Back home again, Pud improves

I received a call from a fella in Joseph, Oregon, that he thought Peg had killed one of his tame ducks Friday. The area where he lives is just over the hill from the lake where we lost her. I was finally able to get in touch with him on Saturday, and I suggested that he check Google to see what a Harris Hawk really looked like. After checking he called me back and said that for sure it was Peg. So I bit the bullet, and started refurbishing my trapping equipment just in case that I could actually catch up with her.

Monday morning I loaded everything that I thought that I would need and hit the road for a 6 hour drive to Joseph. The area is geared towards tourist with a lot of foundry's for the artist that have flocked to the area. It is a pretty little town and a very pretty area.

Of course the area that I was in was Ranch country, with a lot of wheat, alfalfa, and hay crops. The fella that called me, Charlie Phillips, is the iconic rancher. A weathered face, large walrus mustache, wire thin with Suspenders, slouch hat and a western shirt buttoned tight to the wrists, and the throat. A quiet talking man with a dry sense of humor, and a pleasure to be around. He was building fence when I met him. He worked at it all day by himself, but when he finished it was "pig tight and bull strong." He gave me permission to dry camp on a place that he leased the land.

By camping in the corral, the cattle that he ran on the place would not be able to get into my camp stuff. I drove the roads in the valley all day long. Seeing Red tails, Swainson's, Northern Harriers, A Sharpshin, but no Peggy.

I found it a bit surprising that there seemed to be little in the way of small game. I saw no Quail, or for that matter any birds other than Black Birds. There seemed to be no Rabbits, but there was plenty of Columbian White Tailed Deer. A few Mule Deer were still resisting the invasion of the White Tails.

There are quite a bit of places for sale in the area. Here is one that caught my eye. It is the Crossed Saber Ranch. Two houses, 7 irrigated parcels, 1823 acres total, but only 6.5 Million.

I liked the barn. The houses were not much, but the barn looked interesting.

I put in a day and half driving all the roads looking for Peg, but Charlie told me that the Red Tails were harassing her, so she probably moved on. There was really nothing there but mice and Charlie's tame ducks. If she has made it three weeks, then she is not in much danger of starving to death. My only real hope of getting her back is for her to get caught in someones Chicken pen and he calls the F&Wildlife rather than clubbing her in the head.

Karen and Tami had been working Pud while I was gone, by calling her back and forth to each other. I thought that was a good idea, since Pud likes to think about flying rather than just doing it. Jasper was fat tonight, so it was just Karen and I. Pud was down to 783 grams ( 27.4 oz) tonight. She seemed to be eager to eat. We called her to each other from about 50 yards apart. When Karen called her and she seemed to start thinking about it, I would boost her up in the air, and wonder of all wonders, she would actually fly to her. I guess I just wasn't ready to accept that she might be a 26 or 27 ounce Harris Hawk. A bit puny actually.

When I had fed her all I dared, I left her with Karen and walked back towards the yard, swinging the lure and tossing it to the grassy part. She didn't have to think about it, and slammed into the lure. Much better.