Puddy Tat continues to amaze!

There is a weather front moving through today and overall its pretty miserable outside. Jessie was up to 876 grams, which is her low flying weight, but the wind is steady out of the north at 14 MPH and I just didn't want to fight either the Balloon or the kite, so I opted to feed her a Sparrow and wait for tomorrow. She should lose a bit of weight, but I at least fed her something.

Pud weighed in at 855 grams, which is higher than I have ever flown her, and with the wind, I didn't feel like a trip to Arock was warranted. I felt that she would be too low if I held her over another day, so I decided to fly her here at the house and give her enough that she would still lose down to what I consider her flying weight which is about 830 grams. Harris Hawks are not built for the wind, so I was sure that with the small amount of rabbits that I would find we wouldn't get anything done at all. Pud had been calling every time she saw me, so I knew that she thought she should be fed.

There are anywhere from 25 to 30 rabbits, both Jacks and Bunnies that mow my lawn every night, but they apparently come from a long way off because the best I have done walking through the Sage here is about three Jacks. I didn't think that we were going to get anything other than exercise.

The wind was so strong that she had a hard time sitting with her back to the wind, so she rode the perch looking over her shoulder, facing into the wind. We did jump a Jack on the bench outside our fence, but with the wind she didn't get much done. I dropped down over the rimrock and ran into covey after covey of Quail, but she made no move to chase any of them. I know she caught one on her first flight, but it was running rather than flying, and I am sure she thought it was a lizard.

I skirted the rimrock thinking that we might jump a Bunny, but there was nothing other than Quail. We crossed the creek and did find one Jack, but he soon gave us the slip by running into the wind. I decided that we were pissing (pun intended) into the wind, so I started back. I crossed the creek again and walked towards the rimrock down there hoping that I could find something for her to chase. She took off and made an effort after something that I never saw. I kept the perch down so that she would stay there rather than come back to me. She turned and flew up on the short rimrock that skirted the Sage. I walked all around, beating the bushes trying to flush whatever it was. I had not seen anything leave the area, so I was pretty confident that it was hiding in the Greasewood and Sage. I had just about beat every bush, when she took off again flying up over the rimrock and the fence at the top. She lost it again and sat down on the rocks. I went up there and she took off again flying back the way she had come and really slammed into a Greasewood bush at the bottom of the rimrock. The sound was a lot like that a bullet makes when it hits something. I stopped to listen for the scream, but there was no sound other than the wind howling over the rocks and Sage.

I made my way down to where she had gone in and was very surprised to see her in the middle of the Greasewood bush on a Bunny's head. No wonder he couldn't make a sound.

As you can see my mouth is still hanging open. She now has 4 Jacks, and 4 Bunnies. As I have said many times before, Bunnies are much harder to catch than are Jacks, yet she continues to catch the rascals.

Jasper scores again.

A couple of days ago I modified the Chicken house again to give Jasper a little better chance at the Sparrows that want to roost there. There had been two 10x10 chain link panels leaning up against the peak of the building that gave the Sparrows a head start, because Jasper could see them, but couldn't get to them. We took them down and wired them together at the top and moved them out from the building and left them sitting as an "A " frame about 5 feet away from the building. The Sparrows are now in jeopardy as soon as they crawl out the hole in the peak of the building.

When we tried it two days ago, it was too early and there were no Sparrows in the building at all. So we were forced to fly bagged Sparrows. As we were sitting there feeding Jasper, it began to get darker and the Sparrows were flooding into the building. Today I suggested to Tami that she wait until dusk to come over to hunt.

