My Crow, Hoppy

: My Crow, Hoppy is the author's memoirs of events which occurred over fifty years ago with her pet bird. Although Hoppy's sojourn in her life was brief, he introduced her to boundless joys and wonders.


Crows are often maligned, thought to be worthless nuisances. Sometimes they are even considered to be omens of evil or bad luck. Also, they are often a favorite target of farmers' shotguns. The author's goal in writing this story is to come to the defense of these amazing birds, because she believes they are the most intelligent, imaginative, mischievous, comical and affectionate creatures on the planet.



This true story will enchant readers because it is brief, entertaining and reveals many fascinating crow facts. In less than 60 pages, My Crow, Hoppy not only skirts the conflicts of growing up and Man versus Nature, but creates smiles as Hoppy's astonishing antics unfold.



This wondrous bird came into her life during her twelfth year. The first chapter describes how lonely and boring life was before Hoppy. Next, she reveals how he was captured and tamed. Then, several chapters depict dozens of fun adventures which they share during that magical summer. For example, the readers will learn how Hoppy rode all over town on her bike handles. Also, they will see him swimming in his own private pool, helping with chores such as pulling weeds, playing hide-n-seek with shiny objects, sun tanning in the back yard, and inventing new games like crow-ball.



However, all was not fun and games with this mischievous bird. As the summer progressed, his pranks stirred up much trouble. The reader will learn how he stole the neighbors' belongings, rang their door bells, and tormented the neighborhood children and pets.



The month of August was filled with many challenges. Hoppy became gravely ill from contact with DDT and almost died. However, due to the author's loving care, he recovered--only to get into worse trouble. When school restarted, he was beside himself with boredom. Thus, his mischief-making got out of hand. He even annoyed the local golfers by stealing their balls in the midst of their golf games. He snatched the neighbor's clothes pins off the lines, causing their clean wash to fall down to the ground. Many people were behind paying their bills because Hoppy opened their mail boxes and flew off with the contents.


What follows is an example episode:

Much to our dismay, summer vacation was about to end, and Hoppy would find himself alone much of the time. As a result, this mischievous bird soon began to get into all sorts of trouble. On the first day of school he attempted to follow me. My inseparable friend had watched me walk to the bus stop, where he perched high in the trees across the street. He tried to interrupt this early morning meeting with my schoolmates with jealous caws. Then, just as the bus pulled up, it began to rain. We all boarded quickly to get out of the downpour. Before the bus began to move, the lady driver started to scream in terror! I pushed my way forward to see what was happening. I couldn't believe my eyes. Hoppy was swinging back and forth on the outside of the windshield on the wipers! He had attached himself with his claws and was hanging on for dear-life, swishing to and fro on high-speed! I guess he thought he was going to go to school with me one way or another. Anyway, he rode the wipers for many minutes, like a cowboy in a rodeo. The kids cheered with glee, while the terrified driver continued to holler. Needless to say, we were late for school. Rumor has it that the novice bus driver quit her job the next day, which must be so because we never saw her again.

By late fall, the whole neighborhood was up in arms over his escalating misdeeds. So, they reported Hoppy to the authorities, who determined that this devilish bird's owners would have to put a stop to his disturbing th