Handicapped in the Wilderness

Another example of intelligence and thinking in a wild animal was a raven I saw using mud as a poultice on a very badly injured leg, just as people will do. 

I found him crouched, immobile, in a small pool of mud as darkness fell one night, as if so intent on something in front of him that he was unaware of anything else. He seemed in an altered mental state, and when I approached, he did not move.  

When he finally roused and scuttled into the undergrowth, one of his legs hung away from his body. He had been crouched in the only small pool of mud in the area, apparently soaking his injured limb in the cool substance.

The next day I saw him fly over, and one of his legs was hanging straight down beneath him.  He was with a mate, and they were calling back and forth to each other. It was unfortunate that he was the male of the pair, because in ravens, the male tends to look after the female.

I saw the bird again a few days later, approaching tourists for food in a parking area by the highway that traversed the valley, and threw him some. He understood my gesture but it took time for him to get it. 

And then his mate rushed in, targetted the food and took it. He did not stop her, but he was not happy about it.

Though the bird was not able to use his leg, he was able to manoeuvre with it, and to essentially function. However, being handicapped in the wilderness is very hard, especially when winter was soon to come.

This is a video showing the stricken raven:

Ravens are highly intelligent, as are many other species of birds. Some information on them is included in my book on birds, Birds are Impossible: The Supernatural Ways of the Fliers, available on Amazon. But a book just on raven behaviour is planned to be published next year.

Ila France Porcher