It's getting a little Hitchcockian out there.
Oh, that's nothing, my friend.
I'm really starting to feel like Tippi Hedren.
Have you ever seen this many Ravens at once? -No.
It's nutty.
I mean, this is the kind of thing you expect to see with, you know,
starlings. -Yeah.
Ravens a bird that size.
I know. That's what's so weird about it.
This may be the largest ravens roost in the world.
It's the largest one I know of.
And we have had counts of 6500 Ravens.
And it's a nightly occurrence.
I've never seen less than 1500.
You'll see them move up onto these low lines and that's where they roost.
A gathering of ravens
is called a conspiracy, though the origin of this term isn't known.
It may be related to how they gather in large groups around a food source.
This is sort of a very convenient central point between a whole lot of resources.
There's a huge urban area, including Palm Springs, just over those hills.
And where there are humans, there are opportunities for ravens.
I like to call this Raven Ville.
This is the time right now when they're getting ready to head out in pairs.
Yep. We're right at the start of the breeding season.
They're going to lay eggs this big and in six weeks,
those are going to be full sized ravens.
Six weeks.
And until the eggs hatch, we don't see dead baby tortoises.
As soon as the eggs hatch.
That's when the dead baby tortoises show up.
This is a baby desert tortoise.
There's a thin spot in the middle of the bottom of the shell.
Ravens know right where the thin spot is.
Flip them over. Boom.
They're just trying to raise their babies to make sure they survive.
Correct.
It's it's natural behavior at an unnatural density.
This ecosystem isn't designed
to have the number of ravens that are just hanging out in Palm Springs.
It's like, that's on us.
This is just to buy time.
- Oh It's the world's cutest, remotely fired laser.
Oh, look at that.
It's one of the world's only remotely fired lasers.
Ravens don't like it.
It's a bit of a terror.
How could they not like something so adorable?
You'll find out.
We're just trying all these tools to buy time for creatures like the tortoise.
I'm 100% in favor of this.
There's a balance to nature, to the ecology and man's activities
can have the effect of throwing that balance way out of whack.
I have no issues with, you know, harassing the Ravens so that they disperse
and they become closer to a more natural density.
Okay, let's let's shoot the laser.
I’m in. Let's do it.
Laser power baby.
To help direct the laser at the cluster of ravens.
I'll be using a pair of super fashionable VR goggles.
Just bring it straight up. -Yep.
Laser on.
They're going to raise it now.
Okay.
Go right.
Pull right. Perfect.
You got it.
Two seconds of laser action, and the 2000 plus Ravens out there are spooked.
Okay now down.
Good dot in the middle. Leave it there.
Just leave it.
Good.
Because we don't want the birds to settle down, but instead spread into the desert.
Tim has me follow them with the laser.
This is when they get really worried.
Because it seems like an intelligence.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's like there's a predator chasing.
Take a look.
Voila.
Oh, wow.
They're gone.
Look at them.
That's amazing.
That is.
It's like a cloud.
That's a kettle of kettles right there.
Wow.
I have never seen this many ravens in one conspiracy in my life.
So the point is, this works.
Oh, yeah.
As a way to disrupt the hyper concentration.
Correct.
What an amazing experience.
Incredible.
Thank you.
Oh, you're welcome.
Happy to share Ravenville with the world.
What's interesting here
is that we are seeing something that is happening all over the planet.
There is not a piece of this planet that hasn't been impacted by man's activities.
I don't care where you are.
The ravens are not the only superintelligent beings on this planet.
We are too.
Let's use those brains and let's start to come up with solutions
to the problems that we've created.