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Some people think of them as the smartest birds on earth. Others think that they are a plain old nuisance. But regardless of your personal opinion, ravens leave a lot of stories in their wake.

One story goes like this: during the 1920’s the Austrian animal behaviorist Konrad Lorentz was standing in his back yard calling on his local raven friend. The tricky raven had just pulled all of Lorenz’s underwear off of the clothesline. Lorenz was amused by this, and gave the raven a treat. The next day, the raven appeared for another treat, but had brought with it various items of underclothing! The day after, the same thing occurred. Lorenz was puzzled at first, but then came to realize that the raven had gotten it into its mind that if it was to bring his human friend underwear, that it would receive a treat. Apparently, it was terribly difficult for the scientist to break the bad habit, and the neighbors lost a lot of underwear to that raven over the years.

Do you think that you could identify a raven if you were asked to? For starters, the raven is a large black bird with a blue-violet undertone to its shiny feathers. It has a wide wingspan (reaching about 58 inches) and its body reaches up to 26 inches in length. The raven looks a lot like the crow, except that its beak is heavier and larger than the crows, and its caw is deeper and more complex than the crow’s. The raven possesses brown eyes and black feet and beak. Ravens can be found all over the globe, and they like to nest in wooded areas, especially in the mountains and near the coast.

Once a raven meets its mate, it will stay with it for life. These couples will stay away from other nesting pairs, and will produce nests with sticks, twigs and bark. Often, ravens will use grass and bits of string or various other items that the raven found to its liking.

The raven will eat just about anything. It is said that a raven will hunt with a wolf, alerting the wolf to the area where its prey is hiding. Once the wolf catches and kills the prey, it will share it with the raven, which is unable to kill and open a larger animal itself. Ravens also feed on insects and plants.

The raven holds a very special place in mythology. In Native American lore, the raven created humans and fed them salmon when they were hungry. Raven stole fire from the sun so humans would not freeze, and brought them water when they were dying of thirst. Also, legend tells that the raven taught humans how to enjoy life (remember the underwear story, above!) Raven is viewed as a trickster-a special mythological creature who teaches humans lessons by playing tricks on them so that they understand their place in the world a little better. Some cultures think of the raven as a shape shifter, who has the ability to see through lies and other tricks

So, the next time you hear a raven caw, especially if it sounds like laughter, you will remember a thing or two about these tricky, resourceful and ravishing ravens.