i was not at this funeral, all i’m told is that director came up to coworker after the casket was lowered into the ground, handed coworker the falcon wrapped in a towel and asked him to place on top of the casket. i know they’re hard to get licenses for if it was actually his

at first i thought they placed his old pet with him as if it was a taxidermy or something but different coworker said it was definitely not stuffed and head was dangling loosely. confused why it wasn’t put within the casket, is there some sort of tradition with falconers? and if it was dangling loosely i imagine it recently died, so obviously makes me think they killed it to place with the person. i doubt the bird died same time as owner unless it was like an old man who had been dead for a while and nobody checked on him. idk definitely one of the more odd stories i’ve heard while working at the cemetery