**While Josh Klein is featured in the story below…he is not the unknown man who actually trained up to 40+ crows to gather change for him. Supposedly, he is legit and made a ton of money this way. Inventor Josh Klein, proves it can truly happen.
There isn’t much information on this dude…but he did in fact train crows to scour the city for loose change in exchange for a little treat.
Inventor Josh Klein eventually created a ‘crow vending machine’ that would dispense a treat for each coin that was placed inside the vending machine.
It all started after Klein trained his cat to use the toilet. He then thought, maybe I can train crows (as they are very intelligent) to do something useful. So he began training crows to collect money for him.
In step one of four in the training process he would provide the crows with coins, peanuts and the vending machine. This would allow the crows to become familiar with the material that will be used on a daily basis. Klein would then only give the crows two coins. This would cause the birds to become frustrated and continue trying to put the coins somewhere, eventually making their way into the vending machine coin slot. The next step, is when the vending machine gives out a peanut as a reward for each coin placed in the machine.
Next, Klein gave the birds nothing. He simply spread a ton of coins out of the ground near the vending machine. While many other species of animals would simply look at the coins and the vending machine and move on — the crows, being known for being able to think methodically and intelligently — make the connection that if they pick up a coin and place it into the vending machine, they will get food!
Crows have incredible facial recognition and can remember people easily. In addition, they are trainable. There are videos out on the web that show crows doing all sorts of incredible things. Some picking up trash, figuring out complex puzzles and even sorting various items into their appropriate groups.
Pretty cool stuff! So the next time you see a crow…just imagine the possibilities! You could make a new friend or business partner!