Notorious Canadian crow attacks mail delivery man leading to service halt

Mail delivery services in parts of the Canadian town of Vancouver were briefly halted after a notorious crow attacked a mail delivery man.

Canuck, the crow, is infamous for riding the city's SkyTrain and stealing shiny objects, including a knife from a crime scene. It is identifiable by a red tag on its ankle and has been the subject of multiple news stories. The feisty bird also has its own Facebook and Twitter pages.

Canada Post spokeswoman Darcia Kmet said, "Unfortunately, our employees have been attacked and injured by a crow in that Vancouver neighbourhood while attempting to deliver the mail. Regular mail delivery was suspended to three homes due to it being unsafe for our employees."

"We are monitoring the situation when delivering the mail to other residents on the street. If our employees believe it is safe to deliver to those three addresses, they do so," he added.

The crow is believed to have repeatedly attacked the courier man, causing broken skin and bleeding, Shawn Bergman, who maintains the Facebook group page – Canuck and I – chronicling the crow's misdeeds, said.

Bergman had also written to the Canada Post after he and his neighbours stopped receiving any mail for about two months. He also got a response from the carrier service, saying: "We are safeguarding our employees by not delivering to areas where the crow has been known to attack until such time as the hazard no longer exists."

But on Wednesday (28 June), Bergman, who describes himself as Canuck's friend, said that although he hadn't heard from Canada Post, delivery had resumed.

In his Facebook post, he thanked both Canada Post and Canuck's supporters.

Crow attacks are a common occurrence in Vancouver. There is also an online database to map the birds' shenanigans, the BBC reported.