What a amazing thing to happen today.. I was in the kitchen and a flash of black caught my eye by the sheep flock out eating hay that I can see from out the living room window..
Ravenpullingwoolfromsheep
Sorry for some of the photos, It was a very long distance even for my camera and it was though the living room glass but I knew that this was a WOW and I really seeing this moment..
Picking the best wool bits
and here comes the WOW.. double wow.. the raven is dry felting these wool bits into a travel ball! Weaving each bit into the ball, pulling up and shaking it to fluff and then working in more bits.. look at the size difference!
Dry felting the wool into a travel ball
Here comes his mate? He or she hopped off the sheep and gifted the wool ball to the other bird on the sheep pathway.. I was only able to get a photo of the other bird coming in for a landing, they were moving to fast from such a distance that I was not able to get more then black blurs in the trade off..
while it is very common for birds to collect the shed under coat of dogs, cats, horses’ and my shed hair sheep wool, its it normally done off the ground, off the rubs spots on trees or branches.. Lots of peaple brush out their dogs winter coats and put it out for the birds..
This is the firest time I have ever seen a raven go on the sheep, carefully select the best wool bits it wants and then collect them into a pile and then pick up and weave the bits into a wool ball that is well enough made that it was handed off to its mate? and flown away with?
Have you ever seen this? For that have sheep, directly on the sheep, carefully taking each wool shed out and then piling and then loosely dry felting it into a travel ball??
Just another Day on the Farm 
I think these photos are wonderful. Creatures are amazing. Thank you for sharing.
I hadn’t seen this before but it doesn’t surprise me. Corvids are such clever birds!
Very clever yes but this is something that having lived with the corvids and the sheep flock is the first time I have seen such a thing in 16 years, collecting off the ground lots yes but sitting on the sheep itself, choosing the bits and then felting into a travel ball.. wow.. just wow.. I feel bless to have seen it and am not sure I will see it again.. but maybe i will..
We have seen them gather from the ground, but never directly off the sheep. Very cool!
For sure, I am used to the on the ground, or take them off the favorite rub spots but never directly off the sheep, it would carefully take out a ribbon of wool, set it on her back in a pile an then as it got bigger it would start to create the ball, lift and fluff and tuck in more stripes, and repeat until it was 3 to 4 times the size he or she started with and when it was ready jumped off the sheep with it to the walking pathway and waited to gift it to the mate..
So cool!
Wow! That’s pretty cool.
Thanks Crafty, I put the photo up on the ontario bird site and the raven facebook page and its been viewed over ten thousands times, over 1000 comments and shared close to 2000 times.. I expect that at some point in the future it will come back to me in some way with no one knowing that I in fact took it 🙂
It is very cool. Enjoy your “fame” such as it is. Hopefully happy things will come from it.
LOL, no one will remember me.. but I hope that they enjoy the photo and the story that goes with it..
I’ve never seen such a thing and am surprised the sheep didn’t scatter in a panic.
I have never seen it either, pickup up shed wool yes, that is normal and common, getting up on the sheep and pulling clean wool bits and then placing it on her rump while she eat her hay until it got enough to make a ball and then keep pulling an weaving it into the ball till it was as big as it wanted it.. NEVER seen anything like it.. the sheep looked and went back to eating.
Having had a rescue raven for fifteen years- it doesn’t surprise me at all – they’re incredibly smart and easily outwit most anything including us humans. These last few years I’ve had a female crow bring her youngsters into the front yard and show them where the dog food is and teaches them to eat it – by feeding it to them first for a few days.
You would be familiar with the racket laying hens make after they lay an egg – as soon as our raven heard that noise he would head over and swipe the egg. Wow – the stories I have about that bird – sure miss him 😊
O ValB, you are my hero.. I have a love affair with ravens big time, always have.. I have made friendships with ravens over the year but to have one that ws “ours” for 15 years would be amazing! I can only imagine the stories..