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Full Version: Ravens stealing groceries of Anchorage shoppers in parking lot (corvine survivalism)
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https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/alas...s-76729132

EXCERPTS: Some Alaska Costco shoppers said they've had their groceries stolen by ravens in the store parking lot. Matt Lewallen said he was packing his groceries into his car [...] when ravens swooped in to steal a short rib from his cart, the Anchorage Daily News reported Friday. “I literally took 10 steps away and turned around, two ravens came down and instantly grabbed one out of the package, ripped it off and flew off with it,” Lewallen said.

[...] Additional raven thief sightings have emerged on social media. “My parents were minding their business after a shop and made it home with one less steak!” Kimberly Waller wrote on Facebook. “The bird snatched it right out of the pack in the parking lot.”

Anchorage resident Tamara Josey replied to Waller’s post and referred to the ravens as “calculating." She said ravens hovered her in an attempt to steal her groceries.

“I had two ravens, one that was on the car next to me and he kept squawking really loud,” Josey said. “He would sit on the car and stare at me, then hop next to the bed of the truck on the other side, and he kept going back and forth. The other raven was on the ground. He kept trying to pull — I had those little mini-melons you have in the mesh baggies — he kept trying to grab the netting and pull my melons off the cart.”

[...] A manager at an Anchorage Costco declined to comment to the newspaper about the raven thieves. ... Rick Sinnott, a former wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game, said hundreds of ravens fly to Anchorage in the winter for food. After winter turns to spring, most of the ravens leave, Sinnott said.

But before they do, the ravens stick around to pluck assorted meats, fruits and vegetables... (MORE - details)

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It's not just air attack by ravens. Anchorage also faces ground attack by hordes of moose. There's lots of wildlife in Alaska, which is one of the cool things about the state I guess. And some of that wildlife has discovered that the humans, which most animals are deathly afraid of, aren't really all that dangerous. In fact wherever humans are, there are going to be garbage cans to root through and shopping carts to steal from.

[Image: MooseSkyline.jpg]

[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FSQE5...f=1&nofb=1]

They can get rowdy, but ususally it's with each other. Like females everywhere, female moose prefer guys who can win fights. So in breeding season, the male moose stage fights to impress the ladies.

[Image: VIDEO__Moose_duke_it_out_on_Alaska_drive...40_480.jpg]
Do you think animals in the process of adapting to our presence are gaining/evolving more intelligence, like some collateral benefit? Are they getting dumber than if in the wild? Do we rub off on them?

Not happening everywhere I think. Whenever I stop at one of the many lookouts situated along the Niagara River, wild shorebirds, some you cannot see along river’s edge below will swim out towards the middle. They do not feel comfortable. Soon as you move away they swim back. Exception, sea gulls that apparently are used to human leftovers.