“They came screaming to wake me—because they knew I’d help”: Apartment crows alert devoted bird dad to stray cat in trouble, sparking a dawn rescue mission

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Aug 1, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Crows, not the animal you would first associate with a rescue, much less so when a cat is involved. You might think that the cat would be the rescuee, and you would not be faulted for your mistaken motive. But this is the story of a bird dad, who could not bear to see a feisty feline harassing and causing havoc to the flock of crows that he had come to enjoy feeding and spending time with.

And while he initially completed a successful rescue, it was only a short matter of time before the clawminal cat broke free of his apartment jail and wound up doing the most typical thing a clawminal can ever do - return to the crime scene. This is the story of changed perspectives, this is the story that values all life, not just the ones who live in our homes. This is the story that all bird lovers have been waiting for.
 

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  • 01
    Title: Woke up to my crows screaming at me through my window at 5am, was mad but turned out they wanted my help
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 02
    Fast forward to me scaling a fence to wrangle a feisty little cat that was menacing my crows.
    via Itsjustkit15

  • Well, this is certainly not an angle that we get to hear all too often. Being vaguely related to pigeons, most hoomans would not dare venture near a crow. Let alone to risk getting mauled by a feisty feline to actually save a bunch of crows. This is a rare breed of hooman, and we are thankful that they exist.

  • 03
    I feed my crows on my apartment patio, which is about 10 feet off the ground and overlooks an enclosed gravel parking lot for a nearby business. My crows can perch on my fence and see me through my window. This
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  • 04
    morning at 5:30 am they started absolutely screeching at me through the window, which they have never done before. I just got back from a camping trip so I thought they were mad I had been gone.
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  • 05
    I went out there to be like, "it is too early to be yelling for snacks!!" Everyone was still screeching and I'm mad cause it's cold and I'm half asleep, so I go to toss the kibble into the
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 06
    Cheezburger Image 10536840704
    via Marcos via Adobe Stock

    Disclaimer: This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 07
    parking lot instead of putting it on the railing so they'll move away from my apartment. That's when I see the cat.
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 08
    Like duh, of course they were mad about something. Well the cat didn't look very old and was stuck in the parking area (it's fully fenced in and locked) and obviously a danger to birds. So I got dressed and went to get it.
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 09
    Man, what an adventure. It took me 30 minutes to catch this cat. Not because it was scared of me but because it was having way too much fun terrorizing the birds and making me chase it. Plus I
    via Itsjustkit15

  • Tis the irony of cats, they have tricked us hoomans into thinking that they are cute balls of fluff and love. When in reality they are some of the more efficient predators of the concrete jungle. With no predators above them, they can pretty much do whatever they want when they roam the streets. Including harassing a flock of crows…

  • 10
    had to climb the fence to get it and then climb back over with the cat (I wrapped it tightly in my hoodie). At least there weren't a lot of people out to witness me pspspspspspspspsing and swearing for 30 min in the early hours.
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 11
    My crows followed us around the whole time and kept showing me where the cat was when it would run away so I could go catch it lol. At one
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  • 12
    point the cat was rolling around on a roof shed and all these birds were perched in the tree above it screaming, and I swear this cat was eating it up.
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  • 13
    Anyways, I finally managed to get the sneak wrapped in my hoodie and it's now resting safely in my puppies crate until I can find the owner etc. (already working on that part). I have two big dogs
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  • 14
    and a 560 square foot apartment so kitty is not staying here. Though my older dog is OBSESSED with this cat. She is just laying next to the crate staring at it.
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  • 15
    I hope my crows are grateful because waking up at 5:30 am, climbing into a locked fenced area, and wrangling a sneaky juvenile cat in order to protect my crows was not on my list of things I wanted to do this morning.
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 16
    Update (Same Post): 1 hour later UPDATE: Kitty is back with owner, an older woman in the neighborhood who told me that kitty, "is an indoor/outdoor cat and she has a lot of freedom."
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  • 17
    I let her know that I apprehended her because "the birds I regularly feed were very upset/going after the cat" and reminded her that outdoor cats are a danger to birds. Probably won't change anything, but at least I told her.
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 18
    I was really surprised at first because my crows and dogs tolerate each other really well. I used to live in a home with a fenced in backyard and my crow family trusted my older dog with their fledglings. They would let
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 19
    them bop around in the yard even when my dog was out. I have worked very intentionally though to train my dog not to chase crows and give fledglings their distance. The main
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 20
    Cheezburger Image 10536840960
    via Freer via Adobe Stock

    Disclaimer: This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 21
    things she chases are squirrels and raccoons and the crows, I think, appreciate her for that. Every now and then a crow would startle or move really fast and her natural instincts take over and she jumps up and acts like she's going to
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 22
    chase. But then she catches herself and stops haha. Now I live in a new place and have a new puppy who is learning to be friends with crows too! | usually put my crow snacks in the potted
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  • 23
    plants on my patio and then also on the railing. The other day my puppy was out on the patio with the crow when it was trying to eat and Gregor (my puppy) kept getting into the planter the crow was going for. So he flew
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 24
    to the other end of the patio, knocked some treats off the railing onto the patio ground, waited for Gregor to notice and come bumbling over, and then went and got the planter treats while puppy was distracted. Genius.
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  • 25
    Now I put all their treats on the railing so my silly puppy doesn't steal them. But the short version is, my dogs and crows get along great! My crows regularly fly down right next to my dogs to get treats. My puppy alerted
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 26
    me to a nearby crow today before I even noticed and it was only a couple feet away on the ground.
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  • 27
    Everywhere I go lately crows show up and say hi. Driving my car? They swoop down in front of my windshield. They fly by my window.
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 28
    Walking my dogs? They follow us and hang out on nearby perches when we stop. Drove 20 minutes to my parent's house? A: of 20 was waiting for me in the trees and it really did sound like they were talking about me. Within
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 29
    a couple minutes there were 50 My main bro? Says hi to me every chance he gets. He's the one who alerted me to the cat in the first place. I've never named him because it feels weird to name a wild thing, he
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 30
    probably already has a name! But maybe I should call him something. Open to suggestions. He makes this crazy "whah whah" sound I've never heard another crow make. It's pretty fun being famous with my city crows. I bop around town
    via Itsjustkit15
  • 31
    a lot, so I'm making lots of new crow friends. It's very cool how they can tell each other about someone. I feel like the local crow hero and I'm down for it. Does your m or need protecting? Be there in a min.
    via Itsjustkit15

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wake up crows stray cat animal stories screaming cat stories reddit story help dad dawn bird trouble mission alert rescue
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