I'd like to say that I took this photo while deep in the Alaskan bush, but the
truth is that I was at the Vancouver aquarium. While on my way out, I passed the
handler in charge of Rudy, the red-tailed hawk in the photo. Rudy was shot when
she was a young bird, but survived though the bullet remains in her abdomen. Because
Rudy's rescuers tamed her, she can't survive now without humans to provide food.
At the time I took this photo she was already 18 years old. In the wild, red-tailed
hawks have a life expectancy of between 9-11 years.
