Owyhee Flyer: Sylvester!

First let me bring you up to date on my Unwelcome visitor. Apparently they can dish it out, but not take it. He has not returned to the Cat House, since I gave him a good shot of "Wasp Shooter". The label says that it is dangerous to pets, whether he has chosen to not return or cannot is not clear, either scenario is just fine with me. It does counter act the skunk smell however. I will be stocking up!

When I put the birds out this morning, I weighed Sylvester and found that he was actually a bit below his recommended flying weight, so as soon as Karen and I got our chores done, we loaded up and headed to the rabbit flats. Since this was to be our first time hunting together I, of course, was a bit nervous, and I wanted to hunt him by himself first. Peg can come later.

Sylvester, owned by Lee Mann, is a 2001 hatch, and a breeding bird as well. He is like most Harris Hawks, really smart and a very perceptive bird. Lee assured me that he would hunt with anybody, but I was nervous anyway. Lee has promised this bird and his mate to another breeder at the end of the year. I seriously dislike delivering bad news to anyone, so I was trying to cover all bases and be as careful as I could be.

He is used to hunting from a Tee perch, and did not hesitate to come to it when I called him.

The migration is in full swing and Geese were flying over us on their way to feeding grounds. They will soon join the rest heading south.

There are Bunnies in this field as well as Jacks. Not knowing what to expect, I thought that he would prefer Bunnies rather than Jacks, so we were going in areas that I knew the Bunnies lived.

Sylvester has been flown some this season on Jacks, but sporadically at best. His owner is building a house in an area that is woefully devoid of rabbits and he has not had a chance to get into hunting shape yet, so I did not expect too much from him. I certainly did not expect to be impressed with his willingness to try any and almost all chances to connect.

The Bunnies gave him a reeducation on how elusive they could be. They are rarely very far from a hidey hole, the Jacks were pretty elusive on their own. Perhaps Peg has shown them how to escape. The weather was a bit nipply at 37 degrees, but I elected to not take a coat, It was just as well. We were covering ground and Sly was getting slip after slip at the Jacks and Bunnies. He was trying hard with a wing beat that Peg has not yet used, but they were all giving him the slip. He made a long 150 yard slip at a Jack and took a perch on a tall Sage. I wanted him to come back, but he soon got another slip at a Jack further out, so I told Karen to stay and I would go get him. Every time I got close to him another Jack would jump, and off we would go again. It finally slowed down enough that he decided that he would like a bit more elevation to see over the high sage. We picked up three other beaters that were not sure what we were doing.

If you enlarge this picture you will see that the first horse has some really short ears. Most of the time that horses ears are like this is when they get frozen off, but his look naturally short. He has joined the hunt before and he and his companions are some really nice specimens of their race.

I rejoined Karen after getting about 15 slips in this area and wanted to make a wide swing to the right, so told Karen to wait and I would be back. Well, a first year Jack jumped out in the open and Sly took off burning up his butt. The Jack turned around in front of an old water truck parked there, but Sly turned tighter and there was a short squeal, then silence. I thought that the Jack had kicked him off, but found that Sly had him effectively muzzled and had tied him in a knot that he was not about to get out of. Karen had the camera and was off where I left her, so there wasn't time to get a picture. I grabbed the Jack in the middle with my bare hand and stopped his heart. I then threw a front leg of a rabbit that I had prepared for that purpose. Sly left the newly dead Jack with me and started eating on the leg that I had thrown him. Karen by then had arrived and got what pictures she could.

After he finished that, I called him to the fist to a tidbit, and tossed him a couple of tidbits on the ground. He finally decided that it was a small Jack and we might as well go on and hunt. I decided to hunt on the way back to the car, and quit when we got there. There is an area that we normally do not cover, so I wanted to go that way, while Karen went the other side of a large grassy area to perhaps drive any rabbits there into the open.

I was just about to make the shift to the car, when he bolted off the fist after one of the sneaky ones that had been able to hide there safely before. This time he wasn't that lucky. Sly caught him in about 25 yards. Another short squeal, then silence. I hurried over because I knew this was one of the old boys that had the potiental to hurt him if he didn't get some help.

I didn't need to worry. He had the old boy tied in a knot, so tight that he couldn't even kick. He didn't flinch when I grabbed the Jack to stop his heart.

I got tired of this and decided to break its neck. When I changed grips, Sly stepped off to give me more room. an action that I had been told that he would do, but a novelty for me.