Kirislin Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Could a crow or a raven pose a threat to a tiny puppy? I know they're mainly carrion feeders but I know they'll eat sick disabled animals while they're still alive. Yesterday while visiting my puppy in suburbia I was surprised to see a crow watching them from the fence. My puppy only weighs 1.7kgs so is pretty tiny. The puppies mother Widget was very protective and rushed at the bird leaping up trying to catch it or send it on its way. I know birds of prey will take small dogs but I'm not sure about crows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjelkier Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Can't say I've ever been worried about the Crow/Ravens with the Havanese puppies (they did worry me when I had my rabbit but that's a different story) eagles however worry me a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 Can't say I've ever been worried about the Crow/Ravens with the Havanese puppies (they did worry me when I had my rabbit but that's a different story) eagles however worry me a lot. Yes were I live eagles and smaller birds of prey will be a potential threat while she's tiny, but I didn't expect to see a crow in suburbia watching her so intently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 (edited) Yep. They normally kill/hurt their prey where they are though and not take off with them. Out at a farm I go to I've seen a kitten with one eye from a crow encounter. Edited September 30, 2013 by mixeduppup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julesluvscavs Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 (edited) We often get crows ( they are called ravens here in SA despite one of our football teams being called the Crows) around our place. .They do horrible things especially to young lambs but cant say they have ever tried to pick up my rabbit altho my bunny is a chunky solid type and they were around when Miah was smaller but we usually supervise the dogs when they go outside. I did watch one grab a big raw bone from our rubbish bin once when the wind had blown the lid open .. We used to get quite a few hawks (i think thats what they were?) circling at our last place and they were more of a worry with our bunny (we lived close to a camel abattoir) Edited October 1, 2013 by Jules❤3Cavs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wundahoo Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Not quite on-topic but a story about interesting interaction between a dog and a raven. Some years ago I had a singleton black cocker puppy. She was out in the yard during the day from about 8 weeks old. We have a lot of ravens around here and one in particular had been ostracised from the others. Dont know why, but it was not a part of the main group of birds. I noticed it sitting on the fence of the puppy run a few times and so I kept an eye on it. The baby cocker was about the same size as the bird and of course the same colour. After a few days of fence sitting, the raven went into the puppy run with the pup and so began a rather strange but interesting relationship between singleton puppy and single raven !! It stayed friends with the puppy for a very long time. The puppy never tried to hurt the bird and the bird obviously enjoyed the company of the pup. They would potter around the yard together picking up sticks and twigs, or the pup would lay around in the grass with the raven never more than a couple of feet away. Sometimes they would both seem to snooze off together in the sun, which was unusual for a raven as they only spend time on the ground if they are foraging for food. The bird spent much of its day with the puppy. It would also eat the puppy's dry food from the bowl. This went on for about 8 months until one day the raven didnt come back. I presumed that it had died or been killed. By this time my puppy was about 10 months old and almost fully grown. She seemed quite upset for a while that her feathered friend didnt come to see her again and I noticed that whene ever the ravens were about she would be very interested in trying to interact with them. Her behaviour towards them was so different to that of the other dogs who would try to chase them away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 Not quite on-topic but a story about interesting interaction between a dog and a raven. Some years ago I had a singleton black cocker puppy. She was out in the yard during the day from about 8 weeks old. We have a lot of ravens around here and one in particular had been ostracised from the others. Dont know why, but it was not a part of the main group of birds. I noticed it sitting on the fence of the puppy run a few times and so I kept an eye on it. The baby cocker was about the same size as the bird and of course the same colour. After a few days of fence sitting, the raven went into the puppy run with the pup and so began a rather strange but interesting relationship between singleton puppy and single raven !! It stayed friends with the puppy for a very long time. The puppy never tried to hurt the bird and the bird obviously enjoyed the company of the pup. They would potter around the yard together picking up sticks and twigs, or the pup would lay around in the grass with the raven never more than a couple of feet away. Sometimes they would both seem to snooze off together in the sun, which was unusual for a raven as they only spend time on the ground if they are foraging for food. The bird spent much of its day with the puppy. It would also eat the puppy's dry food from the bowl. This went on for about 8 months until one day the raven didnt come back. I presumed that it had died or been killed. By this time my puppy was about 10 months old and almost fully grown. She seemed quite upset for a while that her feathered friend didnt come to see her again and I noticed that whene ever the ravens were about she would be very interested in trying to interact with them. Her behaviour towards them was so different to that of the other dogs who would try to chase them away. what a sweet but sad story, I dont mind that it's off topic, thanks for telling it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjelkier Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Not quite on-topic but a story about interesting interaction between a dog and a raven. Some years ago I had a singleton black cocker puppy. She was out in the yard during the day from about 8 weeks old. We have a lot of ravens around here and one in particular had been ostracised from the others. Dont know why, but it was not a part of the main group of birds. I noticed it sitting on the fence of the puppy run a few times and so I kept an eye on it. The baby cocker was about the same size as the bird and of course the same colour. After a few days of fence sitting, the raven went into the puppy run with the pup and so began a rather strange but interesting relationship between singleton puppy and single raven !! It stayed friends with the puppy for a very long time. The puppy never tried to hurt the bird and the bird obviously enjoyed the company of the pup. They would potter around the yard together picking up sticks and twigs, or the pup would lay around in the grass with the raven never more than a couple of feet away. Sometimes they would both seem to snooze off together in the sun, which was unusual for a raven as they only spend time on the ground if they are foraging for food. The bird