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Army prank ruffles Air Force feathers after mascot is injured

A prank gone wrong is ruffling feathers after a rivalry game.

It's a long-standing tradition between the military academies to steal each other's mascots ahead of football games, but no one had previously been able to take the Air Force Academy's falcon.

Well, that changed this time around when two West Point cadets took two of the birds, threw sweaters over them, and stuffed them into dog crates.

But when the cadets returned the birds on Saturday, the 22-year-old gyrfalcon named Aurora had wings that were bloodied. The bird was taken back to Colorado on the team's charter flight.

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Air Force officials say the falcon was most likely injured from thrashing inside the cage, but she is expected to make a full recovery and was able to fly around her pen Sunday.

Army officials apologized for the injuries to the academy's official and oldest falcon mascot and promised a full investigation.

Army won Saturday's game 17 to 14.