You’ve all heard of tree huggers. But some of my best friends have been eagle huggers.
Golden eagles are long- lived, life- bonded, top- of- the- food- chain predators. This can make them very hard to train, but if they are bonded they are REALLY bonded. They are intelligent and playful– I know Konrad Lorenz, usually smart about such things, thought not, but he tried to fly a poor zoo veteran in Vienna.
They can also be jealous, and dangerous over food. As I once said to an American photographer in Mongolia who wanted to tie a rabbit to his head and have a Kazakh throw his eagle at him: don’t mess with anything that can kill wolves, and flies.
But they have a softer side. Here, courtesy of PrairieMary, her late ex- husband, sculptor Robert Scriver, and his “Eegie”.
And here, my friend Manai, who lives near Bayaan Olgii in western Mongolia. One of the eagles he is hugging does catch wolves.
