By The Summoned
Witchcraft and Dark Magic Correspondent
In what witnesses are calling an “unsettling but oddly organized” gathering, a murder of crows reportedly conducted a midnight séance on the campus of Washington College in the early morning on Tuesday, March 17.
Junior Meredith Bedell, a resident assistant on the first floor of Kent House, was woken up around 2 a.m. by the sounds of dozens, if not hundreds of crows emitting low, rhythmic clicking noises.
“These weren’t typical crow noises, they were eerie and haunting,” Bedell said.
After looking outside, Bedell noticed the crows in a circle on North College Avenue near the D parking lot.
Shortly after the event, a report was uploaded to Yik Yak by an anonymous user. The séance reportedly ended at 2:17 a.m. when the birds just stopped and flew away.
Bedell noted feeling a chill around her after she saw the crows fly away, despite being inside.
“I just hope someone called animal control. It could be some weird disease or virus causing this,” freshman Ebony Spicer said. “I didn’t see it, like, in person, but if the video on Yik Yak wasn’t edited, I would stay away from the crows.”
There have been other posts on Yik Yak about strange emails in students’ drafts with headings like “The end is near” and “Prepare.” While most students think it’s either fake or a glitch, there are others who believe it is connected.
“It just wasn’t normal crow behavior,” freshman Finn Lipczenko said. “They weren’t fighting or scavenging. It felt coordinated, like they were calling for something.”
According to a bird scholar online, crows have long been known for their high intelligence and their ability to recognize faces, use tools, and engage in complicated communication rituals.
Intelligence is important to consider when thinking about an animal acting strangely.
Speculation continues to grow on campus about what accounts for the crows’ séance-like behavior. Some students have talked about what environmental factors could be playing a role, while others joke about it being avian performance art. Of course, there are also some students who believe it was supernatural.
As of the evening of March 19, the road that the crows were on had become a point of interest for students, some leaving offerings ranging from breadcrumbs to handwritten notes.
Whether the crows’ midnight ritual was a prank, a coincidence, or something more, one thing is certain: Washington College students will be watching the skies a little more closely from now on.
Photo Caption: Uh oh, Crows!
Photo by Lady Ella the Small