Tap.....Tap......Tap

Something was bothering me this morning.
It wasn't the news of the awful bombings in Belgium....... we seem to be getting used to these atrocities in this very small world, no, it was a small little moment of helplessness that has prayed on my mind.
Every morning Mary and I march out on our two mile power walk. It's a round robin where we walk through the village up to the newly refurbished garage shop ( Gay Gordon told me rather breathlessly that they NOW had a bigger selection of proper foodstuffs AND electric doors!)
We then walk up Bryn y Odyn , past a few cottages and a farm  then around the base of the Gop hill at the top of High Street and then back home.
It takes half an hour when Mary is behaving.
Yesterday we had just reached the halfway point when I  was stopped by a very sharp tap.....tap.... tap.
In the silence of the lane the noise came again and I looked around to see where it could be coming from. We were stood next to a small holiday cottage and when the tapping sounded again I followed Mary's gaze as she looked up to one of the bedroom windows .
There standing on the inside window sill was a huge black crow.
The crow looked down at us for a moment and struck the window pane with another three sharp taps with his beak.
It looked as though he was trying to get our attention.
The cottage was shut up , locked and heavily alarmed so I was at a bit of a loss of what to do, so I marshaled Mary and walked to the neighbouring farm only twenty feet or so across the lane.
As we disappeared from the crow's sight, the tap,  tap, tap on the window became a little more frantic
And this bothered me even more.
I found the farmer who told me that the cottage owner lived in Manchester and seldom came over, but he promised he would search for the owner's phone number and would ring him for instructions on what to do.
The thought of this bird effectively trapped inside a lonely cottage bothered me and I shared the story with Mrs Trellis when I passed her further down the lane.
This morning there was no sign of the crow . I checked through each window and tapped on the panes to encourage him to reply if he was still there but the place seemed quiet and still.  I did notice that several of the short net curtains framing each window, upstairs and down  were in disarray.

I came home to start operation dog snot removal  ( mother in law arrives in a day or so) only being interrupted by Mrs Trellis who wanted to drop off a chocolate Easter Bunny for  me and the Prof.
She asked me about the Crow.
" He was asking for your help" she noted brightly
That made me feel worse.......


55 comments:

  1. It is precisely those little things which eat away at us most. One would suppose it is because the bigger things leave us feeling helpless but, supposedly, the smaller things, nearer to home, shouldn't be. Or so we tell ourselves to gain some comfort.

    You did the best you could, few people would have cared so much.

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  2. I was going to copy The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe because that's what popped into my mind when I saw your title. I forgot the darned thing is a couple dozen stanzas...he did prattle on and on, sometimes....so here's the last stanza:

    And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted - nevermore!

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  3. Before we had a new roof and the chimneys capped we had all sorts of birds come down the chimney ..... starlings, pigeons and, a frightening experience, a magpie. In an enclosed space crows and magpies are MASSIVE. We went to Amsterdam for a few days and came home to a pigeon who had been there for a good few days.... you can imagine the mess !!
    They are so frightened and often fly straight to the glass windows so I hope the crow is OK and released without harm John. XXXX

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  4. So sad to see or hear an animal trapped like that. Speaks highly of you that it affected you so deeply.

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  5. The poor bird. I hope it found a way back out and is ok.

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  6. How did it get inside ther, in the first place? I know crows can be trained to talk - can you imagine if it called out for help! Greetings Maria x

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  7. How did it get inside ther, in the first place? I know crows can be trained to talk - can you imagine if it called out for help! Greetings Maria x

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  8. A heart-wrenching story. I hope the bird found its way back up the chimney.

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  9. I imagine someone has a key!

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  10. There are so many things in life that we can not do nothing about, i.e. trapped birds and trapped people. Life is fleeting.

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  11. Must have fallen down the chimney. Let's hope there's a keyholder nearby.

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  12. I fear the crow is dead by now. Unfortunately birds came a cropper to all sorts of misfortunes like falling down chimneys. Better than being mangled by a dog or cat at any rate.

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    Replies
    1. He might still be OK Nick ..... the pigeon in our house lasted 4 days without food or drink and he flew away when we let him out. XXXX

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  13. I am choosing to think that the crow found a way in and then got himself out the same way.

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  14. I hope he found a away out.

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  15. I'm upset about the crow. A crowbar in a window or to the door perhaps. Just do it John.

