Carlos The Eagle

A...an eagle? How on Earth was he, a ninety-five-year old retired mafiosi man to take care of an eagle of all things? Couldn’t Anthony have gotten him a parrot or something? A cat? Anything but an eagle. How was he even meant to start taking care of this thing!? Awkwardly, Feliciano tried to set the animal down into a cage. It wouldn’t budge. Its talons dug into the leather glove that had come with it and it stayed put, eyes narrowed, challenging Feli. 

After a few more failed attempts, Felciano gave up on trying to get the eagle off the glove. Instead, he would attempt to slide his arm out of the leather contraption and then set that in the cage. The eagle did not like the sudden shift from Feli’s arm and stepped so that the talons of one foot pushed against the man’s skin. Clearly, the eagle wanted to stay on.

“My arm’s gettin’ tired…”

The eagle glared. Too bad, said its eyes, I’m not stepping down.

Maybe it was just hungry. What did eagles eat? Could he give it regular old bird seed, maybe? No...he doubted seeds would be enough to sate the giant avian’s hunger on its own. Pulling out his smartphone, he searched the web for what do eagles eat. 

Mice...smaller birds...racoons...beavers….what kind of eagle was this, anyway? Looking at a chart of eagles, this one looked like a Golden Eagle.

Well, at least that let him narrow his searches for the thing’s diet.

Eagles sure ate a lot of mammals… fish! That, he could do. He lived near a dock! Perfect for fishing during this time of year. And once it got cold, the store wasn’t too far away. Though he wasn’t sure they would let him in with this giant predatory bird on his forearm. Maybe he should just order something online for now...  

“Alright, well...i managed t’getcha some fish delivered here… I should prob’ly name ya, eh? How’s...er...oh, I dunno...How’s Carlos sound?”

Carlos shook his feathers out and started preening himself.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then.”

It took a while for Carlos and Feliciano to get used to each other. Feli had to turn to the internet far more often than he cared to admit, really. Fortunately for him, the eagle was very chill and very easy to get along with. Aside from his occasional screeches, that is. Carlos did not take kindly to the wildlife outside the house. Interestingly enough, he seemed to far prefer interaction with human beings.

Feliciano found the avian enjoyed taking walks. Or, rather, he enjoyed flying by Feli’s side while he walked. Same difference, really. Carlos also seemed to enjoy being pet. Many small children shyly reached out to touch his head and he would lean into their hands, ruffling his feathers just a little bit. Many people wanted to hear Carlos’s story and how he came to be Feliciano’s pet. Not wanting to disappoint them with an awkwardly short “my brother just kinda dumped ‘im on me on Christmas Eve,” he would instead make things up as he went.

“I found ‘im injured near da mountains an’ took him in. I was originally only plannin’ on keepin’ ‘im ‘till he recovered but after I tried ta release him, he always kept comin’ right back to me.” Or…“He was a peculiar, noble, whiskey drinka’ wit’ beautiful eyes and vast fingers,” whatever that meant. “His friends saw him as a deafening, difficult dumbass. Once, he had even helped a lonely owl cross the road. That's the sort of eagle he was!”

A...an eagle? How on Earth was he, a ninety-five-year old retired mafiosi man to take care of an eagle of all things? Couldn’t Anthony have gotten him a parrot or something? A cat? Anything but an eagle. How was he even meant to start taking care of this thing!? Awkwardly, Feliciano tried to set the animal down into a cage. It wouldn’t budge. Its talons dug into the leather glove that had come with it and it stayed put, eyes narrowed, challenging Feli. 

After a few more failed attempts, Felciano gave up on trying to get the eagle off the glove. Instead, he would attempt to slide his arm out of the leather contraption and then set that in the cage. The eagle did not like the sudden shift from Feli’s arm and stepped so that the talons of one foot pushed against the man’s skin. Clearly, the eagle wanted to stay on.

“My arm’s gettin’ tired…”

The eagle glared. Too bad, said its eyes, I’m not stepping down.

Maybe it was just hungry. What did eagles eat? Could he give it regular old bird seed, maybe? No...he doubted seeds would be enough to sate the giant avian’s hunger on its own. Pulling out his smartphone, he searched the web for what do eagles eat. 

Mice...smaller birds...racoons...beavers….what kind of eagle was this, anyway? Looking at a chart of eagles, this one looked like a Golden Eagle.

Well, at least that let him narrow his searches for the thing’s diet.

Eagles sure ate a lot of mammals… fish! That, he could do. He lived near a dock! Perfect for fishing during this time of year. And once it got cold, the store wasn’t too far away. Though he wasn’t sure they would let him in with this giant predatory bird on his forearm. Maybe he should just order something online for now...  

