The newest star of the Bakersfield Condors is a restless bird of prey which tried to escape during a pregame ceremony on Friday at Rabobank Arena and became a video sensation.
During the National Anthem, the Condor escaped from his trainer and made it on to the ice. The trainer caught him and fell down, releasing the bird again. This time the Condor walked across the ice, jumped into the home bench and freaked out the human, hockey-playing Condors, and headed through the tunnel into the locker room.
The bird appeared uninjured, and the video went viral. The story was picked up by many news organizations, and drew the attention of PETA, which sent a letter to the team stating screaming crowds are frightening for animals, even ones raised in captivity.
When this blog was first posted, I wrote the franchise had used a live Condor at previous games, but team official Ryan Holt said this was not the case.
Check out the video here.
