next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
You can call him the bird whisperer West Pubnico man finds crow that now won't leave By BRIAN MEDEL Yarmouth Bureau July 19, 2007 WEST PUBNICO - Mater the crow is no birdbrain. The Yarmouth County crow is determined to live a life of ease. He recently adopted a family of d'Entremonts from West Pubnico and now spends his nights sleeping under a roof instead of under spruce boughs. The bird answers to the name Mater, as in tomater. "That's the first thing he ate when we got him," said local fisherman Chris d'Entremont, who named him. "I've got a weird way with animals," he said in his backyard, where domesticated wild ducks waddle. Mr. d'Entremont and his son, five-year-old Noah, found the full-sized crow a couple of weeks ago while trudging through the woods. "We just went for a walk and you could hear (Mater) squawking," said Mr. d'Entremont. The bird didn't seem to be hurt. He was just hopping around the two hikers as they tried to pass. "So we picked him up and brought him here and showed my wife," he said. Mr. d'Entremont's wife Elizabeth and the couple's older son, Michael, 8, all took to Mater's affectionate ways. The family was going out that evening so father and son returned the crow to the forest where they first met. "The next afternoon we went back in, me and the boys, and (Mater) was still around the same spot (where) we let him go. So we brought him home," said Mr. d'Entremont. Mater now prefers domestic life to existing in the wild. The crow doesn't like to go out at night so the family allows him to spend his evenings with them. "He sleeps in a cage in the porch for now," said Mr. d'Entremont. They've given him his own chair, a folding lawn chair that they bring into the house periodically for him. The crow is free to leave anytime he wants to but prefers to sit in the kitchen or out in the backyard. There's nothing wrong with Mater's wings. He just doesn't care for flying, said Mr. d'Entremont. "He chases the ducks around on the lawn for a while but he doesn't bother flying." After Mater finishes with the ducks, he'll head inside where it's cooler. "He just hops in. Basically, he does more hopping than flying," he said. "He can fly if he wants to." As the new kid on the block, Mater has learned to get along with other animals in the home. "We've got four cats in the house. He eats with them," said Mr. d'Entremont. Mater is also busy learning how to talk, according to his new landlord. "He says 'hello' and 'water,' " said Mr. d'Entremont, who suggests Mater is a fast learner. ( bmedel@herald.ca)
next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects