I have had the privilege of caretaking a golden eagle named Denali while his permanent caretaker is out of state. I go there every day and make sure he has water and toss him a rat or quail to eat. He jumps on whatever it is I toss and does this Charlie Chaplin walk to his perch with the food clutched tightly in one foot. Then he tries to jump up on his perch. And sometimes he just misses it and lands on the other side. I try not to laugh. After all, Denali has his dignity to consider. But the sight of this eagle jumping for his perch with a quail or rat grasped tightly in his talons and landing completely on the other side of it is simply too funny. Denali always tries to look as though he meant to do that all along. But I know the truth.