Ear Mountain wrote:Ever been to West Yellowstone in winter? While the XC skiing there is great, there are also quite a few snowmobiles. Most snowmobiles have various compartments where things can be stored. This includes lunches and snacks. My group was staying on the third floor of a motel and had a roaring time looking down on parked snowmobiles and watching Ravens open those compartments, extract bags of goodies, open the bags and eat the snacks and lunches. I've seen this in West multiple times. Those Ravens were quite adept and pulling zippers and Velcro closures to get at the food. I'm sure the adults teach their young too.
Aren't ravens fun to watch?
Unless it's
your stuff they are raiding!!
I would love to go to Yellowstone during the winter. I wish I had the xcountry skills to get around.
I'll have to make do with hiking/snowshoeing opportunities.
I will admit that "Clyde" got me several times last winter.
I want to say in my defense that I was not "baiting" Clyde to my truck.
One time I had my lunch, a chicken sandwich, in my zip up insulated lunch bag.
I went down to Lake McDonald to look around and take pics.
Just as I came into view of my truck, parked at the bottom of the parking, Bonnie let out a couple loud squawks.
Clyde flew out of the bed of my pickup.
The damage was long done. In the short time I was away, Clyde had unzipped the lunch bag enough to pull out my zip loc bagged sandwich.
I found the bag about 50ft away in the snow, torn open and empty.
I call them Bonnie and Clyde because they work as a
team raiding vehicles.
Bonnie will walk on the ground circling a vehicle, or sit on a branch above the vehicle while Clyde "investigates" the vehicle looking for food.
And they don't hesitate if you turn your back.
As I was turning in to the parking lot one day, Bonnie was on the ground behind an SUV with an open hatchback(dunno where owners were)
As I passed by, I saw Clyde inside tugging on a black trash bag
Why I don't know.
Clyde got me a couple more times, but I want to emphasize, again, I was not purposely "baiting" him".
On one occasion Clyde got a very expensive(for me) ~4oz steak out of a vaccum pack of 3 from Perfect Cuts Meats in CFalls.
I didn't want the package inside because the heat was on, so I put in bed of my truck under the tool box. There was junk in front of it. Looked concealed to me att.
So I'm sitting inside truck reading and I heard Clyde jumping around back there. By the time I was out of the truck he was flying off with my steak.
No noise from him as he used that bill like a scissors opening the plastic vacuum pack.
I then barricaded the other two steaks where I
knew he couldn't get to it.
Grass fed beef with no hormones, so he and Bonnie ate good on that one at my expense
I'll explain another time how,
this year, he got my pound cake, my only snack for the day, from inside Squeeze
These birds see thousands of vehicles a day in season. They learn quickly and well all about people and their vehicle habits.
later and thanks for the post
pete