The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1893-01-07
EXPLOITS OF AZ CROW.
VERY CLEVER l%C--o, cut f.E NET
AN UMTiMELY OATH.

Anecdotes by a Man Who Saw Some
Strange Things I.vsn Though lie Had a
Gun-The Grow Distilled Certain Kinds
of Ans.naIs-1Ee Was a Great Hunter.
"When this region was nearly all
woods sixty years ago" said an old
resident of Bell Meadow, Il picked a
young crow out ofthe mud il Tamarack
swamp, where he had tumbled out of
the nest before he was cid enough to fly.
I named him Abe and tanned him. and
he develored into the brightest bird |
ever saw. Like all tame crows, Abe
was mischievous and inquisitive. There
was a knothole inthe tioorof our c~istern,
and the crow couldn't find out what was
under it, although lie tried very hard.
Several times u day Abe flew down
to the creek. hunted up a pebble and
carried it in his bill TO the floor of the
c%istern. where he dropped it through the
knothole. The instant he let the pebble
drop he would put his ear close to the
hole and listen. He could hear the peb-
BILE strike the water. and the noise out
of his sight excited his curiosity % much
that he dropped a half bushel Of pebbles
into the cistern before he gave up.
"Abeaccompa3ied me on all my hunt
ing trips in the fail and winter, and he
saw me XII five or six wolves, hall a
dozen wildcats and several deer. The
woods We're full Of deer. and there were
so many wolves that we couldn't keep
any sheep. Abe took "a great liking to
deer and rabbits. but he hated wolves
and wildcats. seeming to understand
that they were destructive and danger
Gus. One afternoon, the summer that
he was d year old. Ale few into our
little clearing and c2wei acG fiatrered
about us if he wanted lie to leave my
work.
i knew the crow had seen something
that displeaSed lila, and SO | picked up
two rifles and told him TO goahead. lust t.
see what he would do. lie went sfuall-
ing through the air toward Bell Meadow
brock, and when he alishted on u tree
he kept yelling and looking down in the
raviue. looked, too, little expecting 10
see what | cid. \ pair of wolves were
tearing at IA doe they had pounced on
and pulled down.. | killed them both
before they got three leaps from the doe.
and when Abe saw that they couldn't
move he cawed and croaked as though
he was glad.
THE next winter there were three feet
and Il half of snow on the level, and we
had TO wear snowshoes TO get around.
While | was splitting wood near the
house II cold morning the crow came
sailing and squalliug 90 the settlement
from the direction of Lake Henry. He
was excited about something, and he
perched on the log and went to tapping
his wings aud dancing up and down. |
understood him well enough to know
that he had seen something that he
didn't like the looks of up in the woods
toward the lake, so ! and my brother
and cousin put on L snowshoes. shout
dered five loaded rifles and started into
the woods. Abe leading the way ana
yelling.
He led rs to the lake, where we saw
y sight that | shall never forget. Ii 4
space where the wind had blown the
snow FROM the ice a flock Of seven deer
had been cornered by a pack of five
wolves. Tie deer couldn't get out on
account of the d~eepsnow. and the wolye,
had killed three Of them when we cot
there. While we Were blazing away at
the brUtes the crow flew overhead and
shouted his approval. We killed the
whole pack. ana Abe felt 50 good tina,
he rolled over on the crust several times
lone day in the spring the crow saw
a fisher catch a rabbit and carry it 10 i
hole iii q Eastwood tree. thirty fee: from
the ground. Ny brother and | wer,
chop:ing peal by. and Abe S~nuallet
around til he attracted our :ltten
ton. when he flew M t. the hol,
where the fisher was concealed. w
choI ped the Eastwood down. and III.
fisher Skipped out and ran up a he,nlocl
tree To where the leaves were SO tlicl
we couldn't see it. Abe dew mp. alighte,
above The Usher and began to squall. an,
squirting through the foliage below hin
i could So enough of the fisher to fire at
/ banged away, and down came Mr.
Fisher with q bullet III his head. Ab
fairly laughed when the fisher tainbied
.One morning | found six pnllets Of
the tlss3r OF the len shan1y. \ mink ha'
killed them. and that night | set IL
steel traps and put one Of he pullets be
tween. In the morning a mink had II
fore feet Ill one of the traps and n .
its hind feet IN the other. Abe tagge,
me in. and when he saw the mink strug
Cling 10 get out he ran up III front of
and began 10 yell in its face. | let til