While we were waiting for Tami to come over, Karen and I flew Jessie on the balloon. I ran it up to 250 feet and turned her loose. The Pigeons were out, and when she took to the wing, they did as well. She is getting stronger, and I could see the difference in her flight. I told Karen that we were going to have to look sharp as she was going to try for a Pigeon. Sure enough she cut one out of the flock and turned it on. They  went down in the creek, and I was sure that I was going to have to go down there to retrieve her, but the Pigeon wasn't as dumb as it looked and he came out of the creek with a lead and beat it into the Pigeon house without missing a wing beat. The rest of the flock did their best to stay above her and kept flying. She had done all that she was capable of and started trying to get enough altitude to grab the lure. She was struggling, so I felt sorry for her and pulled it down about 25 feet so that she could get it.

When she landed on the ground with the lure she was really panting. It was obvious that she had given all she had. Her recovery however was pretty quick, and she was soon eating the pigeon leg that I had put on the lure. I sat down on the ground and waited for her to finish, and come to the fist for the rest of her meal. Karen and the dogs also joined us and we all sat in the dirt until she finished her meal. Tami drove over from the ranch and joined us as well.

After I put Jessie up for the night, we sat out in front of the hanger watching for the Sparrows to go to bed. Soon we decided that we had enough to start our hunt. We had Reuben sneak around the back of the Chicken house and block the hole at that end. Jasper took off after a Sparrow that was hanging around the Pigeon house and the hunt was on. There are not adequate words to fully describe the hunt that followed. The little guy needs to glow, because he is so quick that it is almost impossible for one person to keep track of the little guy's flights and location. We kind of stationed ourselves at strategic points to reflush the Sparrows and keep track of him. He put so many Sparrows into cover that I cannot remember the actual number. He would put them into cover, we would flush, reflush, again and again. He had them taking refuge in the kennel, under the pigeon house, in the horse leanto. He even went into the pigeon house once looking for a Sparrow.

He would come to the Chicken house, sit on the peak, I would run a Sparrow out, and the chase was on. Here, there, in, out, under, and back for another one. Finally he sat on the Hanger, after a long chase. We were watching him laughing at the Pigeon who didn't want to share the roof with him. We were waiting for him to come back to us, when he took off the building did some kind of fancy wing over,or something and slammed into a fleeing Sparrow, taking him to the ground behind the tractor. Tami let him kill the Sparrow and then picked him up to let him eat as we sat in the hanger watching the evening light fade to darkness. I am not sure how many flights we watched. Upwards of 15 or more I am sure. The little guy never doubted that he would be successful, never slowed. He has a heart as big as any Eagle that ever lived.

On a roll!

Tami and Reuben went with us today to hunt Puddy. Tami hasn't had much of a chance to see her hunt. The last time was when she killed the Vole, so I was hoping that she would get a good chance at a Jack this time.

She still hasn't gotten used to hunting in the evening and she thinks her throat is cut by the time I pick her up at 1 PM. Her weight was 835 today and she has started occasionally screaming when she sees me walk by. Today for the first time she gave a couple of calls as we were driving out of the yard, she was in her box. That is new.

We parked the car and had traveled about 75 yards when she took off flying over some really big Sage, but didn't find the rabbit, so she circled and landed back on the perch. Karen was near and I directed her into the Sage to see if she could jump the Jack. She wasn't having any success so I joined her. We had just about covered the patch, when the Jack jumped just off my left arm. Pud was off and slammed into him between bushes.

 Talk about stopping a Jack with your face. All I could see was a screaming Jack sticking out of a bush, so I pounced on him. Poor old Puddy was stuck behind a bunch of Sage branches with the smallest an inch in diameter. I had to break and up root a goodly portion of the bush to get her out. She was not letting go.

 I just broke her a path and pulled her out and into the open. She didn't want to let go even for a skinned front leg. It took quite a while to convince her that if she took the leg that I had given her, she could eat it at her leisure.

She finally let it go and I cleaned it and cut off a back leg and kept the head for her to eat.

The whole hunt took about 10 minutes from beginning to finish. It seemed to take forever for her to get so full of rabbit that she couldn't eat any more. We were back home in less that two hours having driven 40 miles.


 Jessie is up to 250 feet on the balloon and her strength is returning. She only took about 5 minutes to regain her breath today.

