Woman Befriends Wild Crane Who Won't Stop Knocking On Her Door

In one Florida neighborhood, there’s a big lake with tons of wildlife living peacefully. All the neighbors, including Autumn Cochella, love throwing out seed for everyone. While feeding birds isn't necessary, it can be helpful depending on the time of year, and it’s never been a problem before — until Carl.

While most of the birds who live in the area are content to just wait for bird seed to show up, Carl is different. He’s a smart, bossy crane who knows which families feed the birds, so instead of waiting for them to do it, he takes matters into his own hands.

Cochella realized pretty early on that Carl was different from the other birds, and despite his huge personality, the pair quickly became friends.

“The first time I realized that Carl knew his name, I was at the back of the house in my bedroom and I saw him walking from my backyard to the front,” Cochella told The Dodo. “I yelled out my bedroom window, ‘Hey Carl!’ and he ran to my front door! That’s when I knew we were friends.”

Now, Carl stops by Cochella’s house every day to ask for food — and he’s definitely not shy about it.

Instead of just waiting patiently in the yard, Carl will knock aggressively on either the door or the Ring camera, trying to get Cochella’s attention. Sometimes he’ll try multiple times a day, and Cochella and her persistent bird buddy have gotten into many verbal arguments about it.

“If the other birds eat up all of the morning seed before he gets to it, he knocks persistently,” Cochella said. “If we’re home, it scares the crap out of us he’s so loud. I ask him through the Ring cam to leave because I’m afraid he’s going to crack my glass door one of these days!”

Usually, though, Carl doesn’t leave. Cochella’s yard is his favorite place to hang out now, and he even brings his family with him on some days — Carla, Carl Jr. and Carla Jr.

“Watching them over the last few years has been amazing,” Cochella said.

Carl definitely has quite the personality, and even though his constant requests for food can get a little annoying, Cochella loves him anyway and is so happy to have made such a fun, quirky friend.