(JP)Time to think before stoning the crows

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Time to think before stoning the crows

 

Daily Yomiuri, 22 Jan 2002

Kevin Short

 

Many of Japan's native animals are currently in severe

trouble. One major factor in their decline has been

replacement of the nation's rich broadleaf forests by

sterile, single-species conifer plantations.

 

Many of the once bountiful rivers and streams have

also been ruined as wildlife habitat, turned into

steep-sided concrete channels by misdirected and

usually totally unnecessary civil engineering

projects.

 

Robbed of their natural food supply in the mountains,

animals move into cities and agricultural areas, where

they raid crops and cause other problems, and are then

summarily shot as vermin.

 

Crop raiding, of course, is nothing new. In fact,

Japanese villagers and local animals have been at odds

for thousands of years. This conflict can readily be

seen in old fairy tales like Kachi-kachi Yama, in

which a sadistic tanuki tortures an elderly farm

couple until he is captured and punished for his

crimes.

 

As long as the mountains and rivers provided the

animals with plentiful food, however, depredations

were kept to a manageable scale.

 

Traditionally, farmers were usually willing to put up

with some wayward behavior among the local wildlife.

In native Japanese folk beliefs, animals, and plants

as well, are believed to have souls or spirits.

Hunters and fishermen, who must kill animals as part

of their livelihood, always perform ceremonies where

they thank these spirits and ask for their continued

benevolence.

 

In some cases, animals are even considered to be

sacred familiars and messengers of the gods. These

animal spirits help the gods in their spiritual

endeavors, and also serve as mediums, carrying the

prayers and wishes of the people to the gods.

 

Crows are typical animals caught in the contradiction

between traditional respect and modern-day censure.

Intelligent, quick to learn and copy, and highly

adaptable, crows readily take advantage of new

opportunities presented by humans.

 

Today, they are often treated as varmints. In the

cities, for example, huge jungle crows wreak havoc

with garbage, spreading paper and offal all over the

street.

 

As their Japanese name, hashibuto-garasu or

" thick-billed crow, " suggests, these birds have huge,

incredibly powerful bills. Originally they inhabited

pristine forests and coasts, where they used their

bills to rip into the carcasses of dead animals. As

they lost their traditional feeding grounds, the

jungle crows discovered a new way to use their

formidable bills, ripping open plastic garbage bags to

get at the delicacies inside.

 

An aggressive nature, useful when arguing with

seagulls and black kites over scavenging rights, has

also helped them adapt to the urban environment. They

nest in park trees and even on telephone poles, and in

spring and early summer, when their chicks are in the

nest, they will readily dive-bomb any animal that

comes near, including people.

 

A separate species of crow, the carrion crow, or

hashiboso-garasu, is common in the agricultural

countryside. These birds, with thinner bills (their

Japanese name means " thin-billed crow " ), traditionally

foraged in the oak woodlands and around the rice

paddies, feeding on a wide variety of fruits, seeds,

insects, frogs and other small animals.

 

In many areas, however, the woodlands have been

destroyed, and pesticides and herbicides have reduced

the amount of available prey in the paddies and

canals. As a result, the crows have stepped up their

raiding schedules.

 

Dead crows, or incredibly realistic plastic models of

dead crows, are now hung around fields and paddies as

a warning to potential transgressors.

 

The modern day crow is clearly not a very popular

animal here.

 

Traditionally, however, crows were widely respected as

sacred animals. In classical Japanese mythology,

Emperor Jimmu, a direct descendant of the Sun Goddess

Amaterasu and the founder of Japan's Imperial line,

was guided through the mountains of Wakayama

Prefecture by a giant crow sent down by heaven. Thanks

to the crow, the emperor was able to cross the

mountains to Nara, where he established Japan's first

capital city.

 

Even today, crows continue to serve as messengers to

the gods in some areas. For example, at the Okunitama

Shrine in Fuchu, western Tokyo, crows are depicted on

bamboo fans and embroidered cloth good-luck sachets.

These crows serve the popular and good-natured god

Okuni-nushi, and pass on to the god the people's

wishes for prosperity and protection from evil and bad

luck.

 

Crows and other animals do not deliberately choose to

cause trouble for people. In most cases, they do so

out of sheer desperation. Rather than fear or despise

these animals, we should instead try to avoid problems

by conserving and restoring their original natural

habitats and food supplies.

 

Traditional Japanese folk beliefs, with their deep

respect for plants, animals and the land, are far more

than funny fairy tales. They contain a vital land

ethic that could form the base for future harmony

between humans and nature.

 

Copyright 2002 The Yomiuri Shimbun

 

 

 

 

 

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