Stolen peregrine falcon recovered safe

[Chinchillazilla]

http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2011/11/stolen-falcon-recovered.html


A peregrine falcon stolen in Rancho Cordova has been recovered in good condition.

The bird - in need of antibiotics because of recent foot surgery - had been taken from a car that was parked overnight Thursday while the falcon's owner waited for freeways to clear so he could drive back home to Reno.

It was in a pet carrier, hooded and with its feet wrapped.


"It got found somewhere in a Dumpster and some people turned it in to a veterinary clinic in Davis," said Martin Stiasny, the bird's breeder and owner.

"Supposedly the bird is in good condition," he added.

The bird will be taken to the Roseville bird specialist clinic, where it had been treated for a foot infection.

Stiasny hopes to get the bird back Monday and return to Reno.


I guess I can almost understand stealing a peregrine, because they are awesome. But putting a live, hooded, injured bird in a Dumpster? I mean, I'm glad it was found safe and they didn't just kill it or turn it loose, but what the hell.

[Tundratot]

"It got found somewhere in a Dumpster and some people turned it in to a veterinary clinic in Davis,"
I guess I can almost understand stealing a peregrine, because they are awesome. But putting a live, hooded, injured bird in a Dumpster? I mean, I'm glad it was found safe and they didn't just kill it or turn it loose, but what the hell. I agree. That's just stupid and cruel.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

I guess I can almost understand stealing a peregrine, because they are awesome. But putting a live, hooded, injured bird in a Dumpster? I mean, I'm glad it was found safe and they didn't just kill it or turn it loose, but what the hell.
Nothing wrong with turining it loose. That's where they belong any ways. It should never have had an "owner" anyway.

[Chinchillazilla]

Nothing wrong with turining it loose. That's where they belong any ways. It should never have had an "owner" anyway.

It was captive-bred and owned by a falconer, who (aside from rehabbers) are the only people allowed to possess falcons in the US. Falconers almost single-handedly replenished the North American peregrine population after DDT, through captive breeding and releasing the birds they bred. Additionally, this bird needed antibiotics and would have died if it was released. It probably wouldn't have been able to hunt after foot surgery anyway.

Also, falconers' birds are less "owned" than you probably think. They get set loose to fly and hunt several times a week, or even multiple times a day depending on their needs. They generally return to their owners because they know there's an easy meal in it for them, but there's absolutely nothing stopping them from just flying away if the mood strikes them. Wild-caught birds are taken in their first year, which up to 85% of birds don't survive anyway, and then released in a year or two after they've gotten good at hunting. It's really a pretty awesome thing, in my opinion.

For the record, I'm not a falconer, but I'm looking to get into it, so sorry if I'm coming off a little... overzealous, here.

[Pete Bondurant]

Just in time for Thanksgiving.