Page 2B January 23, 2019
Re-porter
MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
ne of the most
~lressful, and
,mournful expen-
ences we face in our
lives is to attend a funeral. At
such a time, we pay our last re-
spects to a person
before we lay them
to resL
We have long
thought that
this ceremony is
unique to humans.
However, research
conducted over
the past several
decades has caused
many scientists to
question whether TERRY W.
or not such is actu-
ally the cas
Take the/u-nerican Crow, for
example. Over the years there
have been numerous reports
of crows conducting funer-
als over a dead crow. These
events follow the same general
pattern. Supposedb, a crow
spots a dead crow and sounds
an alarm to the members of its
flock. In a matter of minutes,
anywhere from half a dozen to
scores of crows begin land-
ing on the limbs of nearby
trees and shrubs. Sometimes
the flock (aLso known as a
murder) remains silent. Other
times their loud cawing can be
heard far from the site. These
vigils can last for days or end in
a few minutes. Some observers
have reported crows actually
placing sticks or
other objects atop
the deceased bird.
It is easyto
understand why
such gatherings
are considered
funerals. However,
in situations such
as this, it is always
dangerous to
attribute human
JOHNSON emotions and
behaviors to wild
animals without
knowing whether or not a wild
animal is capable of mourning
the loss of another.
Researchers at Washington
State University are at the
forefront of a growing number
ofbiologists trying to solve this
myster The findings of their
groundbreaking research have
been published in the Associa-
tion for the Study of Animal
Behaviors Journal.
Before initiating their
research, they considered
possible explanations for this
bizarre behavior. In addi-
tion to the notion crows are
actually grieving over the loss
of a cohort, they considered
two other theories that might
explain why the crows descend
on a dead companion to can-
nibalize its corpse or use the
event as a learning experience.
Since there are no records
ofclp, ws eating dead crows, it
appears that cannibalism is not
the reason why crows congre-
gate around departed crows.
To test whether or not
crows use the discovery of a
dead crow as a social learning
experience, they des'tgned a
deceptively simple experiment
using only a rubber monster
mask, and a stuffed mad-killed
American crow and red-tailed
hawk.
They began the study by lo-
caring the territories of 65 pairs
of American crows. Once
located, they fed the crows
within each territory for three
days. The amount of time it
took the crows to arrive at the
food was recorded.
This was followed by a
researcher bringing food to the
birds in each territory while
wearing a rubber monster
mask.
This was ton wed by the
folks bringing the food wear-
ing a rubber monster mask in
three different ways. They ei-
ther carried a crow, a red-tailed
hawk or toted both a crow and
a red-tailed hawk.
In four instances, the birds
would simply fly in silently,
peruse the scene and leave.
Typicall)~ though, a territo-
rial pair would fly in and begin
Crows are known to gather over a dead crow and hold
either a silent vigil or one with loud cawing. (Photo/Terry
Johnson)
loudly calling. ~ would
attract 10 or more other crow~
The raucous calling would
last for 10-20 minutes before
dropping in intensity before
the birds finally exited.
The researchers found that
the crows took longer (15-30
minutes) to approach the food
when a masked researcher
brought food when accompa-
nied by a mounted crow, hawk
or hawk and dead crow. Thus,
biologists found the crows'
responses were most pro-
nounced when a masked re-
searcher was present alongside
a dead crow or crow and hawk
than when an individual was
accompanied with neither a
dead crow or hawk. They also
noted that after an encounter
with a costumed human by a
stuffed crow and/or hawk, the
crows were more reticent to
approach a feeding site. This
led the researchers to condude
that crows are not actually
holding funerals. Instead, they
are probably using the gather-
ing as a learning experience
As the researchers put it, crows
most likely use such experi-
ences --- assess danger and
trigger anti-predator behav-
ior'
Interestingly, a full six wedcs
after the experiments ended,
whenever anybody wearing
the rubber mask appeared, 38
percent of the time they were
mobbed by crows.
