Tuesday my family and I went to the Scott county fair. We went because some of my siblings were doing an exercise class that they normally do at the YMCA. When they were done, we went to explore the fair.
Some of my siblings went to the rabbit barns, and some of them went to the hog barn. The rest of us were on our way to the goat barn when I looked up and saw a sign for the Hardy Lake Raptor Rehabilitation center. I had heard about them before, but they were only open to the public on the weekend that we sold soap at the Madison Chautauqua, so I hadn’t been able to visit them.
I branched off towards the barn and looked around. They had four owls: a great-horned owl, a barred owl, barn owl and a screech owl. Next to the owls they had a turkey vulture, an american kestrel, and a peregrine falcon. They normally have a bald eagle at the fair but the bald eagle had a blood feather.
Let me explain what a blood feather is. Every feather needs blood to grow. When a feather is done growing, the blood flow will stop, so if it breaks it will not bleed. However, if the feather breaks when the bird is growing new feathers, it will bleed and requires attention. So the bad news was the bald eagle was not there.
The good news was, they had three hawks: a rough-legged hawk, red-tailed hawk, and a broad-winged hawk. I walked over towards the peregrine falcon cage and the guide there asked our group if we knew the difference between a hawk and a falcon.
I decided to remain silent.
He said that a hawk kills its prey with its feet, while a falcon kills with its beak. I didn’t point it out, but I noticed that the sign under the peregrine falcon said that it dives and hits its prey with its feet.
What do you think – Did the guide contradict the sign?
Colter
