The first thing I notice when I walk into Bethany and Justin Rondeau’s house outside Port Angeles is a falcon wearing a hat in the living room.
Perched atop a stand that looks not unlike a cat tower is Sky, a 12-year-old saker falcon with brown and white feathers. He usually lives in his own coop outside, but on the morning of my visit, he is inside the house and has been made temporarily blind by the medieval- looking leather hood on his head.
The hood was hand-stitched by a man in Utah, and there are dozens more on a shelf in the couple’s kitchen, each one perfectly constructed to fit atop a raptor’s noggin. The purpose is to cover the bird’s eyes and obscure its vision. This calms them, like a baby swaddled in cotton.
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