Third Jack for Puddy

Due to the colder than I am willing to tolerate weather, we are now hunting in the afternoon. Pud was not happy when I tied her to her perch this morning. She screamed her displeasure as I walked off and left her.

At 1:30 PM I picked her up and found that she weighed 830 grams. Should be just right for her. Still hungry but strong. I decided to change fields to see if we could catch some of them off guard. We wrapped Karen's knee to see if some support would help her ability to walk. She does just fine on even ground, but rabbits don't live on even ground.

There were not as many rabbits in the first part of the field, and she only got three flights for the first 1/4 mile. The ones that she did get however were a very close thing for each of the Jacks that she chased. She was hitting the brush and I swear her talons were leaving scratch marks on their backs.

We had just got into the area that we normally hunt in that tract, when she took off after a Jack that was quite a ways out. She didn't get a chance at him, and had just returned to the perch. I took a few steps and a Jack busted close by. She burned him down, grabbing him in the butt as he was going around a bush. I was concerned that it might pull away from her, when I saw another flurry and his screams were choked off by a big foot across the face. He was well under control by the time that I got there. We had been in the field about 20 minutes.

Unfortunately neither of us brought a camera. Pud was pretty excited about this Jack. I am not sure if the loss of her last one had anything to do with it or not, but she was very reluctant to take a front leg in exchange. She finally took the bunny leg that I offered her. I gave Karen another one to call her to if she finished before I managed to clean the Jack. She ate her front leg and went to Karen for another one. I finally finished cleaning the Jack and cut off a hind leg to finish her meal with, and was none too soon. She was looking for me by the time I got half way there.

I let her eat the rear leg while I walked back to the car. She was unable to eat all of it, but only left the tough part.

While we were walking back to the car, we noticed a lot of black smoke coming from the area around the guy's house that owned the property we were hunting on. Unfortunately somehow a fire started in one of his sheds, burning it all down. Two tractors, a Quad and who knows what all else was lost. One of his neighbors had arrived just before we did, and he and I did what we could to keep it from spreading.

When it was under control, we left and came on home to fly Jessie. Her weight was just were I wanted it to be, ( 850 ) so I ran the lure up to 220 feet on the balloon. This is twice as high as she has had, but still within her capabilities at this stage. I turned her loose and she flew down by the creek looking for lift and made 4 pretty big circles, pumping all the time. When she began to tire, she came up to where we were and grabbed the lure, drifting down the line to the ground. It took her about 10 minutes to get her wind back enough to eat. When she finished the pigeon leg that I had tied on the lure, she came to the fist for the rest of her meal. She should be ready for Ducks by the end of next week.

Bunny!

The morning dawned colder than it has been since last Feb. I sat the Patio Tomato back under the porch last night, but it was not enough. Twenty Four degrees is a bit much for Tomatoes I guess. I stalled until the temps climbed up into the low 30's before I even ventured out to do the chores. Karen decided that she was well enough to go with me, so I took my time getting ready, letting her believe that I was being considerate.

Pud was actually down a bit lower than I had intended, coming in at 812 grams. My choices were to feed her something and throw another log on the fire, or hunt her until she showed signs of being too low. I chose action, since the temps had climbed above freezing.

She flew out and landed on the rock jack at the corner of the fence as normal, coming to the perch after I crossed the fence. There was a Jack hiding in the Sage not 15 feet in front of us and she crashed into the brush after him, unfortunately just a bit behind. She was actually crashing brush much better today than she had, not because of her reduced weight, actually more because of her increasing experience. She chased almost every rabbit that jumped, near or far.

I watched some Pheasants fly into the Bull Thistles down by the alfalfa fields, so we wandered that way just for the heck of it. I crossed the creek and into the tall Sage,  she took off and slammed into the Sage after something. I saw a Rooster Pheasant running away from the scene, so I tried to cut it off. It headed back in the Sage, and Pud came back across the creek and did her best Coopers imitation racing through the Sage tunnels a heck of a lot faster than I would have thought she could do. Unfortunately the Rooster had enough and busted out for safer ground. Pud stood there for a bit, then a hen that she had run past without seeing, took the other exit out of the scene of the action as well.

