A local soccer club has an eagle as their mascot, and I was thrilled to see that in their opening match this weekend, they actually brought out a real live eagle to the event. During the opening ceremonies, the goalie (in green) came onto the pitch wearing a thick glove. Then Hercules the bald eagle flew across the pitch and perched on the glove with its wings extended.
I was surprised at just how calm the bird was, but apparently he has a job at the airport scaring birds away, so it was business as usual hanging out with the humans. The eagle then jumped off the glove and flew in a sweeping arc around the stadium, drawing cheers from the crowd as the bird soared over the stands across the blue sky and then returned to perch on the glove. What a magnificent sight!
Given the large population of eagles in the province, there are conservation efforts underway to protect them and their habitats. I think it's a great idea to raise awareness of these efforts and perhaps give people a better appreciation of these wonders of the natural world. That's something to cheer for, unless you're rabbit or a salmon, then you'd probably think this is a terrible idea.
The following youtube video shows Hercules in action