Chennai, Dec. 14: This is one chapter in his life that 60-year-old Ravishankar will never crow about.

For more than a month, he has been the hapless victim of a persistent and predatory crow that has attacked him whenever he has stepped out of his home in Coimbatore.

“I initially thought it was just a one-off thing when the crow swooped down (and) beaked me on my back as I was getting out of an autorickshaw. But this crow kept targeting me whenever I went out. I’ve wounds all over my body thanks to this bird. It’s a nightmare to step out of my residence,” said the cement dealer.

Ravishankar is clueless about why he has been picked by the crow since he has not harmed an animal in his life.

Strangely, the crow does not target Ravishankar’s family members or his friends. “When he joined us for his morning walk, the crow would attack only Ravi and not any of us. Now Ravi has given up his morning walk as well,” said Manoharan, his neighbour in the Sungam area of Coimbatore.

Since he cannot be confined to his home, Ravishankar has adopted some protective measures. He wears a full-face helmet, carries a walking stick and even a couple of Diwali guns that fire cap rolls to protect himself and scare away the bird.

But nothing has deterred the crow, which comes swooping down and crackling on spotting Ravishankar. So whenever he needs to go out, he travels by vehicles that drive right up to his front door.

According to Dr. V. Jagannathan, a veterinarian, Ravishankar could be the target of feathered vengeance.

“Crows have a deep seated streak of vengeance as they are known to target humans who have disturbed their nests or harmed their young ones. In some cases, they also attack the wrong persons mistaking them to be the offenders. But such attacks last at the most a few days,” the doctor explained.

Ravishankar’s wife Jayanthi has tried a few other methods to neutralise the crow’s anger. She has served specially cooked food, only to see the bird bully other crows and have its fill. She has even performed special pujas at home and nearby temples but to no avail.

A few friends asked Ravishankar to engage some “Koravas”, a local nomadic tribe that hunts birds for food, to kill the crow but his family is against such methods.

“In Hindu tradition, we feed the crow first before we have our food. How can we harm a bird just because it is aggressive?” asked Jayanthi.

“Our family astrologer has suggested that we go to the Shani temple at Tirunallar and perform a special puja there as crow is the vehicle of Shani,” she said.

Till then, it is helmet and guns for Ravishankar whenever he steps out.