More corvine craziness

Heading home along the lake, I espied yet another episode of bizarre crow behavior.  A large specimen was perched in the croft of a flowering crab tree, with something clenched tightly in its claws.  It looked like a lollipop stick.  The bird pecked rapidly and madly at the end of the stick, where there was a diminishing wad of something bright orange.  Evidently it had snatched up a Halloween treat from the ground, probably dropped by some child, and was intent on getting at...the gooey Tootsie Roll center?  A chewy reward at the heart of a Blow Pop?  This is more predictive of the approaching winter's severity than any woolly caterpillar, I fear.