He said he was a falconer and his bird had failed to return after a feeding trip. But in this day and age you have to be careful, so I was reluctant to let him into our backyard to look around.

He looked legit with his bird-tracking device that kept beeping away. I let him in and there was no bird to be found, just "a strong signal that it was close to the area," he said. He left and I kept wondering if he was casing neighborhoods for future burglaries.

Then our dog started going berserk in the front patio, and when I went to take a look, there it was — a beautiful hawk on the fence, staring down at us. I heard the beeps again as the falconer rode up on his bike, tracking device in hand. After a few minutes of coaxing, the bird flew over and landed on the falconer's leather-gloved hand.

"See, I wasn't pulling your leg,” he said. “I really was tracking my bird!" I admitted to him that I thought the story was far-fetched. He showed me the tracking device mounted on the bird's tail and let me take some pictures and video. Then he put a leather hood on the hawk to protect them both and rode off on his bike.