I didn’t take the picture. I was a cadet at the US Air Force Academy and our mascot was a falcon. Some of my classmates email great pictures of falcons occasionally and this is the first of this particular species.
During football games at home, the falcon handlers often were the halftime show. It was amazing to watch the falcons soar high over the stadium and then dive to catch the bait provided by the handlers.
We cadets were resourceful and mischievous, especially during football season. We stole Army’s mule and the Naval Academy’s goat, Bill. The coolest prank, I think in 1969, was when we went up to Colorado University and stole their mascot, Ralphie. Ralphie was a buffalo and destroyed the first horse trailer, so we had to commandeer a larger trailer and bring him to Colorado Springs. We gave the buffalo back at halftime. The newspapers had a field day… You see, Ralphie was actually a female and when they brought her back to CU, she was examined by a vet. She was okay, and they also found out she was pregnant. Being an all male school, we got blamed for that :)
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