The Black Falconer

February 20, 2022 6:33 AM

Rodney Stotts was looking to get a short-term "on the books" job so he'd have the paystubs he needed to convince landlords to rent him his own apartment, where he could more comfortably expand his real line of work--as a mid-level drug dealer in Southeast DC. The first employer who called him back was Earth Conservation Corps, an environmetal group focused on cleaning up the Anacostia River. There began Stotts' journey from drug dealing and prison to environmentalist and master falconer--perhaps unique among "escape from life on the streets" accounts.

"Fear can be a crutch that people lean on for too long. Pretty soon, almost everything becomes a crutch, and what have you done in your life? I want these kids to understand they have choices. With older kids, I’m more frank about my story. The drugs, the guns, jail. I don’t glamorize the hustling, and I downplay the money aspect. My message to them is that if I didn’t get into the environment, I’d have either died in the streets or been locked up for life. And what are they going to get into so that they don’t die in the streets?"

posted by drlith (15 comments total)

This is wonderful. More of this please and thank you.
posted by parmanparman at 7:45 AM on February 20, 2022 [6 favorites]

Agreed, thanks for posting this! Fascinating story, I'll keep a lookout for his upcoming book.
posted by rogerroger at 8:15 AM on February 20, 2022

What a terrific read.

Oh, if those princes could see me now, clomping around in my Timberlands, hunting my birds, and probably doing it better than they ever could.

Damn right, man.
posted by ZaphodB at 8:33 AM on February 20, 2022 [5 favorites]

I was left wanting more. He has a great voice, looking forward to the book.
posted by maxwelton at 10:19 AM on February 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

I like his voice, and I love how he talks about his own agency throughout the story.
posted by migurski at 10:37 AM on February 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

what a lovely story!! I have long been fascinated by falconry (it's a fantasy for future me, who knows...?)

I love that Mr Stotts found a passion and followed it so strongly. he didn't let the gatekeepers stop him. what beautiful birds!
posted by supermedusa at 11:26 AM on February 20, 2022

A great story. Thanks for sharing!

I googled what a bal-chatri trap is. It's a cage with live bait, and lots of snares on the outside to catch the raptor's feet. YouTube has videos.
posted by davidwitteveen at 11:57 AM on February 20, 2022

What a great article, both the story itself and the writing. I definitely want to read Rodney Stotts’ full book.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:03 PM on February 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is a great story, and I love his descriptions of the nature in that particular part of DC. I spent a few years living in the part of east-of-the-Anacostia DC where Mr. Stotts is from. It’s full of natural beauty, but has also fallen victim to incredible environmental neglect that stems in part from racism and in part from confusion over parks jurisdiction due to DC’s not-state status. I spent quite a bit of time in DC hiking the Fort Circle Park Trail, which has one end near the housing projects where Mr. Stotts’ mother lived. Guarantee you that if that trail was in any other park of the city it’d be so much better maintained.

My old roommate from that time now runs his own environmental conservation project, I’ll have to ask him if he’s ever run across Rodney Stotts in his work.
posted by ActionPopulated at 9:39 PM on February 20, 2022 [4 favorites]

Awesome story. Starting with a red-tailed hawk seems pretty ambitious. I thought people mostly learned with a smaller bird, like a kestrel.
posted by snofoam at 3:11 AM on February 21, 2022

Oh, that's just lovely. My closest encounter with raptors has been at the National Bird of Prey Centre in Ireland, and I can totally see why people get so fascinated with them that they become their life's work. There's such a presence to them.
posted by Harald74 at 4:27 AM on February 21, 2022

Such an amazing story! I served in the Maryland Conservation Corps 2000-2001, and we spent a week working with Earth Conservation Corps, helping with their endless task of removing trash, mostly tires, from the Anacostia. Based on the timeline, it sounds like Stotts might have been there sloshing in that water with us. I have lost track of my fellow crewmembers. I hope some of them have stories like his.
posted by hydropsyche at 8:45 AM on February 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is amazing. Thank you for sharing.
posted by Zumbador at 9:27 AM on February 21, 2022

I looked for his website to see if there was a donation button: Rodney's Raptors.
posted by oneirodynia at 6:46 PM on February 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

A very interesting guy that I first encountered standing on a street corner in Georgetown with a large owl, talking to passers by about raptors and local conservation groups.

I’m a monthly donor to Ward 8 Woods linked to above - they are doing amazing work.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:44 AM on February 24, 2022 [2 favorites]