Half-Cat

I wish someone would scratch my ear and tell me I’m a good boy. And maybe to “sit.” I expend so much more energy than I need to. I’m like a dog. I’m like a big, dumb labrador. When my phone dings for a mission in the early morning hours, I respond as if I just heard someone jingle my leash by the front door. Driving over to the boat ramp, parking lot, or beach, I shake the whole time and need the window rolled down just to catch my breath. And when I finally get home, I collapse on the couch and sometimes sleep for hours.

I’ve tried to change this about myself, to be more even and reserved, but I can’t seem to do it. I’m hard-wired for overexcitement when doing things I love—I was born with it. It’s just my personality.

A recent mission with Ben Wurst to check the Peregrines at the Sedge Tower was no different. Except as I was collapsing on the couch afterward, I suddenly remembered I had the freshly retrieved memory card from the nest camera in my pocket. I lept up as if someone had just asked, “Who wants a cookie?!”

After meticulously examining a few hundred recent photos, a peculiar theme emerged. It was the female falcon, often a symbol of strength and grace, lying down like a sleepy cat on the deck—a lot.

Peregrines do lie down, but it’s usually for a medical reason. I’ve witnessed young falcons lying down after overeating to the point of immobility. I’ve seen them, both young and old, seeking relief from parasites by spreading their wings on scorching surfaces like asphalt and fiberglass at high noon in July. However, this female falcon’s behavior was different. She was lying down during the start of nesting season, which was unusual and concerning.

Yet here she was, lying around like an old cat for no apparent reason. With the looming threat of avian influenza, this could be a sign of sickness or exhaustion. I immediately sent the photos to Kathy Clark, who shared my concern. She admitted that she had never seen this behavior and that it seemed weird.

But what if this was not a medical issue or even a problem? What if it was just her personality? What if this female Peregrine was actually… half-cat? 

That’s when I remembered we had tested a cam at Sedge the year before. I dug through the archive to find the old photos (which had yet to be reviewed) and this is the first photo I found:

They really do have personalities. I wish I could stroke her tail and tell her she’s a good kitty.