Community | January 17, 2010 | 7 comments

A real life Alfred Hitchcock The Birds is happening in Tokyo

source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122291084

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For nearly a decade, the city of Tokyo has been waging war on its crows.

The campaign reportedly began after a crow buzzed Gov. Shintaro Ishihara as he played golf, prompting a declaration that he would turn crow-meat pies into Tokyo's favorite dish. That never happened.

But the battle continues today, with mixed results.

The sound of crows cawing makes Yumiko Kono's heart beat faster as she pounds around Yoyogi Park in central Tokyo. A long-distance runner, Kono covers at least seven miles a day. She is highly sensitive to sound, since she is blind. She runs with the aid of a companion. A year and a half ago, she was attacked by a crow in the park, an experience that traumatized her.

"A crow landed on my head just for an instant while I was running," Kono says. "It was like it was using my head as a jumping board. I was surprised, then scared. Now, when I hear crows cawing and their wings flapping, I still get scared."

Kono is not alone. Many Tokyo dwellers have been dive-bombed by the big black birds — the species known as jungle crows — that flap around the city. Almost everyone knows someone who has been pecked or pooped upon.

For Alfred Hitchcock fans, it's eerily reminiscent of his thriller The Birds. In that movie, flocks of birds victimized one small town, with hundreds of crows attacking the local schoolchildren.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122291084
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