[Granville-Hough] 30 Jul 2009 - Crow Houghs

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:13:24 -0700
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
Subject: The Crow Houghs - 30 Jul 2009

    We learned about one other kind of working dog, the Australlian 
Shepperd Dog, through my uncle Coley Richardson.  He lived with us one 
year when we joined Grandpa Richardson.  I do not know how or why he got 
this herding dog, but she would  herd anything, livestock, chickens, 
cats, children  We did not know how to use her, and she caused us more 
trouble than help.  When my brother Clifford got into cattle ranching, 
he learned to train them and used them for several years.  My brother, 
Donald Hough in Gainesville, FL, still uses them for rounding up his 
cattle, separating them into groups, loading them into trucks, and for 
doing all sorts of things you would not expect dogs to do.  My niece 
Donna keeps them as her contribution to  the family ranching 
enterprise.  I do not know enough about these dogs to discuss them as 
individuals.
    Another activity I found to be of great interest was brother 
Clifford's rescue of crow chicks and training them, or letting them 
learn to be members of his household.  Crows nest in high trees, but 
their nests come to grief during logging and plywood operations.  At 
such times you can rescue baby crows before they have fixated on their 
parent crows.  Crows are highly intelligent, and soon learn to 
distinguish one human from another.  They accept "their humans" as 
parents, and probably think of themselves as humans.  Crows can also 
learn to talk, and some people believe their words are more meaningful 
than those of parrots.  That is, they talk for a specific purpose, not 
for amusement.
    I do not know how many Crow Houghs there were, but they had to share 
the back yard with housecats, dogs, and chickens.  They soon learned 
their sharp beaks could fend off any bullies who wanted trouble.  They 
observed everything going on and soon heard the cats say "Meow, meow," 
and Betty, Clifford's wife, would open the back door and bring out some 
milk  So Crow soon began saying "Meow, meow," and getting the same 
reward as the cats. 
    When Clifford and Betty's children were toddlers and tricycle riders 
in the back yard, they would say, "Mama, mama," and get some cookies, 
even better than milk  Crow listened carefully and was soon saying 
"Mama, mama," and getting his share of the cookies, too.
    Crows never forgot that they liked worms, grubs, and larvae of many 
kinds.  However, they wanted Clifford or Betty to give each one to them 
specifically.  (Maybe this was the natural routine to avoid bad-tasting 
or poison  insects.)  They would follow  their humans into the garden 
and beg for handouts.  (I have now learned to recognize the begging 
noises of young crows here in Leisure World as they learn to eat like 
grown crows.  During June and early July, you could hear several at 
once.  It is now the end of July, and I hear them no more.  They now fly 
and act like adults.)
    Clifford and Betty let the Hough Crows join their wild cousins, who 
would come look them over and try to talk crow language to them, but 
these Hough Crows did not know how to act.  When the feathers were 
allowed to grow to full length, the Hough Crows could fly well enough 
and departed, though Betty thought they came by from time to time to 
clean up any backyard scraps.  The Hough Crows would have to tell us 
their own hardships as they established their positions and pecking 
order in the crow world.