One clear sunny February morning in the central mountains of Hokkaido, Japan, naturalist Mark Brazil noticed two ravens on a steep slope of fresh powdery snow. One of the ravens lay on its breast and slid down the slope; its partner rolled, legs in the air, wings flicking. “The pair continued this ‘sledging’ and rolling downhill for more than ten metres before flying back upslope,” wrote Brazil, then repeated the hotdogging. Crows, too, have been known to slide down slopes, apparently for fun. Carrion crows were caught on camera in Japan skidding down a children’s slide. Not long ago, a video
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