When I took Kobae back to San Diego for the winter in November, Rachel watched the place. She stayed over at the main house instead of here at the lodge so the feeding schedule thing didn't work out quite right for all the critters. She threw the hot dogs out in the parking lot before it got dark, put the hot dogs in the skunk hole just fine, stuck food out on the porch before it got dark, and instead of coming out and checking for the ringtails or putting hot dogs in the rafters for the ringtails she threw them on the roof.
The ravens got it all figured out and when I got back I couldn't figure out why the ravens stuck around until dark. Usually they are on their way home 30 to 45 minutes before dark. Then when I got back every morning the ravens stomping around on the roof and awking on the porch would wake me up while it never had before. That's when I learned they were searching for any hot dogs left over from the roof. Still, to this day, almost two months later, they still wake me up every morning bouncing and stomping around on the air cooler ducts on the roof though I haven't put a hot dog up there since I've returned.
Plus they've learned about the fox food bowl out in Kobae's pen full of Kit&Kaboodle so when they can't find hot dogs on the roof or parking lot they go out and munch on the Kit&Kaboodle.
There are three pair of ravens that come here often of which one pair dominates and is here much of the time and one in particular that I spend time with. We have conversations though I don't know what they're about and it is teaching me raven talk. Unfortunately I used my regular camera instead of the Go Pro so you can't always hear the back and forth. Some days it will teach me different sounds and I'll try and duplicate them. Other days it doesn't want to talk so I mock it and even when it calls other ravens and wants to ignore me I mimic it which irritates it and it flies off. That's my revenge for when I use to walk outside and call Jax to go hiking and then it would be sitting on the garage roof mimic-ing me. I'd walk inside and hear it say "Jax......Jax." When I'd walk back out side to see who called Jax, knowing no one else was here I'd walk to the end of the porch and look at it on the garage roof and it would hurry and turn it's head away from me. My turn.
Actually four good things have happened out of this mistake or procedural difference. When the ravens are here the hawks or any sort of predator bird never shows up. Ravens kill the hawks. I have four hawks buried in the animal to animal graveyard, three of which were killed by ravens and the one from the back porch. It's like having a scarecrow in the dead cottonwood tree.
Second, they've quit raiding the trash cans at Last Hurrah. They would either pry the lids off if the guests didn't put the bunji cords back on or they'd punch a hole in the plastic lid and reach down inside pulling trash out. I spent a lot of time last year picking up trash the ravens spread around next door. I bought ten extra lids at Walker Hardware in town. They always have a meal leftover in the fox bowl in Kobae's pen or the raccoon bowls on the front porch.
Third, I'm learning raven and getting better each day and picking up a new sound occasionally.
Fourth, I'm getting my revenge on that jerk that use to call Jax name and mess with both of us and it really irritates it.
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