I finally met Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl that escaped from Manhattan’s Central Park Zoo in February and has since been living wild in the park’s north woods, to the delight of many New Yorkers.
It felt a bit like meeting the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. His story has become mythical and inspirational, since he has survived successfully as a free bird after living in captivity for 12 years, almost his entire life.
His escape was made possible when some unknown person made a hole in the steel mesh surrounding his small enclosure at the zoo. He evaded attempts by zoo staff to recapture him. They were afraid he would not be able to feed himself, but he quickly applied his instincts to capturing rats in the park. Now tourists and residents make pilgrimages to the north woods in search of Flaco.
I wasn’t intending to look for him but was walking near there with a friend and she persuaded me to go look since I was so close.
As I wandered into the area and was considering which way to go, a young woman approached me and asked ‘Have you seen Flaco?’ I thought she was a fellow seeker, but then she said ‘Look up, he is right over your head.’ And he was - though quite well camouflaged.
While she was explaining where to look, several other people came by and before long we had formed a pop-up community of Flaco fans looking hopefully up into the tree, waiting for him to make a move.
A passing bicyclist was playing the song ‘I Will Survive’ which led to cheering.
He peered down at us and we felt blessed.
I was glad to experience such an unexpected moment of community among strangers in the city - even though I am usually uncomfortable about the attention given to non-native celebrity birds. (Yes, I’m thinking about you, Mandarin Duck.)
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