Do you like that? Mm-hm?
Benzene came into my life quite by accident.
My partner's sister was just walking to work
and saw this little ball of fluff just shivering on the pavement.
So me and Janina took it in.
He was only this big,
but he somehow managed to take over our entire lives.
He would wake up at six in the morning
and just start screaming in my face, wanting food.
The bigger he grew, the more he shat,
so our bedroom just became this horrible stinking world
of bird shit and rotting dog food.
But because of how demanding he was,
we quickly developed this incredibly close bond.
I think when something needs you that much,
you can't help but respond,
even if they're climbing up on your head and shitting on it.
These are... Yeah, these are giant mealworms.
The postman, when he brings them,
they come in these boxes that say, "Urgent - live food".
And he just sort of throws them at me through the door.
He doesn't love delivering boxes of worms.
But I'm also breeding my own as well,
because self-sufficiency is a good thing.
So, it sort of happens in three stages.
First, there is worm stage,
and they eat all of this...oats, and then they become larvae.
And once they become larvae,
because mealworms are very cannibalistic,
all the larvae have to be put in here.
And then the larvae turn into these beetles,
which are even more cannibalistic,
and they have to be moved into here.
And then each pair will lay 500 to 1,000 eggs each.
And then, from those eggs, new mealworms will be born.
I did try one.
And they just tasted of oats, so...
like, you know, they are what they eat.
But I don't make a regular habit of it.
Janina tolerates my relationship with Benzene,
but I think she thinks it's slightly inappropriate.
It's not really the same as any other pet,
but it's definitely a very intimate one.
He has taken to coming in at seven in the morning,
so it's not really bird-free anymore.
I care for the plants and Charlie cares for the bird.
Come here. Come on. HE CLICKS TONGUE
INTERVIEWER: Do you ever get jealous?
Uh... WINGS FLUTTER
Not until they start sleeping together.
No. No, I don't get jealous.
Hello. We're in your house, now.
We built this a few months ago
just when it became clear that he was going to be probably with us
for the next 20 to 25 years.
Does that feel like quite a big commitment?
I mean, yeah, 20 years of shit scrubbing.
Benzene! HE WHISTLES
Look, it's a nice new perch that you can hang out on.
Good boy.
Oh, he's afraid of it.
Hi, it's Charlie Gilmour. I'm just calling about the Crow Cafe.
Hi, how's it going? Good to speak on the phone.
The Crow Cafe was animal trainer Trevor Smith's idea.
It's basically to reconcile humans and crows
in the hope that they'll set aside their differences
when they meet each other and learn to love and appreciate each other.
I've just had to double check that it is OK
that there will be live birds there.
Members of the crow family, which includes magpies, ravens, crows,
have an incredibly bad reputation.
Their habit of feeding on dead bodies means that
people associate them with death and disease and destruction.
So I thought that if people could meet them, as I met Benzene,
maybe they'd change their minds about them.
It's going to be the world's first crow cafe
where you can spend an hour in the company of crows,
learn about their incredible qualities
and enjoy some complimentary crow-shaped snacks.
My role in the Crow Cafe is basically just
organising and promoting it.
Hi, could you put me through to the features desk, please?
I'm doing PR for crows, basically.
If only everyone could meet the crows, they'd love them, too.
It's great. It's quite mad.
I'm really excited to share the crow love, I think.
And, yeah, bring more people into the flock.
How many biscuits do we need to make?
Um, I don't know. 300? 300. At least. At least.
I'm very nervous about the event.
I've basically convinced 200 people to hand over £10,
and that's just going to be a room with a few birds in
and these home-made biscuits.
I now realise we should have made cronuts,
because that would be funnier.
Ha... But... It's funny! I'm funny.
Shit.
I've noticed it's lots of adults
buying just one ticket who are coming,
which I guess is that what London... Londoners are like, in a lot of ways.
What do you mean, like, family-less weirdos? Yeah.
That's not a nice thing to say.
THEY CHUCKLE
I was just trying to say that's what you meant.
And now we wait.
Until Benzene came into my life,
I never really thought that birds could have their own personalities,
and I found out what people do to other members of the crow family,
which is they trap them and shoot them.
And the idea that these incredibly clever...
..social birds could be subjected to needless wanton cruelty
seemed almost unthinkable.
If people get to know these birds, they'll see them the way I see them.
Change, extension cord. That is everything on my checklist.
Great, the Crow Cafe is ready to go.
CROW CAWS
So, welcome, everyone, to the world's first crow cafe.
We've got four birds here for you to meet today.
If you have any questions, you can ask Trevor Smith,
who is the incredible animal man.
He's been living with and loving crows since he was six years old.
People have got fears of crows and rooks and magpies
and, you know, the evil bird in the olden days,
the witches and all that.
But today, we've given a bit of kindness
and told them a little bit more about the crows and the rooks
and the Corvus family.
HE IMITATES CROW
So, I was the last to be a gamekeeper
in my generation in my family.
So my father's father's father was a gamekeeper, and it was my turn.
I was devastated to realise that the farmers
go out this time of the year, and the gamekeepers,
and with their shotguns, they blast the babies in the nest,
and that made me so upset.
So I used to bring the babies home and try and rear them
and let them go again, because I thought it was so wrong.
Now I get paid to work with my animals, which I love.
You can come up on here, if you want.
He's classified...
..she pops and puts food in my mouth.
So I've eaten lots of mealworms when I've been asleep.
The Crow Cafe was a fantastic success.
Say goodbye to the birds.
Thank you. There were definitely lots of people
who were already enthusiastic about crows coming.
I think it definitely cemented their enthusiasm.
I think they're going to go and spread the good news about crows.
But, yeah, it's surprising how many people there are
who have these animals in their lives.
Look, Benzene, that's a crow with a teddy bear.
You would like a teddy bear, wouldn't you?
I don't walk around with bird shit in my hair and stuff, normally.
But I do take carcasses to the park and feed them to the crows,
so maybe I am veering dangerously close
to crazy bird person territory.
I feel like maybe I've gone too far now.
If Benzene did decide to leave, there would be a gap in my life
that would be hard for another animal to fill, for sure.
I mean, I could never buy a caged bird, for instance.
I guess I'd spend a lot of time sort of looking up at crow's nests
and slightly hoping that a baby would take a tumble.
I think once you've gotten used to
spending a lot of time looking after something,
it's hard to know what to do with those caring instincts
when they're no longer required.
I guess maybe that's why a lot of parents, when their kids grow up,
get empty nest syndrome and things like that
and, yeah, find that they don't know what to do with themselves
cos they have nothing to care for.
I suppose that's how I'd feel.
I'd have empty nest syndrome if Benzene were to decide to leave.
But I don't think she will, so that's fine.