Sideswipe: March 29: Ravens stealing groceries

Alaska Costco shoppers say they've had their groceries stolen by ravens in the store parking lot. Photo / 123rf

Opinion

Robber ravens swoop on meat free-for-all

Some Alaska Costco shoppers say they've had their groceries stolen by ravens in the store parking lot. Matt Lewallen said he was packing his groceries into his car in the parking lot of an Anchorage Costco when ravens swooped in to steal a short rib from his cart, the Anchorage Daily News reported at the weekend. "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.

He said the piece of meat was about 10cm by 18cm — a sizeable meal for a sizeable bird. "They know what they're doing; it's not their first time," Lewallen said. "They're very fat so I think they've got a whole system there." 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 over her in an attempt to steal her groceries.

Horses can recognise their reflection in the mirror and have the urge to preen themselves in the same way as people, says a new study. Photo / 123rf

Horsing around in the mirror

Horses can recognise their reflection in the mirror and have the urge to preen themselves in the same way as people, a study has suggested for the first time. Scientists believe the newly recognised behaviours mark a first step in establishing whether horses can comprehend the concept of individuality and are conscious of how they look. The discovery was made after an X was painted on the cheeks of 14 horses. Eleven of the group attempted to rub it off when they looked in a mirror and realised it was there. Only elephants, bottlenose dolphins, magpies and a small fish called a cleaner wrasse have previously been found to be capable of recognising their mirror reflection. Primates are the only group identified so far to widely have this trait. Dr Paolo Baragli, from the University of Pisa in Italy, led the study, which was published in the journal Animal Cognition. "They're either trying to explore the mark on their face or trying to get it off. It's hard to imagine there's any other reason for this behaviour," he said.

Black Lives Matter to Atlantic City drivers

New Jersey's Atlantic City says it will redo a Black Lives Matter tribute on a street because the original painting of those words across the entire road confused motorists who didn't know where to drive on it. Instead, the words "Black Lives Matter" will be painted on to the repaved road in a manner that does not obscure lane divider markings, Mayor Marty Small said. The City Council voted on Thursday to spend $51,340 (US$36,000) to repave the road, which police said had become so confusing to motorists that the city blocked it off at either end with barriers to prevent anyone from driving on it. "It was an oversight on our part, and when we realised it, we fixed it," Small said. "The words Black Lives Matter will still be on the street."