“Alright, well...i managed t’getcha some fish delivered here… I should prob’ly name ya, eh? How’s...er...oh, I dunno...How’s Carlos sound?”

Carlos shook his feathers out and started preening himself.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then.”

It took a while for Carlos and Feliciano to get used to each other. Feli had to turn to the internet far more often than he cared to admit, really. Fortunately for him, the eagle was very chill and very easy to get along with. Aside from his occasional screeches, that is. Carlos did not take kindly to the wildlife outside the house. Interestingly enough, he seemed to far prefer interaction with human beings.

Feliciano found the avian enjoyed taking walks. Or, rather, he enjoyed flying by Feli’s side while he walked. Same difference, really. Carlos also seemed to enjoy being pet. Many small children shyly reached out to touch his head and he would lean into their hands, ruffling his feathers just a little bit. Many people wanted to hear Carlos’s story and how he came to be Feliciano’s pet. Not wanting to disappoint them with an awkwardly short “my brother just kinda dumped ‘im on me on Christmas Eve,” he would instead make things up as he went.

“I found ‘im injured near da mountains an’ took him in. I was originally only plannin’ on keepin’ ‘im ‘till he recovered but after I tried ta release him, he always kept comin’ right back to me.” Or…“He was a peculiar, noble, whiskey drinka’ wit’ beautiful eyes and vast fingers,” whatever that meant. “His friends saw him as a deafening, difficult dumbass. Once, he had even helped a lonely owl cross the road. That's the sort of eagle he was!”

A...an eagle? How on Earth was he, a ninety-five-year old retired mafiosi man to take care of an eagle of all things? Couldn’t Anthony have gotten him a parrot or something? A cat? Anything but an eagle. How was he even meant to start taking care of this thing!? Awkwardly, Feliciano tried to set the animal down into a cage. It wouldn’t budge. Its talons dug into the leather glove that had come with it and it stayed put, eyes narrowed, challenging Feli. 

After a few more failed attempts, Felciano gave up on trying to get the eagle off the glove. Instead, he would attempt to slide his arm out of the leather contraption and then set that in the cage. The eagle did not like the sudden shift from Feli’s arm and stepped so that the talons of one foot pushed against the man’s skin. Clearly, the eagle wanted to stay on.

“My arm’s gettin’ tired…”

The eagle glared. Too bad, said its eyes, I’m not stepping down.

Maybe it was just hungry. What did eagles eat? Could he give it regular old bird seed, maybe? No...he doubted seeds would be enough to sate the giant avian’s hunger on its own. Pulling out his smartphone, he searched the web for what do eagles eat. 

Mice...smaller birds...racoons...beavers….what kind of eagle was this, anyway? Looking at a chart of eagles, this one looked like a Golden Eagle.

Well, at least that let him narrow his searches for the thing’s diet.

Eagles sure ate a lot of mammals… fish! That, he could do. He lived near a dock! Perfect for fishing during this time of year. And once it got cold, the store wasn’t too far away. Though he wasn’t sure they would let him in with this giant predatory bird on his forearm. Maybe he should just order something online for now...  

“Alright, well...i managed t’getcha some fish delivered here… I should prob’ly name ya, eh? How’s...er...oh, I dunno...How’s Carlos sound?”

Carlos shook his feathers out and started preening himself.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then.”

It took a while for Carlos and Feliciano to get used to each other. Feli had to turn to the internet far more often than he cared to admit, really. Fortunately for him, the eagle was very chill and very easy to get along with. Aside from his occasional screeches, that is. Carlos did not take kindly to the wildlife outside the house. Interestingly enough, he seemed to far prefer interaction with human beings.

Feliciano found the avian enjoyed taking walks. Or, rather, he enjoyed flying by Feli’s side while he walked. Same difference, really. Carlos also seemed to enjoy being pet. Many small children shyly reached out to touch his head and he would lean into their hands, ruffling his feathers just a little bit. Many people wanted to hear Carlos’s story and how he came to be Feliciano’s pet. Not wanting to disappoint them with an awkwardly short “my brother just kinda dumped ‘im on me on Christmas Eve,” he would instead make things up as he went.

“I found ‘im injured near da mountains an’ took him in. I was originally only plannin’ on keepin’ ‘im ‘till he recovered but after I tried ta release him, he always kept comin’ right back to me.” Or…“He was a peculiar, noble, whiskey drinka’ wit’ beautiful eyes and vast fingers,” whatever that meant. “His friends saw him as a deafening, difficult dumbass. Once, he had even helped a lonely owl cross the road. That's the sort of eagle he was!”