Sept 12

This morning dawned bright and clear. I still needed a sweatshirt to start with, but better. Peg was back up to 880 for a weight while the "horse" was up to 997 grams. Neither of them had anything to eat yesterday, so they thought their throats were cut. I am a bit curious as to what it will take before Sue decides that she really doesn't have to hunt. She will not fly this heavy next year, but as long as the desire is there, the ability will follow. You can still feel her keel bone, just not much of it.

Peg flew to the top of the telephone pole in the field, but again did not see anything to chase while she was there. No doubt the rabbits have learned that danger lurks close to those poles, and stay just out of reach. Peg came to Tami before we got too far out, and soon joined Sue in chasing a bunny that flushed in front of us. Tami had a bunny in front of her so when Peg came back to the Tee Perch, we started that way. The bunny flushed, and Peg put in a shot at it that had both Tami and I excited. She was just a bit short, and he got into the rocks. Peg took a perch on the higher rocks, and I went around the bottom to see if I could start it again. I flushed a Jack instead, and Peg was off after him. He stalled her out in a big patch of Thistles. Sue had just caught up to us, and she took over the chase. She did a wing over and shortly after the screams of a Jack came wafting back on the breeze. Tami said that she saw her hit the ground and then run it down on foot. I took off in my best imitation of a run, caught and killed the Jack for her. She had it by the butt, and didn't let go until I got my hands on it. I tossed it to the side for her to reclaim.

I thought that I would feed Sue up and go on hunting with Peg. After letting Sue break in to the Jack, I picked her up with a front leg. She showed no reluctance to the trade, so we rejoined the hunt.

The rabbits are beginning to learn that if they run, they get chased, so they are trying to hide. Now this is a plan that I like. It means that all the slips are a lot closer. That turns on a young hawk quicker than anything. I bumped into a group of rabbits and had Bunnies and Jacks going everywhere. Both Sue and Peg missed however. We went back down to the Water truck, and I flushed a Bunnie out from under it. They both gave chase, but it got down a hole. Sue was standing vigil over it, and Tami and Peg were coming to join us. Tami stopped, telling me that there was a Jack hiding right in front of her feet. I picked up Sue and told her to flush it. It bailed out of there and down over a lava rock with Peg right after it. It hooked a U turn coming back up the rock and in between Isabel and Reuben. Sue tried, but was unable to catch him.

I went back to see if I could find the one that Sue thought was hiding at the edge of the field. I jumped the Bunny and Sue was off after it. On my way to help her, I jumped a Jack, and Peg took off after it. She was standing guard at a large hole where it had gone in. I took the end of the perch and poked it down the hole in the hopes that the Jack would be close enough that I could scare it out. I felt something soft, but nothing came out, so I reached in and sure enough there was a Jack's butt in reach, so I pulled it out and tossed it out on a rock. Peg wasted no time in grabbing it. I left her to it and went to see what Sue had going.

She was in this hole, grabbing at something like crazy. I thought that it was the rabbit, but wasn't about to get my hands in the way of those flying feet. I pulled some of the dried grass out of the way, and she made another grab. This time she stood up and reached down with her beak and came out with a mouse about an inch and a half long. Does that count as a kill? Apparently she thought that it was OK and went to this bush to concentrate on her meal. Unfortunately my camera malfunctioned and I didn't get a picture of this trophy.

Reuben and I took her back to the car while she was finishing another haunch of Jack, leaving Tami with Peg, who was doing her best to eat all the Jack that she could hold.


It has been a long journey. Starting with Peg who is so handicapped that she has trouble holding a full grown Jack unless she can get it by the head before it drags her through a bush. We struggled all last year trying to get her a good start and keep her interested. Then the addition of Sue who will both help and be helped by Peg, in the pursuit of the Rabbits. The two of them together will make a lethal team that will make up for whatever handicap youth and physical deformations might present. The wonderful thing about Harris Hawks is that they are so smart, and their social inclinations allow them to hunt as a team.
Its going to be a good year!