S’porean Man Raised Crow Since It Was Young & Trained It To Play Games With Him

Everyone has their hobbies.

Some people enjoy reading, some enjoy gardening, and some like playing hide and seek with their pet crow.

A hobby is a great way to forget about all your worries and-

Reader: Hang on a second 

What?

Reader: What was that last thing you said?

A hobby is a great way to forget about all your worries? Yes, well, I was going to elaborate before you very rudely interjected.

Reader: No, before that.

Everyone has their hobbies?

Reader: THE THING ABOUT THE CROW, YOU DUMBASS!

Oh right. I should probably tell you more about that. Let me tell you, though, it’s a rather strange tale of friendship, one that few of us will be able to relate to.

S’porean Man Raised Crow Since It Was Young 

If you come home to see a crow perched on your dining table staring at you, you might run for your life and have to change your pants afterwards.

For Shafiq Kamis, however, this is a welcome sight.

Speaking to Mothership, Shafiq said he has been caring for Irie ever since he got it as a four-month-old chick from a friend.

He had planned to release Irie when it became old enough to fly, but the bird seems to have taken a liking to its human owner, as it kept returning to Shafiq’s house despite several attempts to release it.

In fact, Shafiq once found Irie at his doorstep even after he had dropped the bird off 3 kilometres away.

If this isn’t true love, I don’t know what is.

“I told myself that I’m gonna care for him since he showed me [so much] loyalty,” Shafiq said.

Irie now lives with Shafiq and his family in their HDB flat, though it often leaves in the day and returns in the evening, presumably to work and put worms on the table for its family.

Unlike dogs who demand constant love and affection, Irie is a rather low-maintenance pet.

It sleeps in a little cage and eats tiny morsels of fried chicken, fish, and vegetables, though it is not picky.

It can’t resist fried eggs, though, which is its favourite dish.

A bird of taste, I see.

Irie seems to like Shafiq’s family too, including his granddaughter. It has been known to perch on her head from time to time.

Can Play Hide & Seek

You may not know this, but there are only so many conversations you can have with a crow before you start questioning your sanity. This is why Shafiq taught Irie numerous tricks, including coin hunting and playing hide and seek.

The bird enthusiast shares videos of his playtime with Irie on his YouTube channel, which has 5,000 subscribers at the time of writing.

Shafiq has even taught the crow to greet delivery riders, which might prompt them to shift careers.

This isn’t too surprising, though. Crows are thought to be the most intelligent creatures in the world, aside from primates.

The real question is whether it’s legal to keep a crow in an HDB flat.

Legal or Not?

According to Property Guru, keeping small pets such as birds in HDB flats is generally permitted, as long as they don’t trouble the neighbours or dirty common areas.

There are a number of caveats, however.

These birds cannot be part of an illegal wildlife trade, and must not be wild animals.

Unless crows have a residential area I’m unaware of, they will probably be classed as wild animals by the authorities.

But whether these black birds are explicitly not allowed in HDB flats, however, is unclear.

Then again, 8 out of your 10 neighbours have a meowing pet even though cats are not allowed in HDB flats, so maybe this isn’t much of an issue.

I wouldn’t roam around the streets of Singapore looking for a crow BFF, though, as they have been known to attack humans.

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