Little Ravens caught thieving

Little Raven about to steal some of the mat on our back veranda

Over the years I have found that many birds can be quite enterprising in their daily endeavours. One such example occurred a few days ago on our back veranda.

Little Ravens are very common in our part of the world here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. I often see a dozen or more flying overhead. Sometimes they gather to feed in a loose flock of many dozens in the paddock opposite our block of land.

Recently I had seen several of them close to the house and in the garden. I’d also seen them carrying nesting materials. A few days ago I looked out through one of the windows overlooking the back veranda, only to see one of the ravens tugging at the mat on the edge of it. In the photo above you can see how frayed one end of it has become, so I gather they’ve been thieving from our mat for some time.

And I thought the mat was becoming worn through wiping our muddy shoes on it!