The other day I was on my way to go running -- I am determined to start competing in, or at least finishing, some 5Ks -- when I heard a loud ruckus in the sky. A murder of crows (that's the official plural for crow) were stirring up some serious shit above me.
I looked up to see six or seven crows attacking a red-shouldered hawk. Now, crows will most definitely attack a hawk (or an owl) despite the fact that the hawk is much bigger than the crow.
That's because crows are the bad asses of the bird world -- hyenas with feathers. If a crow was an NFL player, it would be Bill Romanowski. If a crow was a Major League Baseball player, it would be Ty Cobb.
The hawk, having superior flying skills, managed to evade the murder of crows.
But not all of them. One crow pursued the hawk across the skies -- relentlessly.
The crow, which had to be less than half the size of the hawk, pursued the hawk with the zeal of a Sunni suicide bomber in a Shiite vegetable market. That crow chased that hawk for 10 minutes.
And here is the amazing thing. The hawk never fought back. Not once. It never used its talons or its sharp beak to rip the crow's guts out, which it clearly could have. Instead, the crow flew up from behind the hawk and attacked from the rear.
It was extraordinarily effective. The hawk was not harmed, but it was driven off. The crow prevailed.
The moral of this story? Be the crow.
The crow is not afraid to take on birds of superior size and armament. The crow is extremely intelligent and will come to the aid of an unrelated crow.
Crows are extremely adaptable. Crows will eat just about anything.
And a crow does not back down.
Be the crow.