When I was in college, I drank Old Crow bourbon. First, it was dirt cheap, right there with Mattingly & Moore, but it was actually a decent bourbon.
I have an old crow in my back yard, too. Actually, I have four old crows, as in birds. They visit each day because I strew cracked corn for them. In return, they help keep hawks away, so it’s a good trade-off.
Some people – mostly farmers – don’t like crows. They pull up young plants and they’ll also eat chicken eggs if given the chance. But I find them to be fascinating creatures. For starters, the crow is the most intelligent bird to visit my yard. They have over two dozen different calls in their vocabulary, In the morning, as I head to the back shed where I store my seeds, one of the crows will spot me and call out “Soup’s on” to his buddies. Then, they wait patiently while I scatter seeds and strip corn kernels off of dried ears. Crows also like bits of stale bread. I have also seen crows fly to our bird bath and dunk bread or food, to make it softer and more palatable, I suppose.
Crows are also very family-oriented. Juveniles will stay with their parents for several years and help defend and feed the young ones. If one crow is in trouble, others will come from literally miles around to step in.
Crows absolutely hate hawks. Hawks eat their young, and crows don’t like that. Crows see a hawk and they’ll dive bomb it and drive it crazy until it eventually leaves.
Hawks have their place in nature, but not in my back yard. As long as I have my four old crows, I don’t have a hawk problem.