We went out two days ago to see if we could get her feet on a Jack and get on to the next stage where I will not need to improve her chances with the pistol. She was a bit higher in weight than I would have preferred, but close enough to warrant taking the time to go hunting with her. Since she has flown free, every hunting trip has ended with a kill, and a gorge whether she actually caught it on her own or not. Positive reinforcement is my preferred method of training, and sooner or later she will believe that she can, and insist on catching her own game.
I am walking a fine line with her weight. Too heavy and she will not feel the driving intensity needed to expend the extraordinary effort needed to actually catch a rabbit that is scared out of its mind. It requires more than you would think. Nature has equipped those that truly have the drive and the heart to survive with the tools to insure the survival of the species. Think about it. I am asking a bird that weighs about 4 ounces less than two pounds to catch a Jack Rabbit that can twist and turn faster than you can blink, and have that rabbit out weigh that bird by anywhere up to 5 pounds.
If I get her too light, then the tendency to scream for food is developed and generally will not go away until the next year after she has molted. I prefer to take my time and encourage her with a bit of help every now and then.
Now since I posted last, I have introduced the Tee Perch to our hunts. This takes a bit of weight off my left arm and gives her a better chance to see something to chase. I was a bit hesitant to take it out with me, but she understood the advantage much quicker than I thought she would. I put a tidbit on the perch and she accepted it with no hesitation. It also allows me to cut back on the tidbits to her as well. She naturally has learned that things happen where I am, and comes to the perch without me even asking. I am still feeding her a tidbit every time I whistle, but the frequency of that necessity is greatly reduced.
I hunted a different area of the field, and we had several chances at Bunnies with still no success. Even though the Bunnies are only half grown, they still possess the wit and agility to get away from her. About the only way that we are going to make any inroads on the Bunny population will be when I start bringing Peg with me. The two of them will make short work of their stop and hide technique. I will accept a Bunny as quarry, but I would prefer a Jack for the bag.
We had several slips at both Jacks and Bunnies with no success, and I was beginning to think that I was going to have to help again. By this time we had been in the field for about 3 hours, and we were both getting hot and tired. Sue was having to breathe with her beak open, and I was getting a bit stinky my self. She had given chase to a Bunny, and diverted to land on a large Sage bush, and was looking at the base of it. Thinking that the bunny was hiding under it, I made my way there and out came two half grown Pheasants. Sue gave vigorous chase to it and was gaining. The Pheasant dumped into the Sage and managed to give her the slip. Now since Pheasant season doesn't open until Sept 1, I called her to a tidbit and we moved on to the other side of the field. We were crossing an area of tall Sage and those peculiar brittle yellow dead weeds that were just short of shoulder high. Sue was playing hide and seek with a couple of Bunnies that didn't have any problems ducking and dodging around and through. I had had enough, and was trying to get out, when she flashed off my fist and down into the junk, slamming into the ground with every indication that she indeed had a prize. I kept waiting for the scream that would signal the capture of a Bunny. Nothing but silence, but she was still acting like she had captured a prize. I walked around to see what she had and here it is.
You may have to enlarge the picture a bit, but her prize was a Kangaroo Rat. Just look at her, I didn't have the heart to tell her that wasn't what we were there for. Since the Rats are by nature nocturnal, no one was more surprised than I at his demise. What ever, a kill is a kill, and they all count as one, so I was happy to supplement her kill with some of the last Bunny that I carried with me to feed her.
I was prepared to take her out again yesterday, but her weight was a bit higher than I wanted so I elected to wait another day and pull her down a bit lower than what we had been flying. I feel that she hasn't been feeling the proper amount of desperation that she needs to really commit to the chase.
We had gone to a Birthday dinner supplied by Rosy Stoddart next door, and didn't get back until after dark, so I left all the birds out in the weathering area all night. When I went to pick her up, she was definitely hungry and cranky as well. Sigh! I have three hunting hawks and two of them want to kick my butt. Peg is the only bird that I have that truly understands me. :-) I found that Sue had managed to pull the clip on her tail off yesterday in her boredom, so Karen held her on the fist while I reinstalled the clip and transmitter on her tail.
Sue was quite a bit more interested today ( 895 Grams, down one oz. ) and had slammed through a Sage after a Jack, but missed. I decided to work the edges of the Sage by the Alfalfa fields, since the Jacks will hide in areas that look like they don't have enough cover for anything, when they have been hassled in the heavy cover. On my way there, she again took off on a long flight down to the edge of the Sage, but landed on a rock outcropping. I worked my way there, and she flew to the Tee Perch. We were skirting the edge of the Sage, when she again took off again, and disappeared over the crest of a small hill towards the Alfalfa. A furious commotion and quacking soon made me aware that she had stepped up from Rats. I hurried up and could see her lying on her side in about three inches of water holding on to a furiously flapping Mallard Duck. The duck might have been more surprised than I was, but I for sure was a close second. They flood irrigate the fields, making it hazardous to enter without Mosquito repellent, but I sure didn't expect ducks in the field.
Since she cannot read, there was no way to explain to her that she was committing a federal offense, but I did manage to get it away from her by substituting her final meal of Bunny for the Duck. I think the duck has learned her lesson, but the important part is that Sue now thinks that she can catch anything. One of my goals has always been to hunt Chukar and Pheasant with the Harris Hawks. In flight the Harris is handicapped, but intelligence can make the difference. So today we made a giant step towards the final goal of an all around hunting hawk. Unlike most species of raptors, the Harris Hawk is an equal opportunity hunting bird, from the lowly mouse to Pheasant and anything in between. Fortunately I had managed to leave the camera at home today, so I was not tempted to record her first attempt at a life of crime, but catch and release should count for something.
Actually we do have a somewhat provision to exempt us from our Hawks catching game that is out of season, but I prefer to release the game back into the wild when possible. Sometimes it is not possible to do so, but she traded off with no problem for the Bunny that I had.
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