The Strangest Arms Race Move

Today I was minding my own business on the Nambu Line platform at Musashi Kosugi station when the weirdest thing happened. It didn't really shake me up then, but it's been plaguing me ever since, and now freaking me out as to what could've happened.

Above all the signs and light fixtures in the stations are hundreds of spikes to prevent birds from perching above the waiting passengers*. This is especially in place against crows, one of the biggest pests facing Japan; they are known to attack people for food.

I was in a line waiting for the train, and I looked up to the side and saw a crow on a ledge. A few other people did as well and kept watching. We became transfixed. He had a look of intent on him; which is know is highly unlikely but it honestly appeared as if he was thinking things through. However, there were spikes on the lower ledges and nowhere else for him to go.

But! He jumped down between some spikes, which seemed quite a risky thing to do. Remember that the people right underneath him were oblivious.

Suddenly, he leant his head to the side and grabbed at a spike with his beak. Expecting nothing to come of this, more and more people watched with wide curiosity. Yet the spike moved. Not just that one spike but about 10 or 11 of its neighbours. As if they were all attached to one plank; imagine a more vicious set of lego.

The crow tugged once more, and the plank tilted. I was frozen and had no time to react or warn people; and it seemed as if everyone else was in the same position. The plank flipped and fell; spikes first. LUCKILY, no-one was injured but it fell very close to a few old ladies. If someone was underneath, I can only imagine how serious/fatal the blow would've been.

Everyone was a little freaked out by it; imagine if you were underneath. You would never have known, until suddenly... well, you can imagine the rest.

Crows are protected by the Bird Society in Japan, even though the majority of citizens would be happy to have them culled. They bite through rubbish bags for food, and cause noise pollution, among others. And now, they're out for murder.

I know there was no actual intent in terms of the consequences for the bird, but this particular crow really did vengeful. One student explained it as the season for building nests, and the crow imagined the spike as just another stick or branch.

Still, it really was like a Hitchcock movie.

But I'll stop crowing on about it.

*These are also used on famous buildings to prevent birds from either lodging or defecating. One such impaled pigeon was a source of amusement while waiting to enter Doge's Palace in Venice.