(04-25-2016 05:49 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(04-25-2016 05:23 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(04-25-2016 03:32 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  A real owl at all the home games would be great. They stopped doing that in the 80's and I don't know why. The handler could walk the bird around the concourses for the fans to see. Some birds are trained to do things like fly circles. Having one fly around the stadium after touchdowns, or as the team takes the field would be so cool. I saw one at Dickens on the Strand in Galveston two years ago. That owl would do anything for food. It was really impressive.

I've heard (before my time) that students used to take care of the owls and several of them died (Racoon got into the cage?). Definitely not allowed these days. You have to have a raptor license and I don't think we have a department that would fall into. The zoo is across the street though and they house Shasta for UH. I always wondered why we didn't have a Sammy over there that could be transported to Rice on game days... The cost would be minimal and they could call it public education. Several big Rice donors contributed to the new gorilla enclosure... Maybe they could add a "Parliament" at the zoo...

The owl cage was in Lovett quad when I was at Rice. Two great horned owls. We really should get this back even if they are housed at the zoo.

Without a doubt.

Wild raptor handlers are required by law to only show the birds for "educational" purposes. Air Force brought their falcon back in 1996 at an Operation Sellout game. Right before the game, the handler gave a quick show with the bird on the 50. It was great.

I'm sure it would be very easy to contract with a bird handler to bring an owl to Rice Stadium. Those guys love showing their birds. It would add a lot to the gameday environment.