A couple of raptor stroies.

I came home from work at Stanford and my XFrau (exwife) asked me to dispose of the pidgeon head on the patio. Evidently while she was studying she saw movement. Looked out and there was the bird head on the patio. She went out to see which kid had tossed the head into our yard. No kids to be seen. She hears a noise and looks up. There is a big redtail on the gutter with a pidgeon in its claws. She goes nevermind and goes back in.

Second. I'm riding my bike past some farmland outside of Munich. The farmer is turnign the soil over. Above him is some raptor. Who proceeds to dive down behind the tractor and fly off with a writhing ground animal of some kind. Smart bird.

of his tractor. One day it went for his face and scratched his nose until it bled, a lot. . Last ride for the fowl thing.

In my 20s and 30s, I rode mostly short commutes to work, but also some nice, long solo rides. I'll never forget pedaling easily on a straightaway country road past a small road crew working on the other side. They kept a'working with no notice of my silent passing. And I thought how neat was that. I entered a space in place and time on my bicycle and didn't disturb anything except some molecules pushed aside from my path.

Seeing that raptor doing what comes natural must have been a thrill. You're right.

Smart bird.