of creatures to "tame." They remain hostile and frightened no matter how much care is lavished. People who come upon an infant or injured adult crow, in fact, upon any wild animal or bird, should take them to a licensed rehabilitator. Rehabilitators, by law, cannot charge for their services.
http://www.birdhobbyist.com/articles/BirdHobbyist/Species/Crows.html


But you don't want to get into that. Whatever. By asking you opened this can of worms, just saying. I just hope you don't by one. There are plenty of nice, intelligent birds that are pet meterial and legal that you could look into to. African Greys for example.

As for saving crows. My mom did. It's wing was messed up from a cat attack. We put it in a box and drove to PAWs, an animal rehablitition place. Note, we didn't keep it. Even though it was a young bird. Why would we? It's a wild animal.

Where I live in my yard alone there are tons and tons of crows. The Pacific NW sub-species to be exact. This was from my yard. There were literally a hundred or more on the streets and near by trees, if my camera wasn't so crappy they might have shown up better:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/BelleTerre/th_DSCI0016.jpg (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/BelleTerre/?action=view&current=DSCI0016.flv)

We have a steady group that keeps to our yard. Usually 3-5 crows that are there daily and days when there's massive amounts like in the video.
We feed them. Watch them.
And enjoy them that way. They've gotten use to us walking in the yard so we can get pretty close, but they still don't let us get in petting distance. I wouldn't want to pet one though.
I think crows are awesome...and that they would stay wild and free. Not pets.

PLUS crows and ravens are huge on the society and group thing. To keep them away from that and to deny them their own kind for your benefit is selfish.

[Exloration_La]

for the love of living things don’t split its tongue so it can talk like a parrot.

?? people have done that?!! That is terrible... Apparently cropping a dogs tail can cause many health problems that is denied by the fancy dog show organizations... Personally I wish some giant would cone down and decide they would look good with having their nose chopped off!!

Anyway to be clear I don't mean and wouldn’t' want to permanently enclose a crow if I were to buy one I would like to build a bond with it and then let it fly free... I gave wild bird to someone and they kept it and spent allot of time with it and then gradually let it out, but it would always stick around and it was so cool. It had total freedom but liked to follow her around.. Unfortunately latter though it got caught by a owl...

If someone were to keep a bird in captivity I would say it would not be fair without a HUGE 2 acre netted areas like they have at the zoo with it's own companions.. then I would say it would be fine, but in others cases I would not want o just cage a bird, because personally I think the point of birds being cool is that they can fly around.. If I want a caged pet i would more like get a reptile or a fish or something like that.. I don’t' get the point of getting a bird only so you don’t' get to see it get the adequate freedom to fly around.. I would like to raise one as a pet but let it fly around and chose me by it's own free will...

[OnyxStar]

Crows are awesome. i want to be one when i grow up. But even if it was legal, it would be a HUGE commitment.
Besides, crows are one of those creatures that are totem animals, but they're not going to sit on your shoulder and behave unless you're some sort of god. Or a very skilled animal trainer.
Still we cna dream, can't we? :-)

[Exloration_La]

I think you'll find that most people here won't give advice to help you with an illegal activity, especially one that in the long run probably means that a crow was taken away from the wild at some point, not because of injury, but because someone wanted to sell it as a "pet." :) Just sayin'



First of all one of the questions I asked was what are your experiences with crows and ravens which include feeding them and getting close to them from your back yard etc which is certainly legal.

Secondly their is legal loopholes in about every law an ways to obtain special licenses.

Thirdly the convid family of birds all have about the same temperament and are all very intelligent birds, and you can DEFINATELY legally obtain these birds as long as that particular kind of convid you got is NOT native to your area such as described on this site:

http://www.corvitude.com/corvidranch.html

Again we could go on all day about legal matters but that is dry and boring if you want to go on about that make another thread about legalities of how close you can get and befriend a crow in your own thread. If I must be repetitive lets make this thread about fun cool experiences you have had with crows otherwise make your own thread, because that is NOT what this one is about..

[Exloration_La]

As already suggested contact a sanctuary or zoo in your area, it'll give you a great opportunity to work up close with many fascinating creatures. My wife is a zoo keeper and got me into this program years ago. Its not only really rewarding, but also an excellent way to learn about species.
A crow story:
Two years ago while hiking off of a ridge line on the Grand Canyon's North Rim a crow was laying into me with sound. The higher I climbed the more it squawked, but never did fly away. Well, when I reached the little summit I came face to face with a HUGE elk, or wapiti to be a little more scientifically correct. I stopped in my tracks, bird still screaminig away. The wapiti looked up from grazing, gave me a once over, and returned to its grazing. Don't know who the bird was warning me or the wapiti. They have be known on many occasions to aid hunters in game spotting, so as to claim a little food reward themselves. Smart birds indeed.

cool story thank you for sharing

[RoseKitten]

First of all one of the questions I asked was what are your experiences with crows and ravens which include feeding them and getting close to them from your back yard etc which is certainly legal.

