Ever heard of log rolling? Me neither. But it's definitely a thing. And Darren Hudson, a world champion lumberjack from Barrington, Nova Scotia, is an expert at it - and he reckons he can teach anyone how to do it too. His latest pupils, in fact, were a pair of crows.
One of Hudson's jobs is the felling of dangerous trees, and recently when he took a dangerous tree down he discovered that it had residents. A whole nest of residents, in fact - a family of young crows, whose parents never came back for them once the tree had hit the ground.
So, conscious that he was partly responsible for their parents' abandonment, Hudson took the crows - well, he took them under his wing. Two of them, nicknamed "Vic" and "River", became his companions as he tried to integrate them into life in the wild by letting them accompany him to work at his Wild Axe Lumberjack AXExperience, a lumberjack theme park in Barrington, NS. Soon, they were log rolling almost as well as him.
Birds have incredible balance and these guys already like to go for rides on my hand, so I just took it from my hand, set it onto the log, and sure enough I gave it a spin and they stayed right on top. Incredible to watch. - Darren Hudson
He says they're not as fast at log rolling as dogs, but their wings help with balance, and they enjoy it. Now, his hope is that as he's helped them build their confidence and grow up, the birds will fly away from him one of these days - albeit with a new skill to show their bird friends.
I hope that in passing on the treetops and flying around -- and one day if I could be out paddling in my canoe and they land on my gunnels and say 'hello'. That would be incredible, an incredible moment in life to share together, but they're wild and free, and that's the way they're meant to be. - Darren Hudson
In the meantime, though, Vic and River are in no apparent hurry to fly away from their current guardian. When not learning to log roll, they accompany Hudson on his canoe while he paddles on the Barrington River, and he says that being with them means he slows down and appreciates nature more. So he's saved them, but they've given him something back, too.
Definitely two for joy.
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