MURDER ON THE LUNCH FLOOR
SCHOOL KIDS EASY PECKINGS FOR SAVVY CROWS
STUDENTS at a Gold Coast primary school are under siege from a murder of savvy crows that are breaking into their bags and stealing lunches while they’re in class.
The kids at Guardian Angels have to lock up their lunches to protect them from the wily thieves, which carefully time their crimes to coincide with the school bell.
Principal John Cameron said the birds had worked out how to open zippers and packets and would take advantage of any hapless kids who left their bag open.
“These are very intelligent crows,” he said. “If the children don’t keep their bags zipped right up, the crows get their beaks in and wiggle the zipper open.
“They’re very good at getting into lunch boxes, they’re not scared.
“Unfortunately it’s our preppies and Year 1s who are their biggest victims – usually by Year 2, the kids have learned the lesson.”
Year 5 student James Carrigan said he’d had his daily chicken and avo roll flogged by crows on several occasions.
“They like sandwiches and bread rolls – if you leave your bag open, they’ll get in,” he said. “I forget sometimes and the crows come.” Mr Cameron said the school had always crowed about their academic record – but they never thought it would transfer to the local bird life.
“We encourage nude lunches, which means as little packaging as possible,” he said.
“When parents use the little clip-up plastic containers, the crows can’t get in.
“But they have no problems with little packets – I’ve seen them fly off with whole bags of chips.”
The crows may well have helped reduce the school’s environmental impact – by encouraging parents to pack secure plastic containers instead of commercially-packaged snacks, the school has reduced its council waste pick-up by two thirds.
Another Gold Coast facility at the mercy of the avians’ antics is the Parkwood International Golf Course.
PGA trainee Adam Clarke said the crows were bothering golfers and passers-by. “They hound players all the time, especially when they are eat- ing and drinking. “They will get into the bags by the zip and eat all the food and they even go through the bins,” he said.
“You can’t leave anything out if you are on the golf course without them getting into it. They are really crafty creatures.”
Currumbin Sanctuary presentations and animal training supervisor Tenielle Matheson said crows had been observed feeding and entertaining themselves in all sorts of clever ways.
One had been filmed using a lid as a snowboard, sliding down a snowy roof.