Ravens and wolves both look scary because of their appearance. It seems like it is a bad idea for animals to mess up with them. Ravens are large, all-black passerine birds that can be found across the Northern Hemisphere. Wolves are large canines native to Eurasia and North America.
The reason why we will talk about these two cool animals is that these two animals have a good relationship and routine. Ravens will usually follow wolves wherever wolves go. However, what is the reason behind that? Why do ravens follow wolves? Let us find out!
Why do ravens follow wolves? If there are wolves around, there are usually ravens around the wolves. The main reason why ravens follow wolves is to grab leftovers from the hunt wolves made and sometimes to tease the wolves. Ravens play with the wolves by diving at the wolves and then speeding away or pecking the tails of the wolves.
Yes! It seems very cute when ravens and wolves play together. When ravens play with the wolves, ravens will peck the tails of the wolves and wait for the wolves to chase them. However, some wolves, especially the older ones, don’t have time to play with the ravens, which is why sometimes they don’t chase ravens and stay calm.
Ravens And Wolves Relationship
Only a few animals around the world have symbiotic relationships with other animals. One of them is the ravens and the wolves. Ravens are also known as wolf-birds because ravens can form social attachments with wolves. If there are wolves, there are often ravens that follow the wolves.
Like I have said above, the main reason why ravens follow wolves is to collect leftovers from the hunt of the wolves, and sometimes to tease the wolves. After wolves eat their lunch or dinner, the ravens are there to make sure that there will be no meat getting rot.
The wolf and raven have a complex relationship. This started not today, but before a thousand years. Even though wolves had been missing from Yellowstone since the 1940s, the ravens had not forgotten the wolves.
If you love reading folklore, you will notice that wolves and ravens have been connected in folklore. The Nordic God Odin is often represented sitting on his throne, flanked by his two wolves and two ravens. This is just one of the examples of wolf and raven in folklore.
Ravens not only scavenge the kills of the wolves. They also steal other kills from other animals as long as the kill is meat. Ravens steal up to one-third of a carcass by continually carrying away chunks of meat, hiding them from wolves and other ravens.
There is a study made that finds out the real reason why wolves hunt in packs even though they hunt small animals. The reason why is to minimize the portion of a carcass lost to ravens.
Another study made where carcasses were randomly left for ravens, showed them to be cautious and wait for other ravens or scavengers to approach first. However, when following a wolf pack, ravens usually began feeding immediately after the wolves. This shows how ravens trust wolves.
Do Wolves Help Ravens?
Yes! Wolves help ravens. By how? Wolves help ravens because the leftovers from the hunt of the wolves are eaten by ravens. That is why the ravens follow wolves. After a wolf pack slaughter prey, they will eat it. After all the wolves in a wolf pack got enough, the ravens will be the next ones to eat and check if there are any leftovers.
How Do Ravens Help Wolves?
Even though a lot of people have been seen to act aggressively towards each other, wolves and ravens benefit greatly from each other’s presence. Like I have said above, wolves help ravens by giving ravens free food, which is why ravens follow wolves.
Also, ravens help wolves by leading wolves in nearby animal remains because wolves also love to eat remains of dead prey. However, ravens don’t just lead wolves to nearby animal remains, but to potential prey too. It is believed that wolves do respond to ravens’ calls or other behavior that indicate the presence of food.
Final Verdict
The main reason why ravens follow wolves is that wolves give ravens free food, and sometimes, ravens follow wolves because they play with the wolves. Both animals benefit from their relationship. Ravens get free food while wolves can get free food too and potential prey that they can hunt. These two animals are good friends.