We went through a sort of hot spot that held both Jacks and Pheasants without touching anything. Pud was more serious, but still had her moments of trying to find the perfect spot to crash into a Jack. We took a couple of breaks for Karen, or at least Karen sat down and Pud and I walked circles around her looking for that one rabbit that would go home with us. The Eagles are gathering for the fall migration and we had three hanging on the thermals over us. It seemed that every where we turned there was an Eagle, and fur patches on the ground. We have a lot more competition than I would like.

Just about the time that I decided that I was going to have to take Karen back to the car, Pud took off after a Jack that topped a little hill and we could hear him screaming. I hurried in their direction, but the Jack broke loose as I got within sight.

you can see the hair in the grass where she had caught him. Unfortunately she was trapped on the other side of the main stem of the Sage bush, and he pulled free. She was a bit cranky about that.

This is the first time that Karen has been with us in a long time, and apparently Pud missed her. She kept trying to fly to her so often that I gave Karen my glove so that she would be able to land on her fist. I threatened to take it back as it was getting to be a distraction for her.

As Karen stopped to rest a third time, we jumped a Jack and Pud gave chase. She slammed into a bush with an audible thump and then got up off the ground to take another shot at him, slamming into another Sage. Even though she missed it was the first time that she has made another attempt at game in the same flight. Things are looking up. That is what you want to see in a hunting hawk, the refusal to take no for an answer. Those kind of birds are the ones that succeed.

As we walked on towards the car, a bunny jumped and Pud flashed off after it. She did a wing over and a thin scream floated back to us.

 It was unusual that she caught this one so far from cover. That is not normally the case. The bunny's are sneaky little critters, that are much more difficult to catch than Jacks.

 She was really excited. It had torqued her jaws quite a bit to loose that Jack, and she was going to hang onto this one no matter what.

She got the rabbit and I got my trophy, both of us are happy.

We took our time going back to the car. I had given her a Jack rib cage with heart and lungs to keep her occupied while I was cleaning the Bunny. When she finished with that I gave her the bunny's rear leg to eat. When she finished that I gave her the head to work on while we walked to the car. She had not finished by the time we arrived so we sat in the sunshine and talked while she dismembered the skull. When she finished, I opened the door to her box and she willingly jumped in for the trip home.

We spent four hours hunting this beautiful fall morning, with me enjoying the company of the woman that I love and a hawk that is showing more promise every trip. My heart sings with gratitude.

Jasper strikes again.

We had a cold front come in today, so it was cold
  ( not acclimated yet) and quite windy. Jasper was ready to go at 95 which is his best weight. He was also very upset and cranky all evening yesterday, and Tami says that he gets cranky when he doesn't catch anything. It might sound funny to you, but he was restless all night. In discussing last nights flights, I told her that sometimes, failure, especially when they have had plenty of chances can improve their determination to catch something when they next fly.

This time I gave my HD camera, that I use on the plane, to Karen to see if we could get any of his flight on video. Unfortunately there is no telephoto and he is just a spec with the naked eye, much less a wide angle fixed lens. As soon as he was taken out of the box, it was evident that today was another day, and he was serious. More so than I have ever seen him. As soon as he was out of the box, and he got his bearings, he took off after some Sparrows around the pigeon house. He had them hiding all over the place, with individuals squirting out at any opportunity.

Today was destined to be different. I had gone out this morning and used expanding foam to seal all but two escape routes out of the free range Chicken house. There are piles of Sparrows that spend all day in the house eating all the feed that they can stuff down. Before, they were all squirting out the roof line all around the building, and Jasper had one chance to score, and then we were out of Sparrows and chances. There is a large screen leaning up against the building on one end that shields the Sparrows from his attempts to catch them when they come out that side of the building.  I wasn't sure how it was going to work out, but he would at least have more than one chance to make something happen.

