Fredericton — A CBC reporter is recovering after being attacked by a murder of crows, just days after filing a report about the movement of a large flock of the birds in Fredericton.
Stephen Ferris says he is lucky to be alive after a large number of the black birds swooped down and carried him into the woods near UNB.
Ferris said he began to notice the birds collecting on the power lines as he made his way up Regent Street to the CBC building, but didn’t see the potential threat until it was too late.
“It was terrifying. One minute I was walking to work, next minute I was flying through the air.
“They dropped me in the middle of a clearing by the university, and then just gathered in the trees, staring down at me with those beady little dead eyes. After about an hour, one of them came forward and made a noise that sounded like, ‘You didn’t see anything!’ and then they just flew off.”
An ornithologist at the University of New Brunswick, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of his own safety, says this behaviour is worrisome.
“As I said in the original interview, I mean, like that other ornithologist said, crows are very intelligent… but this is something else entirely. You usually don’t see this type of co-ordination, except in those horror movies where the animals go crazy and kill everyone.”
For his part, Ferris says he doesn’t plan on doing any more animal-related stories. “I think I’m going to stick to bake sales and cute baby stories from now on. Much safer.”