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Museum Minute: A bird trainer shares a story about a raven

A taxidermied raven is on display at a natural history museum in Cody.
Draper Natural History Museum
A taxidermied raven is on display in the mountain meadows section of the Draper Natural History Museum.

Brandon Lewis works with live birds as part of the Draper Natural History Museum's Raptor Experience. He’s the program’s Live Raptor Husbandry and Training Specialist.

Lewis said ravens are commonly known for their scavenging abilities, but they are also good at solving puzzles and are incredibly intelligent. He shared a story of what he witnessed one summer day near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.

“The ravens that were hanging out in the parking lot were waiting for a group of tough looking bikers to leave their motorcycles. The moment everyone was out of sight, the ravens flew down, and they landed next to them, and they actually started unzipping the saddlebags on the side of the motorcycles.

“By the time that they had eaten their fill and eaten this biker's bag of Cheetos and whatever else that they had that was good munchies for these birds, they would fly off. And the bikers would come back and were incredibly peeved that somebody had ransacked their saddlebags and stolen things out of it,” he said.

Lewis showed the bikers pictures that it wasn’t a human thief, but rather the ravens that had made off with their snacks. He reminds people visiting Yellowstone to not purposely feed wildlife for any reason.

Olivia Weitz is based at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody. She covers Yellowstone National Park, wildlife, and arts and culture throughout the region. Olivia’s work has aired on NPR and member stations across the Mountain West. She is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound and the Transom story workshop. In her spare time, she enjoys skiing, cooking, and going to festivals that celebrate folk art and music.

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