Monday, August 18, 2014

The Falcon bears the falconer

Some time ago on a long work weekend The leopard stayed at a beautiful resort in the midwest. It was the kind where almost every creature comfort you could imagine was attended to: masseuses,  olympic size pools, and fully stocked bars. the only issue seemed to be that  if you wanted to dine outdoors you had to battle dive-bombing birds, capable of whipping food bits directly off your plate, or your fork.

The resort's managers came up with a elegant solution to the problem: Falcons. Looks like the majestic creatures are used to deter food-stealing birds from approaching your meal. This tall, impressive bird didn't even have to actually launch an attack at the smaller animals, just its hulking presence scares the bejesus out of smaller and less predatory species at sight.

The falconer, whom I'll call "Hank The Handler" explained all this to me. As nice as my stay at the resort was, I spent more time hanging out with Hank and his beautiful, strange bird more than warming up a stool at the hotel saloon.