On one occasion, while walking near the banks of the Danube, I heard the sonorous call of a raven, and when, in response to my answering cry, the great bird, far up in the sky, folded its wings, came whizzing down at breathless speed, and with a rush of air checked his fall on outstretched pinions, to land on my shoulder with weightless ease, I felt compensated for all the torn-up books and all the plundered duck nests that this raven of mine had on his conscience. The magic of such an experience is not blunted by repetition: the wonder of it remains, even when it is an everyday occurrence and Odin's bird has become, for me, as natural a pet as, to anyone else, a dog or cat. Real friendship with wild animals is to me so much a matter of course that it takes special situations to make me realize its uniqueness.
- Konrad Lorenz in King Solomon's Ring.
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