Rise and Conquer aren't the Ravens' first live birds. But they're the only ones that have set down roots in Baltimore.
The team had an arrangement before with ravens that commuted in for games from Atlanta. Rise and Conquer live at the Baltimore zoo, so they're becoming more of a hometown fixture, greeting visitors on Purple Fridays this season and visiting area schools.
Though they've only appeared at three home games, they've already managed to peck and preen their way into the city's culture of quirk.
And because they're just 6 months old, mere youngsters, with a life span that could last 20 years, serene Rise and spirited Conquer could be Baltimore's hometown pets for a long time.
The brothers Corvus ruficolis hatched April 16 at the home of a breeder in Alabama. In June, the babies were boxed up and flown, top secret cargo, to Baltimore, where the public had no idea mascots were a possibility.
Trainer Amy Eveleth's heart skipped up a beat when she went to pick them up at the airport and the staff had no package for the zoo. Unable to tell the airport - or anyone - that this was the Ravens' little buddies, the zoo's embassy collection manager nervously told them to just look around for crows in a crate. They turned up.
Eveleth, very pregnant at the time, brought the baby Rise and Conquer home to Catonsville and set them up in her garage. She'd check on them hourly, feeding them bits of wet puppy chow and releasing them with the door down so they could feel their new wings, take awkward flight and practice landing heavily on her garbage can or son's bike.
She, Rose-Innes and other zoo trainers first taught the birds the "perch" command, luring them to hop onto a branch, and eventually their arms, with little bits of food. It took only days for Rise and Conquer to master that, and then they were on to "kennel," the command to get them to go willingly back into their crates.
Because Ravens are considered birds with an intellect almost as sharp as their beaks, this, too, was a breeze.
In fact, the only thing the birds seem to kick about is putting on their game-day uniforms. Perhaps that's because they know the little black outfits, euphemistically called "flight suits," are really for another purpose entirely.
Ordered from a company called Avian Fashions, the suits keep Rise and Conquer's prolific droppings from soiling the stadium. They're essentially diapers.
