A sophisticated breathing and circulatory apparatus gives it the ability to breathe at high speeds and not tire quickly. Nifty modifications in the eye keep its cornea from drying up in-flight. A large keel bone allows it to flap its wings more vigorously and generate lots of power. Tailor-made wings and feathers reduce drag by allowing the falcon to shape itself like a bullet. The peregrine falcon’s body is built to execute high-speed manoeuvres as it dives through the air to snag its prey. The fastest animal in the air, however, is just stupendous. A sailfish can swim ten-times faster than the fastest human swimmer ever. In short bursts, a cheetah can reach speeds four times greater than Usain Bolt’s. It’s why they can’t bring themselves to let her go.When it comes to speed, humans are often effortlessly outclassed by other members of the animal kingdom. Ken knows he’s unlikely to ever work with an athlete like Frightful again. Suzanne was so sad she couldn’t talk about it for a year. They think she died of a stroke or a heart attack. I mean, she would sit on the couch next to us.Īri Daniel Shapiro: Ken and Suzanne Franklin worked and lived with Frightful for 14 years.Īri Daniel Shapiro: Then one day, they found her in here, on the floor of her aviary. And then she enjoyed coming in the house, like one of our children, watching Monday Night Football. Ken Franklin: We could freefall with her to 17 000 feet. That’s how they transition.Īri Daniel Shapiro: All this training and flying forged a real bond between Frightful and the Franklins. And I knew, when I saw that, that I had seen what I wanted to see-that was how falcons go fast. She’d get very streamlined and long-looking. But as the speed range increased, pushing into the 200-mile-an-hour range, she seemed to elongate herself. Ken Franklin: In 120- to 150-mile-an-hour range, she was kind of in a diamond shape. And Franklin, locking eyes with Frightful while falling through the air, got to see how she did it. She never left my side-she was there the whole time.Īri Daniel Shapiro: Two hundred forty-two miles an hour is the fastest recorded speed of any creature on the planet. We were able to take her higher up-to 17 000 feet-and at that point, she clocked at 242 miles per hour. I would hyperstreamline from a higher altitude, and then Frightful would follow me. Ken Franklin: So then I, as a skydiver, started becoming the lure-she would chase me to higher and higher speeds.Īri Daniel Shapiro: Franklin would leap from the aircraft and just cannonball through the air. Franklin wanted to push her further, but he worried that a heavier lure might hurt Frightful as she caught it in freefall. Ken Franklin: Then we started working on going faster, to the point where we could build a lure that would approximate between 160 and 180 miles per hour.Īri Daniel Shapiro: Frightful easily caught the new lure. The lure would plunge toward the Earth at 150 miles an hour, and Frightful would catch it effortlessly on wing. The two would rendezvous in the air, and Franklin would let go of a weighted lure. Franklin would release Frightful from the plane, and then he’d leap out. They’d ride up to 7000 feet in a skydiving plane. So he and Frightful began taking trips into the air together. And Franklin wanted to know just how fast. She was the first chick to stand up, the first to eat on her own.
#Peregrine falcon speed 247 lure free
And you kind of think, “Well, that’s the end of that.” And about 15 minutes later, it sounds like ripping canvas, and some bird that’s completely free comes back to land on your glove.Īri Daniel Shapiro: There was something special about Frightful, though, even for a falcon. Ken Franklin: It’s really amazing to have a falcon go up to a couple thousand feet out of sight. Once she was old enough, they worked with her on flying exercises, just as they do with all their falcons they raise.
#Peregrine falcon speed 247 lure full
Ken Franklin: You know, we raised Frightful from an egg, and she had full liberty to fly, but, of course, she chose to stay right here.Īri Daniel Shapiro: Frightful imprinted on Franklin and his wife, Suzanne-meaning that the bird considered them her parents. You see, Franklin helped Frightful achieve a staggering speed record. Ken Franklin: She’s still, uh, beautifully preserved.Īri Daniel Shapiro: Franklin strokes her feathers. Franklin takes Frightful out of a plastic bag. Right next to the strawberries…Īri Daniel Shapiro: …is Frightful, a frozen peregrine falcon.
We go to San Juan Island, in Washington state.Īri Daniel Shapiro: Ken Franklin reaches into his kitchen freezer. Susan Hassler: And now, our fastest critters reporter, Ari Daniel Shapiro, brings us the swiftest creature in the air. Your browser does not support the audio element.
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