On the first part of our walk, the little bunny that lives in the back yard bolted to cover and wonder of all wonders, Pud did her best to try to catch him. A very good omen. I watched her pretty close and of course the Jacks that were jumping up at a distance elicited no response, but the two that flushed close registered on a very positive scale with her. The dogs finally realized that I had gone somewhere else, turned and found us. I walked over to the edge of the rimrock, and we started finding Quail. The dogs were working pretty close and they soon had a snoot full of Quail. When the Quail realized that they were busted, they started flushing all around us. All in all it was a pretty exciting walk. Sighting about 8 Rabbits and 30 Quail, and observing Pud's behavior gave me a boost as well.
I again tied the creance on Pud and let her fly to the hay bales to begin our lesson for the day. She as usual choose to sit for a while when I offered her the perch, so each time she hesitated I stepped back a bit further, finally she decided that she had better get the tidbit while she could. I called her several times with her improving a bit. I soon bored of that exercise and took her to the yard. I let her fly to the wooden fence bordering the yard, and tossed the lure out in front. As usual she sat and watched, and as usual the meat landed on the far side of the lure, blocking most of it from her view. On the third try the meat landed in sight and she flew to the lure, grabbing the leather part as usual. I find all this a cause for amazement. She will not fly to the lure until she sees the meat, but when she does, She grabs the lure body and she takes a long time to find the meat, all the time maintaining a death grip on the lure body. After she eventually finds and eats the meat, comes to the fist for the rest of her meal, that grip is maintained.
Now for Tami's corner, Every thing is a day behind as she flies of the evening, and I the morning:
Today was a town day and, as you well know, when you live out as far as we do, you try to get as much done as you possibly can in the hopes that you won't have to go back for a month or so. Trips to town for us just tend to take all day. Grace stayed home with Elsie, Dave, and Reuben to mind the fort and also to keep an eye on Jasper for me. As it has only been a little over a week, I am still a bit worried about leaving him unattended for all day. So far he has done fine on the indoor perch and hasn't gotten himself into any trouble. I would like to visit with you about how soon you leave your birds unattended. I know Puddy stays in the weathering area with the other girls now, but as Jasper is still adjusting to the weathering area, should I just leave him on the indoor perch if I need to be gone riding all day? How do you determine when they are ready to be left unattended on the perch? Orrin didn't seem to adjust to the perch well and tended to bate a lot so I kept him hooded on the perch when I was around or in the giant hood if I wasn't around. Jasper seems to be more accepting of the perch so I haven't used either of those as of yet.
When I went to pick him up this evening he was very eager to come to me. He launched himself at my fist before I was even ready for him. He weighed 91 grams which is now the lowest he has been. He still seems alert and strong, so I don't think it is too low, but I am hesitant to try to take him down further, and will try to hold him at this weight for now. I took him outside on the creance, set him on the fence post, gave him a tidbit to prime the pump so to speak and stepped away to about 6 feet. He came right when I whistled. I set him down and as I turned to walk away I put a tidbit on my glove and held up my fist to see if he would come as I walked away. I didn't whistle or anything, but just wanted to see if he would come of his own accord. He was bobbing and looking, but wasn't quite sure what to do, I think, and he stayed on the post until I turned around and whistled. (Do you think that this was an acceptable thing to try?) Each time I called him, I went even further out and when I called him for the final time I was out about 25 feet. It was about the same as yesterday where with the last, furthest flights he had to think about it for a little bit, bobbing and moving, opening his wings and such before he committed to flying. I held him for quite a while this evening and he was much more accepting of me touching him. He didn't try to bite me, only gaped his mouth a little a time or two. This was the first time that I have been able to feel his keel bone without him being quite objective, and it seems to me that it feels about right. In my limited experience, however, I am not quite sure.
I am pleased with Jasper's progress. Should I work with the lure tomorrow? I'll be looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Take Care,
Tami
My response:
I would leave him on the indoor perch if you need to be gone, and where you live, I would do it that way as long as you have him. I am not sure that I would care to leave him outside unattended at anytime. With a bird that small, almost anything could be really traumatic. As long as he has adjusted to the indoor perch, he should be fine for any length of time. Each bird is different, but it took about a month before I felt able to put Pud out in the weathering area all day long. I will still keep her in the house at night for at least another couple of weeks, or more. Their attitude governs their treatment. What I am looking for is for the time that the bird does not remember any other life, than what you are providing. In other words, complete acceptance of its life with you.
I do think that it is time to start the lure. I would call him several times and then use the lure to finish. When he is made to the lure you can then turn him loose. Calling him to the fist while you are walking is fine. He will soon figure it out and come to you. I wonder if I could talk her into "petting" Puddy for a while?
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