Raven havoc at Duntroon Golf Course this morning. Approaching the first green, the cry went up from the group following us: ‘the crows have already taken one ball’. The centre of the pillaging was the short second. I had my ball taken
from the green By the time they got to that green that following group had ‘lost 4 balls’. The group after that had lost 2 balls by the same point. That would make 7 balls in about 10 minutes. Probably many more balls were taken in the course of the morning.
Some points –
All balls were white.
There were 2 raven pairs in the area with some excited squabbling. More than one ball-snatcher involved.
Balls were being carried consistently to same group of trees.
Balls would be picked up with yelling golfers within 25m.
Some chasing of ball-carrying ravens by Noisy Miners.
Below shows the corner of the golf course in question. Red outlines the at-risk zone, and stars show main ball-snatching area.
Pink arrow indicates trees that are probable location of raven nest/large ball cache.
