Whatever you do, don’t anger a crow. The birds, known for their intelligence, are capable of holding grudges, scientists say, and they’ve been known to seek revenge against those who’ve wronged them. Case in point: Gene Carter, a Seattle resident, once threw a rake in the air to disperse some crows. The birds then began lurking outside his windows, following him as he moved around the house. They even learned to identify the bus he took and waited there every day. “They would dive bomb me all the way home,” he says. Carter’s not alone: The website “CrowTrax” has received thousands of reports of crow attacks. And research from the University of Washington has shown that crows remember perceived enemies for roughly 17 years. Some people, such as Carter, have moved neighborhoods to stop the attacks, while others have altered their daily routes. But others have found that bribing the birds with food can be effective. After Vancouver’s Jill Bennett offered them snacks, a pair of crows began following her, even defending her against other dive-bombing birds. “I call it the crow tax,” she says.