昨日、いつものように北海道神宮〜円山公園周辺を散歩。わたしの散歩コースでは周辺の駐車可能場所にクルマを駐車してそこから北海道神宮目指して一定距離を歩きます。で、散歩を終えて片道３〜４車線の北１条通りに面した歩道を帰宅中、２羽とおぼしきカラスがわたしの後方からマウントを取ろうと騒ぎ立てはじめた。
しかししばらくぶりの興奮期カラスとの遭遇で、こちらの意識はそれほど関心は大きくない状態で推移してきていたので特段の対応を考えずに通り過ぎようとしたら、アタマのすぐ上を威嚇的に通り過ぎ、その距離も近接してくるようになった。ちょうど駐車場まで100m程度の距離。
東側から西側に向けて歩いていたので、進行方向のアスファルト歩道面を見ているとカラスの襲撃はその陰が路面に見えているので、直前にかがむことで「かわす」ことができた。本来であれば「両手を挙げて万歳ポーズ」がいちばん効果的なのですが、人間、咄嗟の時にはそこまでの思惟が及ばない。
ひたすらカラスの襲撃から身をかがめてかわすことに徹しておりました。駐車場所は広さがあるので、クルマの位置まではまったく青天井。かれらの攻撃目標として襲われやすい状況。そのようにかわして避けていましたがやはり１度はかれらの１羽からの「キック」攻撃を許してしまった。そうすると、恐怖感というよりもこちら側にも、倍返ししたいという憎悪感が沸き立ってくる。修行が足りない（笑）。
なんとかクルマにたどりついて２羽のカラスを確認して、なにか報復したいと考えてしまう。
まぁこの時期は子育て時期であり、そういう自然な種の保全本能に突き動かされた行動であることは、理性ではわかりつつ、やはり憎悪から殺意を持ったりしてしまうことも避けられない。身に降る火の粉は払わねばならないという心理が突き上がってくる。・・・という久しぶりの経験。
以前もこういう経験はしていて、万歳ポーズが効果的ということは、落ち着いてから思い出していたのですが、咄嗟の１−２分間程度の間では、そこまでの体験記憶の復元ができないのですね。
で、昨日の昼食時テレビを掛けていたら、ちょうどニュース番組で「札幌のカラスが凶暴化中」みたいなテーマで映像を流していた。わたしの遭遇した場所は通り沿いとは言え、まだ並木のある場所でしたので巣があるだろうと推測もできるけれど、番組中で緑のない市街地で鉄塔などから攻撃カラスが威嚇するように人間をにらみつけていた。
かれらは抜群の記憶力を持ち、また情報ネットワークによって敵対的人間の映像リストのようなものがほかのカラスにも情報共有されるのだということ。生物種のコミュニケーション能力には驚かされる。
なので、しばらくは襲われた周辺場所では行動を控えた方が予防的だろうと思います。別に共存はしたくないけれど、なんとか繁殖期の凶暴カラスとは距離を保っていきたいと思います。みなさんもお気を付けください。
English version⬇
[Human attacks by crows during child-rearing season in and around Hokkaido Jingu Shrine
It is difficult to reconstruct memories of experiences on the spur of the moment. Lost track of the fact that the Banzai pose is an effective way to deal with crows that have gone berserk. I felt a sense of hatred for a few minutes as I continued to dodge the attack. ...
Yesterday, as usual, I took a walk around the area from Hokkaido Shrine to Maruyama Park. In my walking course, I park my car in a nearby parking lot and walk a certain distance to Hokkaido Shrine. After finishing my walk, I was returning home along the sidewalk facing Kita 1-jo Street, which has three to four lanes each way, when two crows that looked like crows began to make a commotion behind me, trying to mount me.
However, it had been a while since I had encountered crows in their excited phase, and my awareness of them had been shifting to the point where I was not so concerned about them, so I tried to pass by them without thinking of any particular response. It was just 100m away from the parking lot.
As I was walking from east to west, looking at the asphalt sidewalk surface in the direction of travel, I was able to "dodge" the crow attack by crouching just before it because its shadow was visible on the road surface. Normally, the most effective way to dodge a crow attack would be to raise both hands in a hail Mary pose, but humans are not able to think that far on the spur of the moment.
I was just trying to dodge the crows by bending down. The parking lot is large, so we were completely out of the blue to the position of our car. It was easy to be attacked as a target of their attack. I dodged and avoided them, but I still allowed a "kick" attack from one of them once. Then, rather than a sense of fear, a feeling of hatred arose on our side, as if we wanted to double down on them. I have not had enough training (laugh).
I manage to get to the car, check on the two crows, and feel like I want to retaliate in some way.
Well, this is the time of year when they are raising their young, and while I know with all reason that their actions are motivated by the natural instinct to preserve the species, it is inevitable that I will have the urge to kill them out of hatred. The mind is driven by the need to pay for the sparks of fire that fall on us. I have not experienced this kind of thing in a long time.
I had experienced this kind of thing before, and I remembered that the Hail Mary pose was effective after I calmed down, but I could not restore my memory of the experience to that level within 1-2 minutes on the spur of the moment.
So, when I had the TV on during lunch yesterday, a news program was just showing footage with a theme like "Crows in Sapporo are going berserk. The place where I encountered the crows was along the street, but there were still trees lining the street, so I could guess that there must be nests there, but in the program, I saw crows attacking from pylons in an urban area without greenery, glaring menacingly at people.
I was surprised at the ability of the species to communicate with each other. The ability of living species to communicate with each other is astonishing.
Therefore, I think it would be more precautionary to refrain from acting in the vicinity of the attacked area for a while. I don't want to coexist with crows, but I would like to keep my distance from them during their breeding season. Please be careful, everyone.