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  16. I am upset by the crow story too! A story such as the plight of this bird starts off tears that have been suppressed when I heard about the horrific news of the bombings. I too suspect that he has fallen down the chimney. You did all you could do John. x

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  17. How peculiar. I wonder how he got into the house? Maybe he'd already been released somehow by the time you went back the next day. (Looking on the bright side here...)

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  18. Anonymous3:03 pm

    ...suddenly there came a tapping,
    As of someone gently rapping,
    rapping at my chamber door...

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  19. They are very intelligent birds John.
    I wonder if he has escaped up the chimney. If so then I expect he will have left a lot of mess the clean up.

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  20. Maybe the crow got out ok.

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  21. Did the alarm service have a number posted ?
    They will/should come to check it out.

    cheers, parsnip

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  22. There is a mysterious tale behind how the crow was trapped in the cottage; I hope he found a way to freedom.

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  23. If he got in on his own, hopefully he can get out the same way.
    Otherwise, having had a small bird trapped in a house once, it will be a very big mess when someone comes back to that house.
    I hope he got out .. or someone lets him out.

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  24. John:
    Oh, this now has me worried, too. As if I could possibly do anything about it.

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  25. Now this is bothering me :)
    If the bird got in to a locked house, there must be an opening or way for him to get out ... or for a kind hearted person to help him get out .. check the windows and doors ...

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  26. Anonymous6:16 pm

    If the house is alarmed, surely there's a key holder somewhere closer than Manchester. What would happen if the alarm went off? Would the full time residents have to listen to the 'Bells of Shannon' until the batteries ran out, or someone cut the power supply?
    I know there's a limit on the time a burglar alarm is legally allowed to go
    on for, but as we all know, not everyone sticks to the rules!
    Personally I hope the crow shat all over the house before escaping up the chimney! X

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  27. Brick through the window!

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  28. I do so hope that the crow could be saved. It is going to haunt me so if you can an update would be appreciated.

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  29. This is so sad. I hope it managed to find a way out
    :(

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  30. Should have bricked the window old lad, just sayin

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  31. Very worrying and upsetting John. It's a wonder the alarm didn't go off when the bird flew around the room. Unless there isn't a sensor in there, or the alarm box is just a dummy, otherwise surely the alarm company would send someone to investigate, and they should check every room?

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  32. These situations are the ones that upset me. When a creature needs help and you can't help. This situation is upsetting .

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  33. John can't do the brick through the window, would be classed as criminal damage. NMC would chuck his registration out the window!.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, that was not an option......i shall ring the RSPCA TOMORROW am if no luck with the farmer

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  34. That would bother me too. Especially since it seemed like he was trying to get your attention (maybe that's too much anthropomorphism). I don't know if birds fly back up chimneys or not. -Jenn

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  35. Police, humane society, animal welfare, animal control?

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    1. I shall go to the farmer tomorrow morning to see ifhe contacted the homeowner!

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  36. Considering how smart they are, he knew to attract your attention. I hope the crow got out on its own. Poor thing. A very distressing story indeed.

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  37. Poor creature....and Mary was attuned to his peril, do you think?

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  38. Why didn't you find a house brick and smash the window in order to release Colin the Crow? After all the owner lives in Manchester where such things happen every night.

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  39. Crows are very intelligent creatures. I wonder what happened?

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  40. This makes me sad too. I hope you give us an update...hopefully good news.

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  41. These are the kind of stories that keep me awake at night, hope you have some news tomorrow.

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  42. I do hope the crow got out somehow, up a chimney perhaps.

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  43. Replies
    1. I called into the farm this morning...and couldnt find the farmer so left a note ( lambing) , i went back to the cottage too, no sign of the rook.,....i looked through every window

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    2. They are smart birds. Hope he found his way out.

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  44. I hope he got out however he got in and that will be the end of that story :)
    You are such a good person ..

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  45. I hope he's free.
    I once heard scratching behind the closed up fireplace in our bedroom which no one else could hear but I persuaded my husband to open it up. We shone a torch through some mesh & saw an eye then a beak then a second beak !
    We finally let free a pair of Magpies. The male flew straight out of the window but we had to lift the female out. She flew off to join her mate.
    It was a nice story until someone said,
    " should have shot the B******s" !!!

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  46. I hope you haven't gone back there to rescue it yourself. I know you're so kind to do that and maybe even tearing your pants in the process of climbing fences or what! Hope the crow has been freed by now?

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  47. It is now days later from the 22nd . . .
    Any news on the tap . . tap . . tap . . crow . . .

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