Fascinating Facts About Ravens

Humans have always had an uneasy relationship with ravens, and for every civilization that thought of them as pure evil there was one who saw the raven as a powerful deity or nature spirit.

But despite what some bird haters will have you believe ravens don't want to watch the human world burn- they want to be a part of it.

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Ravens are one of the smartest animals on Earth, they can imitate human speech much like parrots, and scientists believe they communicate by using nonvocal signals and may even feel empathy for their fellow ravens. 

Ravens also roam around in gangs during adolescence, love to trick other animals out of their food and roll around on ant hills, so perhaps their bad reputation isn't pure superstition after all.

Read 10 Fascinating Facts About Ravens at mental_floss


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I recall a raven that was "mooching" food from cars lined up to board the Lake Champlain Ferry to Burlington VT. Read later that there were ravens native to that area.
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You didn't mention the ravens of England and how some are kept at the Tower of London because of a prophecy that if they died England would fall.

In your myths about ravens some of those myths didn't sound awful, the ravens were helpful.

"for every civilization that thought of them as pure evil there was one who saw the raven as a powerful deity or nature spirit." Seems like a 50-50 thing to me if your quote is correct.
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Wait, so I'm wrong about humanity's view of ravens throughout history because you had a good experience with a raven when you were a kid? Seriously? Many cultures throughout history have linked ravens to the dead and seen them as bad omens or bearers of bad luck. And even the cultures that like ravens still commonly associate them with death, so I don't think it's a stretch to say humans have had an "uneasy relationship" with ravens. Seriously.
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An uneasy relationship w/ravens? Seriously?

When I was 9 I had a pet raven. We lived near a 2 partitioned golf course. My Dad and brother would walk around the courses and retrieve lost golf balls and my Dad would sell them to people he worked with.

One day they found a juvenile raven crying in a tree, caught it and brought it home to me. I had to feed it every 3 hours with an oatmeal and grubworm gruel. It loved it! I loved the raven but it finally reached an age where it was time to go off and be an adult. I let him go and he never looked back. Still, it was an experience few folk have enjoyed. No regrets. Just happy memories.
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