Raven caching a golfball

["Bill & Jenny Handke" <>]

Ravens stealing golf balls have been the bane of golfers for many a year.  There used to be 3 ravens that infuriated golfers at Tathra for many years.  On one occasion my wife hit her best drive for ages with an old dirty ball.  A raven flew down to her ball with a white clean ball in its beak.  It drop its clean ball, went over to Jenny's dirty ball, walked back to its ball in disgust and flew off with its clean ball, leaving my wife's ball where it landed.  I concluded from this that ravens didn't want dirty ? and by extension ?  coloured balls that were not akin to the colour of birds eggs, so after the game went and bought a dozen coloured balls: bright yellow, pink and orange.  Next game, on the very first tee I hit a longish drive down the fairway with a bright orange ball.  Before I had time to put my club away, a raven flew down, picked up my ball and shot through.  So much for that theory.  But it needn't be all bad.  On another occasion, a raven picked up my ball from a drive and started flying towards me.  I ran towards it with club aloft, it did a u-turn and flew towards the green, dropping the ball some seventy metres closer to hole.  Naturaly I took the next shot from there!

 

Later on when we did landcare work in the area we came across "nests" of golf balls ? many dozens of them.  No doubt there were some very puzzled birds.

 

Bill