The first time I spoke with Tom MacKenzie, media relations specialist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, he was indignant.
“Does she have permits? What is her licensing?” he wanted to know. I had called Tom to get some facts on falconry after being invited on a hunt with local falconer and Notre Dame High School student, Vivian Anderson. I tried to assure him that in fact, everything was in order; she had a license. But he remained gruff.
“I like hawks. I like hawks in the wild,” he said tersely before informing me he was going to look into the matter.
I hung up the phone feeling nervous. I’d been so intrigued by the potential story it never occurred to me that perhaps I was against falconry-the same way I was against wearing fur, patronizing the circus and eating factory-farmed meat. With reservation, I went forward with the story.
Meeting Vivian: I met Vivian at Harrison Bay on a blustery afternoon. She immediately struck me as not your average high school student. Eighteen years old, extremely poised and articulate, she wore mud-colored coveralls, chunky silver jewelry and had faded red streaks in the front of her hair. She stood at the trunk of her car tearing apart a dead squirrel with a pocket knife. “I’m doing the yucky part right now,” she told me casually.