Last winter, I got really interested in hand carved wooden duck decoys. I started looking around for books and began carving my first duck. As I was reading about various types of decoys, I read about ‘confidence’ decoys. Confidence decoys are used near a set of duck decoys and are thought to trick flying ducks into landing. Supposedly, the ducks think it must be safe if one of these other birds is sitting around too. Shorebirds are often used in this fashion and I have a few of those in process. The ones that fascinate me most though are the wooden crow decoys. (The half carved duck is still sitting on a shelf in the shop…)
It seems that every culture gives some great significance to crows or ravens.
The Norse god Odin had two ravens that flew around the world all day and returned at night to tell him all they overheard. Natives of the Pacific Northwest believed that Raven created the land, the animals, and man. Many cultures count the number of crows that cross their path to determine if it is good or bad luck.
All this makes crows seem so powerful and fascinating and maybe that is why many decoy carvers slipped a crow in here or there.
This crow that I carved from a block of cedar is for sale on my Etsy shop.
If you are interested, let me know and I can post a pattern of this on my shop for a few dollars along with some carving instructions.
Do you have any crow or shorebird decoys – maybe carved by a grandfather or uncle? I would love to see a picture if you do.
-Jim