After chasing the Sparrows that were hanging around the other Chicken pen, he went back to the Free range pen, and we started pushing them out. Reuben was blocking the other escape route, so the only way out was under Jasper. It was hectic and one of the most amusing "Rat hunts" that I have participated in for a long time. I was all for sticking him in the house with them, but he would not stay on Tami's fist long enough for me to get it done. He kept going to the top of the building, cranking up into a hover, back on the building, back up in the air. The wind was really howling, but he is made for the wind and I think had the advantage over the Sparrows. Finally one tried to make a break for freedom and he cut off its escape and forced it to try to make it to cover. That was the wrong move, Jasper is not afraid to go anywhere when he is in pursuit. When the Sparrow tried his maneuver, Jasper was about 75 feet in the air, and he dove to the ground after it down by the horse trailer. Tami found them right in the middle of a large Rabbit bush.

One of the things that cause the most grief, hunting smaller quarry, is when the raptor decides that he wants to carry his prey where you can't get to him. Tami has done an excellent job with him and he has never carried. One of the things that she does to insure that behavior, is that she has never taken food away from him. If he gets it in his feet, it is his. When his weight is right again, then we go flying. It has paid off big time for her. If you turn up the sound you can hear her telling me that he never tried to pull away or anything. He knows that it is his and no one will take it.

http://vimeo.com/31063575  will take you to the video. I made no effort to do anything other than cut it to length. No labels, no credits.

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After Jasper had all the Sparrow that he could hold, we brought Jessie out to get her exercise. The wind was whipping right along so I used the kite rather than the balloon. Today I put the lure up a hundred feet. I struck her hood and she looked around for a bit to get her bearings, then looked up confirming that the sound she was hearing was the kite string humming in the wind. She took to the wing, making one wide circle then coming back to try to tear the pigeon leg off the lure, lost it except for a foot full of feathers, tried again before the lure hit the ground, with the same result. Then landed on the lure, resigned to the fact that she was going to have to eat it in my presence. You see I have not been as successful in my handling as was Tami. She came to the fist after and finished her meal. I am bringing her weight up so that she can build some muscle. It is yet to be discovered how much of that she will allow before she starts taking advantage. She knows the game, but so far she is only playing because she has to. Hopefully she will get into the game, and we can do something about the Duck population.

Blasted Voles and Eagles!

Things have been working against us lately. Tami and Grace went out with Puddy and I for the first time hunting on Friday. The last time she saw her fly, Puddy was trying unsuccessfully to come to terms with my requirement that she fly to me before I would feed her. She was so impressive that I was trying to decide who I would give her to, just to get her out of my hair. It was a bit of a surprise the change that had occurred in her attitude.

Pud was on the high end of her response weight, but she was chasing every thing that moved, and was getting a little more serious with each flight and miss. We had traveled over about half of the field, when Grace flushed a probably record book Vole out of one of the bushes, and Pud was after it in a flash. She was like a "whirling Dervish", feet were flying all around trying to catch this wonderful prize. The hapless Vole was no match for her and she soon had him under control. As I said he was very large for his species, and Pud relished each and every bite. She came to the perch after she finished, and we beat our heads against the proverbial wall for a while, trying to get her to catch something before that Vole hit bottom. She still tried, but her desire was no match for the Jacks, so we decided to call it a day. I had to resort to the lure to get Puddy on the fist so that I could put her up for the trip home. She wanted more to eat, but couldn't catch it, and she had seen this routine before, and didn't like it. So of course she was too heavy to go out on Sat. morning.

