The Radio Shack Shack

Okay, so before you ask why I gave this post the title "The Radio Shack Shack," let me just explain the situation:

Haines is a really small town. Like a REALLY small town. Like no traffic lights small. Well, since it is such a small town, there aren't really any big chain establishments here - only family-owned businesses. The only major chain establishment is the Radio Shack...it's in a building that actually has shack-like qualities...so it's the Radio Shack shack...

It's Radio Shack...in a shack

I thought it was kind of amusing, but I digress. The important news of today is that I was able to hand-feed Scotty today! I've been trying for the past few days and he still didn't quite trust me, but today we had a major breakthrough (or what I thought was a major breakthrough, it could've been a fluke, but I would like to think that Scotty and I are BFFs now). Now this is great news but you have to keep in mind that, while I might refer to a lot of the birds as "cute" or "my BFF," all of these raptors are still very much wild birds at heart. The Foundation (and really any raptor center in the country) only has these raptors because they have special permits from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to keep them. One of the conditions that must be met in order to own a native bird of prey is that the bird must be non-releasable, whether from some injury or if it imprinted on people. All of the birds that the ABEF houses are non-releasable due to various injuries, therefore, they're allowed to keep them for educational purposes. That being said, we always use proper safety techniques when handling the raptors here to prevent injury to ourselves or the birds. So when I say "I hand-fed Scotty," I really mean that "I held a fish in my hand while wearing a thick leather glove and patiently waited for Scotty to come to me and take the fish out of my protected hand with his rather large beak that I'm slightly afraid of." But it was still a great experience. I've had a little experience with Auburn's "War Eagles" but I've never actually hand-fed an eagle before. It's really something when you can stand in the presence of a bird as powerful as a Bald Eagle and have it approach you and take food out of your hand. I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning :)