Photo by Kevin A. Roberts
World Bird Sanctuary (125 Bald Eagle Ridge Road, 636-225-4390) keeps the United States' noble bird, the bald eagle, for visitors to observe. Daniel Cone is the man who trains them.
We interviewed Cone for the January issue of St. Louis Magazine. Here's what he told us about his interactions with eagles:
- Personality-wise, bald eagles can be very bossy. They’re kind of like that bully in second grade who beat you up for lunch money. They’re scavengers.
- As Ben Franklin said, the species is “a bird of bad moral character.” They’re beautiful and majestic in the wild, but in captivity they’re hard to work with.
- They’re powerful, strong, and intelligent. There’s a lot about them that make them a good representation of America—better than the turkey, I’d say.
- They don’t love you as much as we love them—they’re not like a dog or a cat. If I got hit by a bus, they wouldn’t care as long as someone came and fed them.
- My job is to talk to animals, and that’s what it is: You have to talk to an animal in the way they understand, which is through the use of food, really.
- If they’re full of food, they’re content to just sit. It’s kind of like me.
- All of the birds here have been trained, and that’s a big accomplishment. Every single time I do an eagle program, I hear people say, ‘Wow, I’ve never been this close!’ That’s a feather in my cap.
- Our eagles really do not like mascots—they hate them. We usually have a trainer ask the mascot to move out of the way.
- When we take them on the road, we put them in a travel crate, like any live animal. When they’re in there, they’re very calm.
- In most cases, we check to make sure the hotel has a pet policy. You tell them you have a bald eagle, and they’re, like, “Suuure you do.”
- It’s fun when a cleaning person comes in the room with an eagle sitting in the middle of it. That’s what Do Not Disturb signs are for.
- If I leave the room, I’ll turn on Animal Planet or cartoons, and they’re fascinated. They can watch it all day.
- When I was 13 years old, I started volunteering at the World Bird Sanctuary. Many of the birds I met when I was 13 are still here.
- You learn by doing [the job]. I could read all day about how to do it, but there are so many nuances.
- I can’t see myself doing anything else. You get attached to them. They’re my friends—and every once in a while I get a human friend, too.
