The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration (IRCA) is fighting an uphill battle against the common raven – and losing.
Búðardalur.is reports that ravens in the Svínadal area of northwest Iceland have been fascinated by the reflective badges affixed to road signs. So much so, in fact, that the IRCA cannot repair the signs faster than the ravens damage them.
It is estimated that ravens have removed 500 reflective badges from road signs in the Svínadal area in the past year. Recently, ravens have stepped their game up, removing reflective stickers from 150 road signs in the past week alone.
“Yeah, it’s job-creating for both us, me and the raven,” IRCA worker Jón Benediktsson told reporters.
Jón estimates the overall cost of damages done by ravens totals tens of thousands of krónur. He says they have had a difficult time trying to keep up with the birds. For now, all he and his colleagues can do is try to affix the reflective stickers better, in the hopes that local ravens might someday be foiled.
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