In the park I got talking to two old people with two old dogs. One seemed almost as weak on his back legs as mine. Apparently, the excess licking (which mine does) is a self-soothing technique. Makes me feel bad for shouting, 'Stop licking!!!!' Anyway, I'm guessing that all three are in pain as they all do this self-soothing licking. That makes me feel doubly bad.
It turns out that the woman calls me 'The Peanut Lady'. Fair enough.
But then the man admitted he'd been feeding crows up the road for ten or twelve years. He got very close to one - he was notable for having a lot of white feathers - whom he called Colin. The man seemed embarrassed when he admitted he'd named the crow. He went on to say that he called Colin's mate Caroline, after his sister-in-law, a woman for whom he seemed to have little affection. These days, he thinks he's feeding Colin's kid.
He remarked about how clever they were, how they'd call when he arrived and flock for the food. He gave them left-overs. Probably much better than peanuts.
And he had a trick. He'd put the food down at a distance away from him where the crows felt safe. When they flew off to bury it, he'd take a step closer and when they came back, they didn't seem to notice. That way, he said he was able to stand very close to Colin.
My news is that Divo flies down from the tree when I call him. That's very appealing.
Oh and two of the Driveways had a scrap. One was on her back, scrabbling with her feet, and the aggressor had caught hold of her foot!!! I never saw that before. They screamed and when I stepped closer separated. I saw them a few minutes later, all on the ground and walking and I didn't notice any obvious limp. Or indeed aggression. Strange birds.
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