How the Dramatic Prairie Dog was Born

Spiders On Drugs

Is That a Falcon on Your Arm?

The following is a near transcript of an exchange between myself and a guy I encountered a few weeks ago with a bird-of-prey perched on his wrist.

Me: "Is that a raptor on your arm?"
Guy: "Yes."
Me: "Whoa."
Guy: "It's a Peregrine falcon."
Me: "Are you a biologist?"
Guy: "Am I a what?"
Me: "Are you a biologist or something?"
Guy: "Nope."
Me: "Wait, so why do you have a falcon on your arm?"
Guy: "It's my pet. I take it out to fly around, every evening."

There you have it. Apparently it's possible to own a Peregrine falcon as a pet, and some guy who lives less than two miles from me has one.

I didn't even know that falconry was something people still engage in. It is.