The Oregon Falconers Association were having a meet in Burns over the weekend. Karen is one of the Directors, so she of course had to attend. Tami and her sister Tara wanted to go. Tami was worried about taking Jasper to the meet and did not intend to take him. I dismissed all her reasons for not taking him, telling her that the opportunities for birds for Jasper to fly was much too good to pass up. I suggested that she take him to the fairgrounds as there are always lots of Sparrow hanging around the barns and stalls. She reluctantly agreed to take him along, in spite of her misgivings. Of course she thought that he was too insignificant to take to a falconry meet. She arrived at the meet at about 3PM. I did not attend, so Karen took over my duties as a sponsor and here is her account of Jasper's hunt.
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Larry asked me to write up Tami's first foray to an Oregon Falconers Assoc. fall meet as an Apprentice with a bird. She was the second apprentice at the meet with an American Kestrel. Jasper's weight was on the low side and she was concerned that he might get too low to hunt, so she asked if she should give him some food to bring his weight up. After discussing it with several of us, she felt it would be a good idea to give him something to eat to calm him down, as we planned to fly him later in the afternoon. When he gets to weight, he gets the Kestrel version of "Yarak" and just cannot sit still. There were several people who wanted to see him fly. I let her decide where to fly as there were several suitable spots. She decided to go to the Harney County Fairgrounds. Others had found plenty of Sparrows in the open barn. At 4:00 pm our convoy left for there. I counted cars following us but didn't tell  her as her butterflies were working overtime. When we lined up to enter the barn I counted 13 people. We discussed how to do the flushing, with Tami and I going down the center of the arena and the rest dividing up to go down the stall area on each side of the arena.  This would leave Tami and I as the only ones who would get to see the kill,but no one had a problem with that.We started down the arena with several sparrows standing on the top of the walls that were about 8 feet high. We told them to keep walking as there was lots of activity. I told Tami to keep up with the flushers. We were getting close to the end when Jasper decided that he had the best shot and rocketed off after one. He flashed over the wall hot on ones tail, the sparrow with him right behind it came up and over the wall scrabbling down the wood almost to the ground when the sparrow decided he could scrape that little fury off by diving into a pile of gates stacked against the end wall. The next thing we hear is a sparrow screaming bloody murder. I told Tami to get close to the gates in case Jasper needed help. The two of them fell down through gaps in the gates. When it looked like the sparrow might win I told Tami to reach in and grab the sparrow. Sure glad she is small as it was hard for her to get to them, which she did with great success. He was glad to get out of the gates where he could work on his catch. Trent Seager  told her go ahead and finish the bird, She let Jasper eat his fill. The whole hunt took about 20 minutes.

Before we went into the barn Tami and Tara were getting her backup birds out of the carrying box when one got loose and  headed for the front of the car. We closed all of the doors and Tara climbed in and attempted to catch it. It got under the seat. After the flight Grace was helping me put the two we had back in the carry box when one of them got loose in my car. This one didn't hide under the seat, it went into the heat vent. My bird was seen today trying to get out, so I left the windows down all day.

At our meet dinner we give out pins for those who bring birds and are successful in taking game. As meet chairman I got to give Tami the only pin for taking game at this fall meet. There were 2 Peregrine falcons,2 Goshawks, 2 Coopers hawks, 3 Harris' hawks, 2 Redtail hawks and the 2 American Kestrels. This the only time that a Kestrel has got the only game pin at a meet put on by OFA. She definitely deserves a big "atta boy, girl"!

Karen
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Today Tara and Grace accompanied me hunting Pud. Her weight was just right and she was putting in some serious efforts in the brush. She was not fooling around and intended to have rabbit for dinner. She had made about 5 tries, getting just a bit closer each time. We circled around a big Lava mound and she flew off the perch to the ground at the end of the Lava. At first I couldn't tell what she was after as she was mantling in an opening in the Sage. As I got closer, I could see the big bloody patch with rabbit hair scattered all around. One of the Eagles that hunt the fields here had killed one of the Jacks and of course left enough of the carcass for Puddy to think that she needed to go no further than right where she was.

