Falcons!

Yesterday morning we visited the Falcon Hospital. After the, now familiar, navigational challenges, we found the place out among the scrub. If we'd known, we could have made arrangements to visit the Saluki Center, too--there's always next time.

It was impressive! They began with a preliminary lecture including how falcons travel--when commercially, in-cabin, two to a seat, with passports--how they are acquired--from licensed breeders mostly in Europe--how much they are worth--tens of thousands of dollars--where they are taken to hunt--Central Asia, North Africa, Pakistan--and how many a Sheikh might own--a couple hundred. We also learned that female falcons can be twice as big as males and are the preferred hunters.

Then we entered the exam room, where some twenty falcons were lined up on perches on the floor awaiting service--19 of them were female.  Here they perform routine maintenance, like clipping and sharpening talons and beaks, and more complicated care, like replacing or repairing feathers. Before any procedure they knock the falcon out with anesthesia delivered via a mask that fits over its entire head. They split our group into two and we got to see them trim a falcon's talons and beak. They let us touch its feathers and showed us its ears.

They also demonstrated a sort of falcon repair kit where we got to see how different feather breaks are fixed. They use bamboo near the base or a needle at the tip and glue it back together. Not only are the birds given a microchip for identification, but when hunting, they are fitted with a tracking device on their tail! This way the hunter can follow along in a truck as the bird flies.

The highlight of the visit was getting to hold two different falcons. The first required a thick leather glove and was surprisingly heavy. The second was a much smaller bird that we could hold right on our wrist.

Our tour wrapped up with a visit to an aviary--in the summer they are air-conditioned since falcons in the wild would migrate to cooler climes--some individual outdoor cages with eagles and owls, and then the small museum. I highly recommend a visit!