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Show THE ZEPHYR AUGUST 1993 PAGE 24 It's not just By Jim Stiles One warm summer night, I was collecting fees at the Devils Garden campground. We went site to site in those days, and while it was a thankless job for the most part, ("We already paid at the gate...You mean we have to pay again ?), there were some advantages to this kind of direct contact. On this particular evening, a woman from L.A. was about to invite me back for a Hibachi dinner (and who knows what else), when I was called away by the gentleman in an adjoining site. "Oh ranger," I heard him call. "You've got to see this." A pair of 7X50 binoculars bounced rhythmically off an ample abdomen as the camper from site 29 lumbered toward me. "What seems to be the problem?" I asked. I always assumed there was a problem when tourists ran at me. "No problem," he explained. "But I think 1 just saw an eagle flying over there by that big arch." "No kidding," I said. "Can you still sec it?" "Well, actually the wife spotted it first...Mother! Can you point out that eagle to the ranger?" Mother left her dishes and joined us by the road. "Let me sce...give me the binoculars, Lcroy...Yes! There it is!" High above Skyline Arch I could sec the dark soaring outline of the winged figure. It was a magnificent bird alright, but it wasn't an eagle. That's not an eagle, mam," I said. "That's a raven." "What? Give me those field glasses. Mother." Leroy was not convinced, but the binoculars gave him a sharper and closer view. "Damn, mother...it's just a big crow." "Now just a minute," I said indignantly. "It's not just a crow, and it's not just a raven. It is one of the most intelligent, graceful, and fascinating birds you will ever hope to see. If I could come back to this life as any creature on Barth, I would return as a raven." Leroy and Mother failed to be moved by my passionate defense of the raven. "That's fine rangcr...real intcresting...Honey, do you need any help with the dishes?" Sometimes spontaneous interpretive talks arc an effective way to educate the public about the wonders of nature. This was not one of those times. I started to return to the woman from California with whom I hoped to share dinner, but was devastated to see that the guy from site 27 had moved in during my abscncc...the swine. I was left by myself, on the top of this sandstone fin by the campground road to contemplate the solitary raven and wonder if I should blame him for going hungry But on a trip, many years ago, to a remote section of the Grand Canyon, where the rim plunges more than 2000 feet to the Colorado River, I had my first opportunity to watch the remarkable acrobatic skills of the "Common" Raven. I'd never seen anything like it in my life. Sometimes in groups of three or four, sometimes in pairs, sometimes alone, the incredible Corvus corax performed flying feats that I thought defied the laws of nature. In groups they engaged in furious dogfights and mutual pursuits. They plummeted into the canyon, their wings tucked in to reduce drag, and as they free-fel- l, they an When other. with the in and updraft, they caught spun perfect harmony spiraled wind as ride the rush and in a reduce direction would high as great swooping they on over arched ravens the of the sensed their ascent, apex they could go. When they their backs, and started the process all over again. They kept this up for hours, flying and performing, it seemed, for the sheer joy of it. I never forgot the show and, later as a park ranger, I felt it was my job, my duty, tonight. have to admit, I wasn't always a staunch defender of the Black Wonder. As a kid in Kentucky, my only knowledge of ravens came from Edgar Alan Pbe, and my grandfather regularly used to shoot his BB gun at the cousin crows that inhabited our neck of the woods (The raven is mostly confined to the Western U.S., although they're widely distributed over the northern hemisphere in Africa, Eurasia, and Central I America.). His first book in six years takes you beyond the back of beyond! Explore Castenada's latest territory! P.O. BOX 387, 83 N. MAIN MOAB, UTAH 84532 (801)259-515- 4 OPEN 9 TO 9, 7 DAYS A WEEK |