A Clever Crow Proves Aesop’s Fables

I went for a walk yesterday in the afternoon.

As I was walking, I saw a crow flying, holding something big in its beak. The crow landed on the pavement near me and started walking toward a big puddle of water created by the heavy rain that fell during the morning.

When I looked a little closer, I saw that the crow was carrying a big slice of dry bread in its beak.

To my surprise, it walked straight into the puddle and dropped the slice of bread into the water. It waited for a little while and then turned the slice of bread on its other side, letting it soak in the water from both sides to make it soft and easier to eat.

All this happened too fast, and since I was absorbed in watching the crow, I didn’t have the time to photograph what it did.

This behavior showed intelligence. The crow knew that soaking the bread in the water would make it soft and easier to eat.

This proved what fables say about crows, that they are wise birds, especially in Aesop’s fables, as in the fable below:

The Crow and the Pitcher

(From The Aesop for Children)

“In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a little water in it. But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck, and no matter how he tried, the Crow could not reach the water. The poor thing felt as if he must die of thirst.”

“Then an idea came to him. Picking up some small pebbles, he dropped them into the pitcher one by one. With each pebble, the water rose a little higher until, at last, it was near enough so he could drink.”

What I saw made me curious, so I searched the Internet and found an article about experiments that researchers conducted to prove that crows are intelligent and can solve problems.

This article says that researchers presented four crows with a challenge from Aesop’s fable, ‘The Crow and the Pitcher.’

They put in front of them a container of water not quite full enough for the birds to reach with their beaks. Like Aesop’s crow, all four birds figured out how to raise the water level by dropping stones into the glass. The crows also selectively chose large pebbles over small ones.

There are also a few videos in the article showing the experiments. You can read the article at: www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/aesopscrows/

Birds and animals are wise creatures, and some of them are intelligent.

If you watch birds and animals closely, you might be surprised to discover their cleverness.

You might like reading: Wisdom Quotes and Wisdom Sayings.

Image source – DepositPhotos