While this study provides a
plausible explanation for the
phenomenon of why crows
appear to hold funerals, the
research team cautioned that
until scientists are able to drive
into the thought processes
of crows, they cannot be ab-
solutely certain these highly
intelligent birds do not mourn
for their dead in ways eerily
similar to our owrL
Terry Johnson is retired Pro- :
M, ger of the
Nongame-Endangerea W'itrrfe
tMggmm. He has written the
informative column 'Monroe
O, aa,o 'for V, ep,'ter "
numy years. Email him at
Continued from Front
on a fast break layup by Wiliiams with 29
seconds left in the first quarter. Williams
then dropped a long left elbow three-pointer
with one second left in the period to give MP
its first lead, 24-21, through one quarter.
Bouie then capped a 15-0 MP run with a
layup, which was preceded by two straight
tip-ins by Shannon, to give MP a 31-21 edge
with 5:39 left In the second quarter. How-
ever, Howard cut the Dogs' lead back down
to two at 37-35 after a 14-6 run in which the
Huskies knocked down a trio of three-point-
ers, including two by reserve Leon Pitts. But
Shannon connected on a triple of his own
off fan assist from Brandon Hogan to close
out the first half and stake MP to a six-point
halftime edge at 42-36.
The Bulldogs then came out ofhalftime on
a 9-3 spurt, capped by a no-look assist from
Hogan to ZeUner for a layup to give MP a
51-39 edge. Hartage later added back-to-
back fast-break layups to put MP ahead by
13 at 60-47 with 2:06 left in the period. The
Dogs' excellent all-around play would then
continue with 10 seconds left in the third
quarter when WiUiams splashed a three-
pointer from the left wing to give the Dogs
a commanding 17-point advantage, 67-50,
through three quarters.
Despite a number of missed layups in the
fourth quarter, MP would go on to outscore
the Huskies 11-7 in the final period to cruise
to a 21-point win.
Williams led all scorers with 25 points.
He was joined in double figures by team-
mates Shannon with 16 and Hartage with 11.
Tarver led Howard with 16 points. He was
joined in double figures by teammate Kelvin
Burrell with 10.
Nix said MP'S victory over Howard was a
result of the Bulldogs seizing command in
the first half and playing hard for the entire
game.
"I had a talk with the seniors yesterday and
told them we were getting toward the end,"
Nix said. "This wasn't the kind of season that
I had wanted for them. We've still got time. I
just wanted to remind them of that. We can
still do a lot of good things. I thought we had
a nice 10-minute meeting. And tonight I
came in here and showed them some statis-
tics of how we had only won the first quarter
six times all year. We were 3-3 in those
games, but we had just won the first quarter
six times. 'We've only been ahead at half-
time three times. We've been playing from
behind all year long. Tonight, we're here at
home. It's a region game. We're better than
this. We're better than what our record is.
Let's win the first quarter. Let's win the first
hal And the first quarter was up for grabs.
But we accomplished that goal. And then I
thought we played probably the best defense
we've played all year, getting down, moving
our feet, geRing in the passing lanes, playing
the ball screens well. And we were getting
steals from it, but we were also finishing
good defensive possessions with rebounds.
Dre Zellner played well down there. And
Brandon (Hogan) didn't have a real good *
game offensivdy, but he battled like crazy
defensively, and that was a big keX
The Bulldogs were next scheduled to
travel to West Laurens to play a road region ,
contest at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesda) MP will
then travel to Upson-Lee to face the state's ":
No. 1 -ranked AAAA squad at 7:30 p.m. on
Friday before playing a non-region road
contest at Hampton at 7:30 p,m. on Saturday
The Bulldogs will then return home to host
region rival Perry in its regular season home
finale at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29. MP's
six seniors will be honored prior to the Perry
game.
Meanwhile, the MP JV boys basketball
team was next scheduled to face West Lau-
rens on the road at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesda)~ The
IV boys squad will then travel to Hampton
for another road contest at 4:15 p.m. on Sat- "
urday before returning home to host Perry in "
its regular season home finale at 4:15 p.m. on ."
Tuesday, Jan. 29.
Parents, here is your chance to support your
In the 2019 MP Spring Sports Preview in The Reporter!
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t Email to business@mymcr.net or fax to 994-2359 or call 994-2358 ,
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/aites
t
Love, Mol
--I