Of course I had no intention of taking it away from her. I let her eat for a while, then offered her some tidbits and a front leg that I had intended to be her reward for killing one of her own. She came up to the fist and we made our way back to the truck, foiled again!

Tami, Tara, and the kids came over at 4 PM to fly Jasper. I had about 6 Sparrows in the trap, so I caught them up and had them in a box in case we needed them. We first spent about 10 minutes chasing Sparrows in and out of the chicken house. It was a lot of fun, the Sparrows were trying to make their escape in some of the wire around the chicken house and we had a couple of close calls, but the Sparrows one by one managed their escape, so Tami and I decided to give Tara an idea of what the little fella was capable of. We walked to the field at the end of the hanger and Jasper cranked up and began circling us at about 125 feet, just like the big boys. I let a couple of Sparrows out of the box and Jasper gave chase, forcing one of them to the ground in my old John Deere tractor. He was in and out of the motor, through the front wheels, around the back tires and into the motor again. They both stopped a bit in a stalemate, trying to get the other to break first and commit to a plan. Finally the Sparrow managed to make his escape leaving Jasper trying to find him in the motor. When he decided that it was gone it was back up in the sky circling again, waiting for whatever would happen.

All in all I released 3 bunches of Sparrows for him to chase. None of them were hampered in any way. They did all escape, by varying degrees of narrowness. Jasper was circling at heights of 150 or more feet, and stooping after the Sparrows with all the style that one could ask of the finest Peregrine ever flown. This is the second time that he has circled rather than hovered, and today for the first time, he came over when I waved my hat at him. I of course served him a Sparrow to chase when he did, so he will remember what the waving hat means. Today I started three feeding stations out in the field. If the Sparrows find them before the Chickens do, then we will have some game to hunt, and his ability to "wait on" will pay off big time. After the last Sparrow was gone, he took a pitch again, and was even a bit higher than before. I suggested to Tami that she should give him the lure as we have not thrown the lure for him in a long time. She garnished it and made the first swing. As soon as he saw it he turned over in a stoop. Tami yelled and tossed it up in the air out in front of her. He kept tucked in the stoop until he was about a foot off the ground. He popped out his wings and tail and came to a gentle landing on the lure. It is good that he sometimes experiences failure. It will make him more determined the next time he flies. It is also an opportunity to reacquaint him to the lure again as well. 

Sadly, those attending the meet in Burns were surprised at what one of these little guy's can do. They saw little of what this little guy is capable of, but what they did see was enough to impress them apparently. Tami told some of them that he "waited on", when they asked how she hunted him, but she didn't think that they believed her.

Today was Jessie's turn to fly free for the first time this year. I have finally starved her into temporary submission. I put the balloon up about 100 feet with the lure at 50 feet. She did well, binding to it on the first circle, coming to the fist for the rest of her food after finishing what was on the lure. Although she did well, she didn't fool me. She is just waiting for the right time to get even.

Lightning strikes again!

It seems the weather is just what Pud needs, she lost all the weight that she put on from the rabbit on Monday, and was actually a bit lower than I had anticipated. I had fed her until she couldn't choke down another bite the last time, but she still managed to put it all over. There is nothing like the bite of autumn winds to make a hawk get serious.

The temp in the field was 38 degrees, but at least the grass wasn't wet. I let her out of her box and as usual she flew to a nearby rock jack while I got over the fence.Once I was in the field and walking, she joined me on the perch, and we began our search. We hadn't gone too far when a Jack jumped and she was off. He used the fence to slow her down a bit and then eventually lost her in the next field. She rejoined me, and we continued zigging and zagging through the Sage, trying to find one that wanted to come home with us. It took her 5 tries at the various Jacks before she got a clear shot at one. She crashed into the brush but still didn't get her feet on it. This was better, she wasn't just following looking for an opening, she was trying to make one.