Secondly their is legal loopholes in about every law an ways to obtain special licenses.

Thirdly the convid family of birds all have about the same temperament and are all very intelligent birds, and you can DEFINATELY legally obtain these birds as long as that particular kind of convid you got is NOT native to your area such as described on this site:

http://www.corvitude.com/corvidranch.html

Again we could go on all day about legal matters but that is dry and boring if you want to go on about that make another thread about legalities of how close you can get and befriend a crow in your own thread. If I must be repetitive lets make this thread about fun cool experiences you have had with crows otherwise make your own thread, because that is NOT what this one is about..


If you don't like my posts, then please feel free to ignore me. Please do not tell me what I can and cannot post.

[Exloration_La]

It's also illegal to kill them too.



unfortunately it is legal to kill them but not to care for them.

http://www.restarea1mile.com/ravens.html

Many however, do not agree with this; siting the laws that allow you to shoot corvids, but not to care for them. Although, keeping of native species is done quite often without repercussion



If they are well taken care of and given freedom to fly around they actually live up to 40 years old verses 15 years old in the wild... I think it depends on how respectful a person it to the animal to allow it to fly out just as you would let out a cat and it comes back home.

I jus wrote to some animal activists group about web sites promoting to purposefully extinct crows because legally as of now you can shoot thousands of them without consequence. see http://www.crowbusters.com/ and other similar sites where they boats about senseless killing of rows for the fun of it!

[Exloration_La]

If you don't like my posts, then please feel free to ignore me. Please do not tell me what I can and cannot post.

Your posts don't fit into the main topic of this thread thus they are off topic... To not be respectful of what this thread is about is being disruptive to the original intentions of this thread and acting like a troll.

Personally me like everyone else is not perfect and post something off topic every now and then, but it is polite to repecfully make efforts to try and be polite and stick on topic.. It's just good manners.

[Phoenix Blue]

ADMIN MODE

When you start a thread on a topic, occasionally that topic is going to wander to something related. You don't get to control that.

If you don't like the direction the conversation has taken, bow out or use the "ignore" feature, as RoseKitten suggested.

[Zibblsnrt]

Your posts don't fit into the main topic of this thread thus they are off topic... To not be respectful of what this thread is about is being disruptive to the original intentions of this thread and acting like a troll.

Personally me like everyone else is not perfect and post something off topic every now and then, but it is polite to repecfully make efforts to try and be polite and stick on topic.. It's just good manners.

Part of starting a thread in a public forum is consenting to whatever responses you get. The purpose of other members here is not to entertain you (i.e., it's not relevant whether you consider responses to be "boring" or not), nor is it to discuss only the facets of a topic which you wish them to discuss. Provided they're being respectful, members may post or not as they wish.

You brought up the topic of crows as pets; discussing the legality thereof is completely appropriate, whether you wish it to be discussed or not.

Calling someone a troll for engaging in on-topic discussion, incidentally, is not good manners. The respect rule applies.

[halfwaynowhere]

I have a crow. I know they are illegal. However, none of the animal rescues or wildlife centers around here will take in a crow to rehab. We found Jack when he was a baby, possibly pushed out of the nest, he kept getting caught in our chainlink fence. We let him live in our side yard for a few days, leaving food out for him, hoping he would be able to fly soon and live a normal life. He left the side yard, and our dog sort of got him, not too seriously, we didn't even find the injury until months later, once it had already healed. The crows in the neighborhood were picking on him, and we wanted him to be safe. We put him in a cage, outside, where he would be protected, until he was old enough to fly. We hand fed him, which was an interesting experience. This was a few years ago when west nile was really big, and crows were dropping like flies. We didn't want him to get sick, and the crows were still picking on him, so we did eventually bring him inside. From day one we had been trying to contact various groups about him, and every one just said to let him die. Crows are considered vermin. Anyways, we have had Jack for 3 years now. He is still terrified of other crows. We can't put a mirror near his cage because he thinks there is another crow and freaks out. He is a very smart bird, always looking for new challenges. He knows how to get attention when he wants it. He is very expressive. He thinks he's a dog, though. His cage is near our back door, so when the dogs want in or out, he calls us to the door to help them. Its cute. He loves being pet, on his terms only. He will put his head down when he wants to be pet. In different circumstances, we would have released him back into the wild in a heartbeat. But we really didn't have much of a choice, either keep him, or let him die. He is a brat sometimes, and he is a lot of work. He can be very messy. Every morning he starts crowing at around 7, demanding a fresh bowl of water so he can take his bath. he gets water all over the place. When he doesn't like his food, he will toss it out of the cage. Feeding him can be a challenge. We feed him Zupreem food for soft-billed birds and mynahs, as well as cooked chicken breast, and fresh fruits and veggies. Vet care is hard. I have to drive 20 miles to get to a vet that will see him, most won't because he's a crow, even though he's a pet and is kept indoors at all times. My vet is great with him, though.
Anyways, this is part of my experience with a crow. If you have any questions, PM me.

