Two West Point cadets’ prank on the Air Force Academy’s football team went seriously awry over the weekend, injuring the rival team’s falcon mascot. The bird was bloodied during a botched kidnapping, but the injuries aren’t life-threatening and she appears to be on the mend, according to the Air Force Academy. The West Point pranksters snatched two falcons belonging to the Air Force Academy: Aurora, a 22-year-old gyrfalcon that serves as the official mascot, and Oblio, a younger Peregrine falcon. The Air Force Falcons football team was at West Point for Saturday’s game against the Army Black Knights, which Army won. The Army cadets reportedly threw sweaters over the birds and locked them in a dog crate. When they returned the birds, Aurora’s wings were bloody, likely from thrashing in the crate. “I think they had them for a couple hours and then they realized it was a bad mistake,” Sam Dollar, the Air Force Academy’s falconry team adviser, told The New York Times. “When Aurora started thrashing around in the crate, they decided that wasn’t a good thing.” To read more on this story, click here: Air Force Academy's Falcon Mascot Hurt In Army Football Prank
FOLLOW US!
Peregrines nest in towns and cities from coast to coast in
the United States. The urban locations make the birds easier to watch, which
leads to an abundant supply of photos and videos as the puffy progeny come out
of their shells each spring.
Peregrines, like bald eagles, nearly went extinct during
the mid-20th century because of exposure to the pesticide DDT. By the time the
species was given federal endangered species protection in the 1970s, there
were just 324 known nesting pairs, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
Today there are 2,000 to 3,000 pairs, according to the
agency, which took the species off the federal endangered species list in 1999.
Wildlife officials around the country continue to monitor
the birds, however. Many cities make special efforts to manage local peregrine
nesting sites, providing special structures and banding baby birds for future
tracking. Partly this is good public relations, but with peregrine numbers
still relatively low, the extra attention also helps biologists keep tabs on
the health of individual birds as they grow up and find mates of their own.
This new peregrine family includes one baby male and three
baby females. They live in a special nesting box set 215 feet up a tower of the
Marine Parkway Bridge in New York City. City and state wildlife officials
recently banded the chicks so they can be tracked as they mate and raise their
own families.
Peregrine falcons have endangered species status in New
York state.
In Lowell, Massachusetts, last week, a peregrine named
Merri flew over the head of a staffer from the Massachusetts fish and wildlife
agency, who had just returned her newly banded chicks to their nest.
This falcon family’s home is a rooftop nesting box atop the
18 story tall Fox Hall, a dormitory on the University of Massachusetts–Lowell
campus.
One of Merri’s chicks, newly banded and ready for its
close-up. UMass regularly posts video streams and status updates on this falcon
family.
Merri has been raising chicks at Fox Hall for 10 years,
according to the university.
These downy peregrine babies—two males and two females—are
nesting 693 feet above sea level atop New York City’s Verrazano-Narrows Bridge,
which connects Brooklyn and Staten Island.
According to a statement from the Metropolitan Transit
Authority, which manages the city’s river crossings, 12 peregrine babies are in
residence this season on three of the city’s bridges.
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho - A woman who is suspected of beating a hunter's pet falcon to death with a beaded scarf after she saw it take down a duck, is facing a misdemeanor charge that the pet owner thinks is too lenient. Patti MacDonald, 60, was charged with beating the bird after authorities say she fractured the skull of the 8-year-old falcon, named, Hornet, on January 7. Hornet's owner, Scott Dinger, said MacDonald should be charged with killing a protected species. Dinger, who was hunting with Hornet at the time, was about 500 yards away when the bird of prey made a successful attack and landed with the duck. He said he was approaching the spot when he saw MacDonald's red Jeep Wrangler pull up. Hornet flew away, and Dinger found him dead about an hour later. The duck also died. According to Dinger, Hornet had been around humans since the day he was hatched. "They don't really know they are falcons. That was probably a part of his undoing because you could walk up to him and he wouldn't fly or try to get away", said Dinger. It is tough to accept what happened because he was so young, and falcons can live for about 30 years in captivity. Craig Walker, a regional conservation officer for the Idaho Fish and Game Department, said he received an anonymous call from a woman saying she tried to save a duck from a falcon. The phone system identified the caller as MacDonald. Walker wrote in a report: 'The woman later stated that she had been very upset about the duck being injured, but felt bad about injuring someone's pet, because she "beat the crap out of it.'" Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said he reviewed Walker's report and determined the misdemeanor charge was appropriate. Beating or harassing an animal is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000 for a first-time offender. Peregrine falcons were on the threatened and endangered species list, but they were removed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999. "There are between 2,000 and 3,000 breeding pairs of American peregrine falcons in Canada, Mexico, and the United States." according to the FWS. It's unclear if Hornet was a peregrine.
