Dawson City, Yukon's raven whisperer shows love can come in all shapes, sizes and species

The raven is the Yukon territory's official bird — and it holds cultural significance for many Yukon First Nation communities.

The big, black and often noisy bird can be seen, and heard, just about anywhere people are, whether in the city of Whitehorse, or in the remote community of Old Crow.

In Dawson City, if you're looking for an opportunity to see a bunch of ravens in one place, just follow the town's "raven whisperer," Daniel Vigliotti.

Every day, around the lunch hour, Vigliotti parks his van at the gas station located in downtown Dawson where he normally starts his walk.

Within seconds ravens will start to arrive. Usually led by one Vigliotti calls, "Cora."

"I'll roll into town and she'll be the first one that drops out of the sky out of nowhere," Vigliotti told CBC News. "I can't even spot where she comes from and just 'boom' she's right there."

Vigliotti said Cora has a distinct beak that curves sort of like an eagle. He said it makes it difficult for her to eat so when he first noticed her, she was much smaller than the rest of the ravens.

As time went on he noticed the other ravens would snatch Cora's food away because she wasn't able to feed herself properly, so Vigliotti made a point to give her a little extra food when he could.

According to Vigliotti, his relationship with the conspiracy (another name for a group of ravens) really improved after an interesting interaction between himself and Cora when one day Cora came to his window injured.

"It actually looked like it could have been potentially a fox bite but regardless it was an infected hole on the side of her head," Vigliotti explained. "I thought, I've never touched them at this point but she was calm enough around me that I thought I need to clean that wound. So once I got her calm and she's taking things from my hand I got this wetted thing of peroxide."

The first few attempts to clean the wound by Vigliotti were unsuccessful, until Cora finally let him.

Vigliotti said Cora probably realized that he wasn't a threat and was trying to help and from that moment on the two became best friends. The flock followed suit shortly after.

"With all the others seeing that happen my intentions were clear to them," he said. "To her my role became clear and she just became my best friend. The other ones though, knowing I favuor her, that's how I formed the posse."

The "posse" can range anywhere from 12 to 25 on any given day. Vigliotti said they'll follow him throughout town, playfully nipping at his dog's tail. The dog, named Mr. Fox, also playfully chasing them up a power pole.