Another Unusual Tale From Hick's World

Hick has more than his fair share of encounters with unusual people. Not so much weirdos, like Val has a magnet for. Just people a bit outside the mainstream.

"I was in my store Saturday, and heard this guy and his buddy talking about hunting. They was lookin' at my fishing plugs, but I asked him what kind of gun he uses to hunt. He said, 'I don't hunt with a gun.' So I asked what he used, a bow? And he said, 'No. I use birds.' That was weird. So I asked him what kind of birds. He said he is one of only three people in the state of Missouri that has a license to hunt with a golden eagle."

"Isn't that a protected species? Can you get a license for that?"

"I don't know. Maybe he just said an eagle, and not the golden eagle. I don't remember."

"What does he hunt with an eagle?"

"Everything! He said one time it got a deer! But the deer was too big, and got away. Another time it got a turkey, but the turkey almost beat the eagle to death flogging it with his wings. And the other day, the eagle got away from him, and killed a cat!"

"This story is getting stranger by the minute! Did he train it to hunt cats?"

"No. It just goes after whatever it sees."

"I know falconers use falcons to hunt rabbits."

"Oh, he also has two falcons."

"So what happened with the cat?"

"The guy is from the county just north of us. He was out hunting with his eagle when it flew across the river. He has a tracker on it. He didn't want to lose his bird, so he had to get across the river to get to where it was. He had to drive 20 miles to get across, and find roads to get him to where the eagle was. It was probably only a couple miles away, but getting to it was hard.

He said when he got there, the eagle was eating a cat! It was almost all gone."

"What did he do with the cat?"

"I don't know! He said he went and knocked on the door, but nobody answered. So he just got his eagle and got out of there!"

"So either the people will think their cat ran away, or they'll find what's left, and think a wild animal ate it. Which kind of... it DID."

Only Hick finds people with such unusual tales.