The "Bird of Prey Show" (is NOT for the Squeamish!) - by McP

Well, on Saturday Mac got to see his "Bird of Prey Show". You know those cute little yellow baby chicks that you see on farms at around Easter time? Well, imagine the cute fuzzy things getting RIPPED TO SHREADS by giant eagles, hawks, falcons and a buzzard!

That, my friends was the "Bird of Prey Show" in a nutshell, although Mac seemed to have the stomach for it. He still stands by it as a career choice, along with "scuba diver," "doctor," "policeman" and a few other jobs.

The show began with a man dressed in traditional Kazakh hunter attire riding out on a horse with a hooded falcon on his arm. Then the baby chick carnage began! The giant birds o' prey did all kinds of stunts, each culminating with a very up-close and personal ripping of feather, flesh, sinew and whatever else a baby chick is made of. At one point, a piece of baby chick flew over and landed near us. Emil commented that he is glad the children did not wear yellow gloves.

Some recorded music was piped in, and the bird expert had a microphone attached to his head as he described, in Russian, each bird. Emil was very helpful in interpreting each statement, which seemed to end in "keep your hands in your pockets please."



It was actually very fascinating, and I think educational as to the rich cultural history of the Kazakhs hunting with these giant birds. I can imagine the birds are well trained, because even if I had one I think I would have to end up fighting the bird over the prey before he or she ripped it to shreads.


Mac is so serious, and asked me if he could get one of these giant killers as a "pet". I told him to wait five years (an arbitrary number) and we would see. One MUST be eleven to even consider it! His enthusiasm unphased, I then told him we would have to check into the licensing issues as well as other laws - which I was pretty sure did not allow such pets. Finally, I told him that our cats Brenda, Kitty, Ash and Misty would all be eaten by such a bird, just as the baby chicks had been. It would have been a good time for him to ask me for a car - anything but one of these giant killer birds!

We came back to the apartment, and I went with Emil to the big Thai restaurant we have been hearing about. I ordered out, and our gang enjoyed some really good Thai food for supper. And believe it or not, we all had chicken. - McP