Attack of the killer ravens: Flocks are suddenly slaughtering lambs - what is going on?

This just seems very bizarre to me. What the hell is going on? Anyone in Britain know about this?

Attack of the killer ravens: Flocks are suddenly slaughtering lambs - what is going on?

... forget dormice, voles or even small furry rabbits; these sinister looking birds are feasting on something far larger - newborn lambs.

And instead of hanging around for a few discarded bones or a forgotten carcass to pick and claw at, they've started killing live farm animals - by pecking them to death, in horrific scenes reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier's The Birds, turned by Alfred Hitchcock into one of the most chilling movies of all time.

Throughout Britain, traumatised farmers have reported a sudden and disturbing rise in the number of livestock being attacked by ravens.

"Sometimes you find a carcass with the eyes and tongue pecked out, but sometimes all you find is the skin. They peck away until nothing is left." And while some animals have been pecked to death, others have been left to die in agony after birds have feasted on their eyes, tongues and the soft flesh of their underbellies.

"We have substantial evidence of them attacking adult sheep and calves, too. The attacks are so horrific that it's causing mental suffering to people who find the animals."

Experts cannot give a definitive explanation, but some believe it is simply the pressure on food resources caused by the dramatically increasing raven population.

Research published last year in the Scientific American also showed the raven to be one of the most intelligent species on the planet - up there with dolphins and apes and, unlike most other birds and animals, capable of learning from their own actions and from observing others' behaviour.

That last paragraph may be the most disturbing part of this all. They may be killing sheep now... when will they move onto the humans? Is Tim Bedore right about his "Animal Conspiracy Theory"?

Tim's website

The Aboriginals in British Columbia Canada consider these birds to be sacred. There is a lot of them over here some almost as big as a small eagle,,,i see them attacking eagles while both are in flight. I thought eagles would be feared by them?

Scary thoughts...

When will other wildlife result to this kind of behavior.

Seemingly innocent creatures turned to killers due to diminishing food source.

Wonder if the first creatures on earth evolved this way..

The story is a little misleading - especially the headline and opening paragraph, but that's not unusual for the Mail.

I see no evidence of ravens suddenly forming flocks nor of any eye witnesses to these alleged attacks.

Only of an increase in ravens taking lambs. I suspect the real story is an increase in numbers, coupled with a reduction in other prey and/or weather conditions restricting the availability of other prey, and an overzealous reporter seeing a story and misquoting out of context a few farmers he'd phoned (British tabloids are notorious for this - never ever believe any quote that attribute to a meteorologist, for example - they've been none to print the opposite to what was actually said )


Edit: I always though crows were worse than ravens for this sort of behaviour - I wonder it's not mostly 'hoodies' doing the deed?

[edit on 6-5-2008 by Essan]

There are fairly good size ravens out here in the desert. I haven't noticed any actually attacking an animal and killing it. Mostly they hang out by the main highway watching for road kill. They will also follow coyotes around waiting for it to make a kill. Ravens are notorious thieves. They do not like any bird of prey in their hood. They will gang up on it and chase it out of the area. I feed them meat at times. One of their favorites is a cooked turkey. It's surprising how large of a piece one bird can haul off! These birds are highly intelligent and something to be reckoned with.

Ravens are opportunistic animals, they'll hunt if neccessary, though they prefer to scavenge.

With the demise of predator type speices, it's not all that surprising that an intelligent animal such as a raven would move to fill that niche. Animals adapt, not only through neccessity, but when the opportunity arises.

I've seen eagles harrassed to the point of being driven into the ground by three or four large ravens. Smart, oppourtunistic, with no real enemy? Doesn't surprise me in the least.

Ravens are awesome animals, highly intelligent and pretty savage.

They'll do what they have to do to survive. If it means pecking new born lambs to death I hardly think they are going to loose sleep about it. Just another food source.

They are adapting to change in conditions and scarcity of food.

Now I don't want to be a vocabulary geek here, but the collective noun for a group of ravens is "unkindness" not "flock." Well that probably explains their cruel behavior.

Originally posted by Ribeira
The Aboriginals in British Columbia Canada consider these birds to be sacred. There is a lot of them over here some almost as big as a small eagle,,,i see them attacking eagles while both are in flight. I thought eagles would be feared by them?

Ravens are probably the smartest birds... The Eagle is a predator and is looking for a meal, besides ravens are rather large and a few of them could intimidate an eagle... However, the eagle would surely win against a lone raven... I've also noticed ravens might be territorial... Don't know if it's that or they are just aggressive birds... Seems when you get too close to a roost they react... I've been dive bombed once... I always watch them because of that now... Don't know too much about them aside from personal experience... So I'll tell you a couple stories of mine...

When I lived by the college there was a huge tree in the neighbors yard across the street... Always had Ravens flying around and hanging out in that tree... I'd always sit out front with my girlfriend and drink coffee... You know how that goes right, you're not really talking, you're enjoying the morning sun on your face, sipping away at the coffee just kinda soaking everything in... I always saw this one raven and he or she would always plop down by us and cock at us... I always shoo'd it away... Well on day I got home from work and was getting out of my truck... I looked up and saw 2 ravens in the tree... Like they were look'n at me... I swear when I see crows I can sense them, like I can with humans sometimes... But I just got this idea those birds where going to swoop down and dive bomb me... Sure enough they both swoop down and one very carefully positioned itself and tried to poo on me... He missed, but he was definitely trying...

Also same huge tree the ravens would have town meetings.. I swear to god... You would hear one bird cock a few times, just one, then he'd stop and all the birds would start cocking... Like a crowd at a town hall meeting... Then the one bird would talk again and this went on for about 10 min's and then most every bird except for a few took off all at the same time... I was upstairs in my bedroom listening and watching them the whole time.. it was crazy... That's when I realized they were intelligent...

Shoot these birds can even be taught to pick up trash and or loose change and whatever else! Maybe the birds that are attacking are some sick persons idea of a joke, maybe they are trained to do that...?

Google Video Link

Hawk vs Crow...



[edit on 9-5-2008 by ElectricUncleSam]

is it normal for crows to gather in huge flocks of hunderds

reply to post by RabbitChaser


All you have to do is shoot one of the crows, and leave its body out for the rest of them to see - they won't come around.

So their learning to hunt in packs time to shoot a couple hundred of them no big deal.

reply to post by RabbitChaser


My understanding is that the feeding habits of ravens have changed as new EU regulations have come into effect in the UK that prohibits farmers from leaving any animal carcasses out on their land. This would have been a major source of food for the ravens which has literally disappeared overnight and they have simply adapted. This coupled with the fact that the raven is a protected species and their numbers have grown astronomically over the years means that they will need to be change their feeding habits.

PS Did anyone hear about the squirrels in Russia that allegedly attacked and ate a dog?