Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 08/01) - An unlucky raven's home went up in smoke Monday morning.

A raven's nest built beside a smokestack at the Jackfish generating plant caught fire at about 8 a.m. Fire crews responded to the fire, which had burned out by the time they arrived.

"We just went and cooled down the walls and just knocked the rest of the raven's nest down off the area," said fire department Lieut. Chucker Dewar.

Dewar said the diesel generating station was running at the time.

When employees noticed the fire, they called the fire department and switched to another generator.

Officials from the Northwest Territories Power Corporation did not return phone calls before deadline.

According to local environmentalist Bob Bromley, the ravens most likely had young in the nest.

Most Yellowknife ravens lay their eggs around March 16 this year, he said, and have an incubation period slightly over three weeks.

"The majority of ravens nest in natural habitat, but in Yellowknife ... (ravens) have developed a behavioral habit nesting on human structures. It keeps them close to good food sources -- the dump and dog food," he said.

Bromley said there are probably about 20 raven's nests on man-made structures in Yellowknife.

Ravens build their nests out of dead sticks, moss and shredded newspaper, Bromley added.

"So if you're going to build a fire you couldn't do it better than that," he said.