'Victim of mistaken identity': Lynda Steele recounts double trouble crow attack on Vancouver Seawall
It’s been a decade since former radio host Lynda Steele moved to Vancouver, and on Tuesday she was chosen for one of the city’s least enviable honours: two crows chose her out of a crowd and attacked her.
Late spring and early summer in Vancouver are sometimes referred to as “crow season,” because it’s when the cantankerous birds are raising their young. In an attempt to protect their nests, they swoop, dive bomb and caw incessantly at anyone or anything that they perceive as a threat.
Steele was walking on the Seawall in Yaletown when she was singled out from a crowd.
“I was just walking around with a big sea of other people, and all of a sudden -- whap -- on the back of the head!” Steele told CTV News Vancouver.
“I was shocked and then I felt it dig its claws into the top of my head and I thought ‘Oh my god, it's a crow.’”
The incident was so quick that she doesn’t know if anyone around her even noticed what was happening.
“I kind of recovered from that, and then in a split second, another crow hit me in the back of the head.”
Steele said she wasn’t walking in an area with a lot of large trees, where one might expect crows to nest.
“It was right on the main pathway on the seawall and so I'm not even sure where they came from, but they were stealthy and quick.”
Steele says she wasn’t injured, but was eager to get home and wash her hair.
BCSPCA chief scientist Sarah Dubois says crow attacks are typical at this time of year.
“The reality is they’re just protecting their young and they will do that through July.”
Dubois says that to avoid crow attacks you can carry an umbrella and try to steer clear of their nesting areas.
Dubois did not speak specifically to Steele’s out-of-nowhere attack. However, she said that trying to be aware of your surroundings is an important safe-guard.
“You do have to be aware of your surroundings and know where they (the crows) are, if they are going to be coming near you," Dubois said.
“Sometimes we just go for a walk or a run, and we're not really paying attention to the wildlife around us and this is the time (of year) to do it, give them the space to make sure that we're not going to get into trouble.”
Steele says that the crows that attacked her came in quickly and she neither saw them coming or going.
“I was in an open place with tons of people around so those crows were coming for me, specifically for me, for some reason.”
Crows can recognize human faces and carry a grudge for many years, a fact that some Vancouverites know first hand. Speaking cheekily, Steele said she thinks the crows must have thought she was someone else.
“I think I was a victim of mistaken identity,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
B.C.'s short-term rental regulations include $10K daily penalties for Airbnb, other platforms
Short-term rental platforms that violate B.C.'s pending regulations can face administrative penalties of up to $10,000 per day, officials announced Thursday.
Closing arguments heard in trial for Sask. dad accused of abducting daughter
Closing arguments were heard Thursday morning in the case of Michael Gordon Jackson, the Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter in 2021 to keep her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.