When most people hear the words ‘science fiction/fantasy convention’ they immediately picture the stereotypical movie scene of a bunch of dorky looking people running around in Star Trek uniforms, pretending to be their favorite character.
Well, coming from someone who attends these things, that is just in the movies. I am an avid sci-fi/fantasy convention-goer and let me tell you, we are a cool bunch of people. And just because people love Star Trek, Star Wars, or any number of other great movies, doesn’t mean that they don’t love raptors too! (Just a little note, in Star Trek, the Klingon spaceship is called a “Bird of Prey”. How cool is that?)
Every year for the past 5 years, I have brought our birds of prey to a convention up in the Chicago area called Duckon. The people at the convention weren’t quite sure of us at first, but now we are one of the most popular programs each year! We are greeted enthusiastically when we enter the hotel doors and are cheered when our programs start. Everyone loves when the birds fly overhead and are enthralled by the different species we bring.
Liberty and World Bird Sanctuary Director of Field Studies, Cathy Spahn, meet a Klingon
One extra-fun thing that we do is offer people the chance to get their photos taken with our birds. They can even hold our non-native species on their own fist! (Non-native birds of prey are not protected under the same laws as our native species, which allows us to let people have a very unique and memorable experience.)
We hope to be able to continue sharing our magnificent birds with an audience that loves them so much – those crazy science-fiction/fantasy fans of which I am a proud member.
Submitted by Laura MacLeod, World Bird Sanctuary Education Coordinator
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