[dgibby]

I'm new here and to be honest not much of a bird watcher but I've noticed the crows in Connecticut doing something weird. They are placing dead squirrels on their backs on the side of the road. The squirrels do not appear to be road kills so I think the crows are killing them. The squirrels are flat on their backs with their front paws on their chest and their tails straight out. I have seen this on several occasions. Two or three crows tend to the body and I have seen another either in a nearby tree or on the side of the road(the lookout?). Has anyone seen or heard of this happening before? It appears that they do this so a car will run over the squirrel so they can eat it.

[fugl]

Originally Posted by dgibby

I'm new here and to be honest not much of a bird watcher but I've noticed the crows in Connecticut doing something weird. They are placing dead squirrels on their backs on the side of the road. The squirrels do not appear to be road kills so I think the crows are killing them. The squirrels are flat on their backs with their front paws on their chest and their tails straight out. I have seen this on several occasions. Two or three crows tend to the body and I have seen another either in a nearby tree or on the side of the road(the lookout?). Has anyone seen or heard of this happening before? It appears that they do this so a car will run over the squirrel so they can eat it.

Fascinating observation. Japanese crows are famous for dropping nuts in traffic for cars to smash open for them, but until your post I'd never heard that American crows did anything of this sort.