3 ms·
This makes me wonder if this kind of stalking is the reason behind the association of ravens with war? Many cultures have mythologies of ravens protecting warr
by mywittyname 6y ago
This makes me wonder if this kind of stalking is the reason behind the association of ravens with war? Many cultures have mythologies of ravens protecting warriors in battle. Maybe they literally followed armies in the past, scavenging food, and attacking the foes of the army.
I understand that they eat carrion, hence their association with the dead. But that wouldn't explain the stories like this:
> According to legend, prior to one battle a gigantic Gallic warrior challenged any Roman to single combat, and Valerius, who asked for and gained the consul’s permission, accepted. As they approached each other, a raven settled on Valerius’ helmet and it distracted the enemy's attention by flying at his face, allowing Valerius to kill the enemy Gaul.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Valerius_Corvus#Early_career https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Valerius_Corvus#Early_c...
- sosuke 6y agoEasy food off corpses is my thought. Humans are very soft and tender if they aren't swinging at you. I've seen several media instances of crows eating the dead.
- Fricken 6y agoTrail running one winter I would often see a coyote and a crow hanging out and sometimes playing together. Crows sometimes will team up with larger predators to hunt. The crow can survey a larger area to spot prey, and the larger predator has the ability to kill it.
- chrisbennet 6y agoThat's amazing. I used to swim with this eel and a bass(?) sometimes one summer. The eel would swim near the bottom and the bass would swim above him a foot or two. I imagine the eel would flush out prey the bass would eat. I'm not sure if the eel got anything out of the deal though.