spent much of its day with the puppy. It would also eat the puppy's dry food from the bowl. This went on for about 8 months until one day the raven didnt come back. I presumed that it had died or been killed. By this time my puppy was about 10 months old and almost fully grown. She seemed quite upset for a while that her feathered friend didnt come to see her again and I noticed that whene ever the ravens were about she would be very interested in trying to interact with them. Her behaviour towards them was so different to that of the other dogs who would try to chase them away. What a great story. It's well documented that wolves and ravens have a good working relationship and will play with each other. "Ravens not only scavenge wolf kills, but steal up to one third of a carcass, by continually carrying away chunks of meat, caching and hiding them both from the wolves and their fellow ravens. A fascinating new study suggests that, since an adult wolf can, by itself, kill any prey smaller than a large moose, the real reason wolves hunt in packs, is to minimize the portion of a carcass lost to ravens! And while it may seem that wolves have the short end of this symbiotic relationship with ravens, idle wolves and ravens have been observed playing together, with ravens pulling on wolf tails, and wolf pups chasing after teasing ravens," Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maeby Fünke Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 (edited) I have no experience with Crows/Ravens and puppies, but a Crow once swooped down and flew off with a small peanut butter filled Kong while my Pug was only a few feet away. Edited October 1, 2013 by Maeby Fünke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ari.g Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 A lot smaller than a puppy, but a crow flew off with one of my ducklings when I was a kid That's a sweet but sad story Wundahoo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph M Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I have no experience with Crows/Ravens and puppies, but a Crow once swooped down and flew off with a small peanut butter filled Kong while my Pug was only a few feet away. bet the pug was HEARTBROKEN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maeby Fünke Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 (edited) I have no experience with Crows/Ravens and puppies, but a Crow once swooped down and flew off with a small peanut butter filled Kong while my Pug was only a few feet away. bet the pug was HEARTBROKEN! He didn't see it happen so he was just very confused. He has lots of Kongs so I just made him another one, but this time I stayed outside to keep an eye on things. Damn Crow, those Kongs are expensive! Edited October 1, 2013 by Maeby Fünke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*kirty* Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 (edited) Ive seen a crow trying to carry off a young possum. It kept picking it up by the tail and trying to fly off. I intervened and took possum to a carer. He would have been about 400g. Edited October 1, 2013 by *kirty* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyosha Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 (edited) I have seen the big Australian Ravens successfully predate full grown poultry - both chooks and ducks, as well as smaller native ducks. And they would all weigh in at far more than a little pup... They don't have to be able to carry something off to kill it. They will kill something to just eat it - even if they can't move it. They are predatory birds and not just scavengers. Individuals may hunt to a greater or lesser extent. I would be very wary of them around puppies up to about 3-4kg, and even bigger. They do indeed go for the head and even if they don't make a kill they can blind or fracture a skull very easily (thinking here also of the many owls I have seen with their eyes/skulls ruined by magpies - it can be a similar sort of attack). I hat to be morbid - but I have seen them in action. They are also highly intelligent and will pick their moment appropriately. Hence the sitting back and watching - calculating whether it's worth a try or not... Edited October 1, 2013 by Alyosha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 I have seen the big Australian Ravens successfully predate full grown poultry - both chooks and ducks, as well as smaller native ducks. And they would all weigh in at far more than a little pup... They don't have to be able to carry something off to kill it. They will kill something to just eat it - even if they can't move it. They are predatory birds and not just scavengers. Individuals may hunt to a greater or lesser extent. I would be very wary of them around puppies up to about 3-4kg, and even bigger. They do indeed go for the head and even if they don't make a kill they can blind or fracture a skull very easily (thinking here also of the many owls I have seen with their eyes/skulls ruined by magpies - it can be a similar sort of attack). I hat to be morbid - but I have seen them in action. They are also highly intelligent and will pick their moment appropriately. Hence the sitting back and watching - calculating whether it's worth a try or not... this is what I feared! I got such a surprise to see it watching so intently and my puppys mother must have sensed the danger because she went after it, but the puppies often dash outside now with no adult humans or dogs around, and that crow will be watching for her now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 The crows here are DEADLY......to oranges/walnuts/mandarines ...but I have never seen one attack healthy poultry/pups/kittens /rabbits ..tho , of course they will feed on ill/incapacitated livestock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCresties Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 We have a daily visit from a raven, super intelligent birds! He sits on top of our open kitchen door waiting for his daily treat :laugh: He has snuck up behind Indy a couple of times after she has walked past him and given her tail a peck - much to her shock! It really did look more like a playful peck rather than out to do any real damage. Louis hates him and chases him off when he sees him in the garden - the raven doesn't go far though :laugh: I did see one taking on a big blue tongue at the side of the highway the other day, the blue tongue was backing away as fast as it could! The traffic was moving too fast to stop, so not sure of the outcome of that battle.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I saw a dog being rehomed that was missing half a tail. Apparently it had been attacked by crows as a puppy, and lost some tail as a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 (edited) For the past week or so, there has been a crow around my place (whether it is the same one or not, who knows :laugh: ). It is huge! It baths a few times a day in my bird bath and I regularly see it flying up to sit on a light pole to eat whatever it has caught. Typing this has made me realise I haven't seen any other birds around for a while . Edited October 1, 2013 by Danny's Darling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chequeredblackdog Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Slightly off topic, but found it interesting :) Crow or Raven? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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