A blended human-raven family

NEVERMORE: Thanks to Edgar Allen Poe, ravens are synonymous with the gothic Halloween aesthetic. But they’re also both full of personality and vulnerable, as their rescuers discover. Photos by Michelle Pennell

BY MERRILEE PRIOR

First there was Beauty. She was a young raven with a bad case of avian pox, which is much like chicken pox in humans: painful and debilitating and often fatal in the wild. She spent much of the winter with us, slowly convalescing. Like most ravens, though, she was very social, and humans did not fill the void.

Then, in early April, came our first nestling raven, a scruffy, warm little handful whose baby blue eyes were just open, who trustingly gaped at his rescuer for food.

In the brief time between picking him up and PROWLS arriving to take him into care, his rescuer fell in love and named him Edgar. Once Edgar was picking up food on his own, he went straight to the large flight cage to join Beauty. The two of them talked and squabbled and played as their flight conditioning improved, and soon they were released from the flight cage, tentative, fearful even of flying free for the first time.

We made it a soft release, meaning we put food out for them while they adjusted to exploring and foraging. Soon, they were only seen during a daily fly-by, which became weekly, then from time to time. Beauty had a mark on one wing, so we could identify them.

Other ravens came and went, all were released where they were picked up. Then this winter, we had four ravens in care for different reasons, and, as always, they were a rowdy bunch. Gerry had a broken wing, Poxy had indeed suffered with pox, Gremlin had fallen from a nest and suffered several fractures, and Ben was found on the ground, walking up to all passers-by and asking to be fed. When it came time to release, we decided to let them go as a flock, since they had been together so long.

Release day came and we all held our breath: would they fly? Were they indeed ready? Out they came and every one of them lifted off and flew far and high – all in different directions. Then they started calling to each other, and we celebrated the success. We put food out for them and wished them well.

The next day came the really good news: the evening of the release, while the four were still in trees boasting to each other, Beauty, Edgar and two young ravens came around to see what the fuss was about. They picked up the new releases and flew away with them.

The flock came back for the food we put out every day, and gradually their territory expanded and we saw them less and less. We know Beauty and Edgar will teach and protect them far better than we could.

And that is why we love ravens.