ITHACA, NY - November 17, 2023
Students from Crystal Theesfeld's Design and Drawing for Production (DDP) class at P-TECH in Ithaca, NY, have put their skills to work for an unconventional client: Bertrand the Raven at the Cayuga Nature Center. Bertrand, formerly known as King Kong, was rescued by civil rights lawyer Catherine Sevcenko after being shot by a pellet gun in Virginia. With a permanent injury to his wing, Bertrand is unable to take flight. Today, he resides in Ithaca, at the Cayuga Nature Center, and the TST BOCES P-TECH students are making sure he has an intellectually stimulating environment.
Ravens possess captivating beauty, exceptional intelligence, and a highly social nature. Ravens employ gestures for communication, utilizing their beaks to point at objects or holding items, especially during mating rituals—a behavior previously observed only in humans and apes. Additionally, ravens possess a remarkable ability to remember faces and recall specific actions performed by humans, whether positive or negative. Their capacity to hold grudges for up to a month highlights their advanced cognitive abilities. Bertrand possesses all of these abilities, and more.
With Bertrand being unable to fly, his enclosure at Cayuga Nature Center needs to be mentally engaging. The Cayuga Nature Center enlisted the help of the the P-TECH students who got to work utilizing the high-tech equipment in their school, including the glow forge machine, and employing their DDP programming skills to design enrichment toys for Bertrand. The projects aimed to engage Bertrand's high intelligence and natural behaviors. After creating physical models of their designs, the students voted on the best project to be placed in Bertrand's enclosure.
Tatianna Everts' model emerged as the winner among the student projects, and utilized a PVC pipe design, with a swing, rope, and some hide-and-seek compartments for finding food. Shyia Magan, the Director of live animals for the Cayuga Nature Center, installed Tatianna's creation in Bertrand's home today in front of an audience of P-TECH students and teachers. To monitor Bertrand's interactions with the enrichment toy, a trail cam was set up, allowing the P-TECH students to observe his responses with their inventions.
Bertrand, meaning 'bright raven,' is now settling nicely into his new environment. Shyia Magan and the staff at the Cayuga Nature Center hope that Bertrand will be receptive to acquiring new skills, like responding to commands to perch, enabling staff to bring him out of the enclosure for educational programs and summer camps when school groups visit.
For the P-TECH students involved in this project, it's a unique opportunity to apply their skills in a real-world scenario and contribute to the well-being of a remarkable bird. As they eagerly await the trail cam footage, they can take pride in knowing that their efforts are enhancing Bertrand's life at the Cayuga Nature Center.
Dive Deeper into Bertrand's story:
https://www.washingtonpost.com...
https://www.cayuganaturecenter.org/animal-profiles/commonraven