[person of shadow]

Last year I found out from a friend who Takes in baby animals who need to be raised that his last crow(who from last time I checked is still alive) Is that last he can own, it is illigal now.

I love this crow, during the fair time, he has a tent set up for all of his animals(yes he is licensed) And I took care of them one year, That crow talked up a storm! His best and most common used phrase was "I wanna Go Home!) He would say that all the time in his raspy like voice.

[halfwaynowhere]

I wish Jack would learn to talk... that would be awesome, but we don't think he will ever learn.

[Glowy]

If you end up with one, what would you do with it? Crows are very intelligent and I can't see it happily living in a cage. Would it be free in the home or would it be an outside bird that hangs around? My intent is not to flame, I am just very curious.

[LadyCanine]

I can see someone comming across on that needs help. I can see how the possibility that that certain bird would need to stay with whoever to live and if someone has the times and means for it and didnt set forth to get on just cause they could and wanted a pet. I would be more understanding of someone who wanted to just save a life, even if they themselves technically 'shouldnt' do it but did.

A friend of mine did that with a squirrel (is it two r's or two l's?). A wandering cat killed mama and the baby was left alone. My friend saw it and she tried helping mom, but mom didnt make it so she took in the baby so the cat wouldnt get it to. No one would take it, so she raised it. She did kick herself afterwards because when it got older, it didnt know how to do things on its own, but I dont think to much should be put on her for just wanting to save a life. Some would say leave it to the wild to have nature take its corse, but like I said, she just wanted to save its life, she had no ill intent, or want to keep it as a pet, cause its not a pet, its a wild animal.

I personally think that you should possibly contact a rehaber or if it interests you enough, seek that path youself, help the critters and return them to the wild, or keep them to take care of them if they cannot be.

But they are not pets, and I dont see why someone would want to keep a wild animal as a pet. To me it seems to be hindering the wild animals potential abilites to be what it was truely meant to be just for human personal gain and selfishness. (Keep in mind im not talking about those who are wanting to help the creature to save its life, nor am I talking about domesticated animals. They themselves are completely different than wild animals)

<shrug> The choice doesnt effect me, but thats how I feel about it, the final choice isnt mine to make.

[Exloration_La]

If you end up with one, what would you do with it? Crows are very intelligent and I can't see it happily living in a cage. Would it be free in the home or would it be an outside bird that hangs around? My intent is not to flame, I am just very curious.

If the situation arose that a baby bird needed care I would care for it the same way I care for a cat and me and my GF’s cats have a cat door and they can come and go as they please.

Other then that I would befriend a bird from my back yard as some people have you really invest in making a bird friendly yard that attracts birds etc…

That last resort of owning bird as in the case with a exotic bird were it must be inside I would give it a section of the house and a companion in which it could fly or a large outdoor netted area..

My sister has a couple birds And they have the best life ever and the cage door it always open so they can fly away… luckily her cat leaves them alone ( REALLY DEPENDS ON THE CAT) and also luckily the only poop in their cage strangely enough…

These scenarios animals can be very happy in… Of course some people might demonize all of the above or even owning cat or a dog which is silly, because me and my GF’s dogs and cats are VERY happy and well treated and get very good care and even make sure they get high grade food instead of most of the junk food the vets drug companies make so much money off the resulting sick animals….

[Exloration_La]

I was looking up how native Americans and other native peoples befriended animals and dhow Egyptians had cats etc and ran across a piece on crows I thought I would add here:

http://www.cairc.org/e/greeting/pet.html

The History of Pets

In Rome ravens were taught words and highly valued as pets

[Brónach Druid]

I do not ever think anyone should try to obtain a wild animal to keep it for a pet. I also think that if you find a wild creature in need of care you should always first try to find a rehabber to take it. However, sometimes that is not possible. Also there are some creatures that if taken to a rehabber it will just be killed. But you need to understand what you are getting into if you decide to take on the responsibility yourself.

What people have to try and understand is that with many "wild" animals, particularly with birds is that if you find a baby truly in need of care and cannot find a rehabber to take it and decide to raise it yourself, then chances are you are going to end up with a tame creature and responsible for its care for the rest of its life. At this point it is no longer a wild animal. Tamed "wildlife" should never, ever be released. Releasing a tamed creature is the same as killing it. It cannot survive in the wild, it does not understand it is a wild.

That said.......
I know many rehabbers who have ended up with pet crows, they do make wonderful pets.

[WhoseLineBabygirl]

i never thought of those things as pets! wow