I was running along the prom today, minding my own business, on a slow run behind UpTheStanley . Then there was a flapping of wings above me and a ginormous crow was scratching my head with his talons. Like something out of a Hitchcock film! UTS was quite oblivious until I screamed, and we decided the crow must have been attracted by my floppy hair as I ran. UTS doesn’t suffer from this problem. 😂 I was thinking that it might be safer running in a hat, but one of the fellow RDs at parkrun said that one tried to take his hat off recently . 🥹
We’ve been aware of crow attacks during nesting season, as it’s happened during parkrun, but we were well away from any nesting sites and trees. Perhaps he just didn’t like my choice of running gear today!
When I lived in Australia there was a problem with magpies (bigger that ours) swooping cyclists in their territory so eyes were stuck onto their helmets to deter them. I might have to try the same tactic.
🏃🏼♀️🦅
Has anyone else experienced this?
Written by
Dexy5
Graduate10
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
So glad you are okay Dexy but that must have been quite scary! Also, bizarre reading this today as I ran past quite a few crows on my run today, who were perched on wooden railings along the edge of a football pitch. I was quite close to them and they all took it in turns to fly off and move a little further up as I ran by! I generally really like members of the crow family but did find myself wondering if they ever swoop or attack! So you have answered my question - and I will keep a respectful distance - and hope I don’t get swooped on.😱
I checked with my Garmin stats and my HR did go up a little. It’s funny because I looked at him and thought of the parkrunners who’d got bombed near canoe lake, but then he had that audacity to do it to me!
Bluey is a guilty pleasure discovered while with nieces and nephews at Christmas... think I liked it more than they did and they’re most definitely more the target audience!!! The curry quest episode with aggressive magpies is quite sweet.
I have never seen a crow attack a human being. Weird behaviour! I do occasionally see buzzards wheeling above my head as I run; probably hoping for an easy meal. 🏃🦅
No I am fine, both mentally and physically Shakes, thank you . It is a thing that I’ve been aware of before, but I didn’t expect it in October. Must have thought my hair looked like a squirrel or something. 😂
🤣🤣 No Jonathan. What is scary though, is that crows apparently remember faces, and if it does it once it might do it again. 😱 I’m definitely going to be on hyper alert. 😂
😆 Maybe he thought your hair would make good nesting material! Jokes aside that must have been scary!! 😧 The seagulls here are cheeky but no mishaps yet!
OMG!!! I have two family members who suffer from ornithophobia and they would completely freak out about this 😱 They can’t even be near a robin in the garden without getting jittery so heaven knows what this experience would do to them!
But even without a phobia, that is a scary thing to have happened Dexy. Even the thought of a bird getting so close to my head gives me the shudders.
I’ve read before about birds attacking runners and remember that it was nesting season then and that was given as a reason, but that’s not the case now.
Maybe Hitchcock had a forewarning of what was to come…….. 🐦⬛🦅🐦⬛🦅 (well it is Halloween 🫣😱)
😂 I need to run in disguise 🥸 . Apparently crows recognise faces and will often attack the same person again and again. Although I’ve read that they are scaring people away from their territory rather than actually attacking them.
Gosh, a bit alarming when you’re not expecting it!
We had a vicious crow on our street once which kept attacking everyone. The council threatened to remove it as the darned thing was a pest, with kids having to run the gauntlet to and from school. I don’t know if they did but it definitely disappeared. My husband told me it had “gone to live on a farm” 😁
Goodness...I just read an article in the NYTimes that crows can hold a grudge for up to seven years!!
"Ms. Joyce is far from alone in fearing the wrath of the crow. CrowTrax, a website started eight years ago by Jim O’Leary, a Vancouver resident, has since received more than 8,000 reports of crow attacks in the leafy city, where crows are relatively abundant. And such encounters stretch well beyond the Pacific Northwest."
Yes I read about the Vancouver runner drl212 ! My niece’s husband also heard a podcast about the same subject and says the crows actually tell each other and can gang up on you.
I must say, running in Southsea is going to be very interesting 🤔
"the crows actually tell each other and can gang up on you." Presumably using WhatsFlapp...
Seriously, it must've been frightening for you Dexy5 . Lots of birds of prey in this département, especially red kites and buzzards, and runners have occasionally been attacked.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
(not)parkrun / Virtual 5K