She had gone to one of the large rock outcroppings to get a better view, while I worked the Sage in front of it. I turned away, and she soon flew to join me. Her feet no sooner touched the perch when a small Jack jumped in front of us. She hit the perch and was off after him, but missed. She came back to the perch and we had gone no more than 15 feet when the Jack jumped again. She burned him down in 20 feet catching him in the butt right in the middle of a Sage bush. I was a bit more confident this time, and pushed him back towards her. She soon changed her footing to his head, and he was in the bag. As you can see from the picture I was right over top of her. We finally got the Jack dispatched, and I gave her a front leg. She carried it off a few feet to eat, while I went to clean our prize. When I returned carrying a rear leg, she slammed into my fist holding the original leg. I thanked the Gods and the Jack for his sacrifice and we made our way back to the car and my still hot cup of coffee. The whole thing had taken about 30 minutes. Now I don't for a minute believe that it will be easy from now on, but one thing is for sure, she is on the right track, and will improve each time I take her out.

I have had several requests concerning Jasper and his exploits, so here goes. We have been forced by circumstances beyond our control, to resort to bagged game, and I don't consider that to be noteworthy. I am not being a snob, but falconry is by definition hunting wild game. Our problem is made worse by our very isolation. The trees, and marsh areas surrounding the ranch are inhabited by an unknown number of Owls. Mostly a bunch of Barn Owls, and a pair of Great Horned Owls. All of which intimidate the heck out of a small 3 oz bird. When you have the only cover and trees for miles around, it has a tendency to draw every raptor in the area. All of the Sparrows congregate around Tami's house, and Chickens. One flight is about all one gets before the Sparrows take refuge in the tree where the Owls are. So Tami brings him over here at the house and we get maybe a couple of slips at the Sparrows around my Chicken house and then they all take refuge in the Cattails down by the creek. If we lived in suburbia, it would be no problem, we would just stick him in the car and drive down by the Dairy Queen and get it done.

So we generally do our best to get him as many flights as we can at wild game, and then work on his following and waiting on. If he does well, I toss him a Sparrow or Black bird.

Yesterday, we ran the Sparrows around the Chicken and Pigeon house until he saw a Black Bird inside the Chicken house that was in my trap. The hunt was over at that time. He was running around on top of the wire trying to get inside so he could catch it. Karen was closer so she went into the pen and caught the Black Bird. She brought it to me, but Jasper was still trying to get inside. He wasn't listening to any suggestions that he come to Tami's fist, so I waved it at him, and he was soon on my head looking for it.

All the Sparrows had left the area, so we walked out into the field by the hanger. Jasper wasted no time and was soon in a hover over our heads. I wanted to plant the bird rather than toss it, so I was shaking the bird around while holding it in my fist. This makes them dizzy and they will stay where you put them for a while. I had just turned to ask Tami, where the rascal was, when he slammed into my fist with all the force that 3 ounce's can bring to bear. He bit me on the knuckle, trying to dig the bird out of my hand. The only thing sticking out of my hand was the tail feathers, but that was enough.

Tami called him to the fist for a tidbit, and he soon took off to again hover over us. I tossed the Black Bird and for the first time, he slammed into the bird in the air right in front of us. He then popped out his wings, and parachuted to the ground fighting the bird all the way down. He soon gained control with a bit of Tami's help.

It is a real shame that we have so little access to suitable game for him as he would really shine if he had the chance. I cannot complain with anything about him or the way that he has been trained. The little guy qualifies for the title of "Hunting Hawk" in every sense. There is no foolishness about him. When you take the leash off he is in hunting mode and will do what it takes to catch something. The fault is ours alone in not being able to give him the slips he needs.

The key to successful falconry is to get a bird that is suited to the game and terrain that you have to hunt. Novices are restricted to Red Tails and Kestrels for the first two years. Neither of which are suited for either the game or terrain here. Red Tails just don't have the acceleration or agile turns required to catch Jacks without a tree or some other height. The Kestrel we have found is also at a disadvantage here as well. This is one instance where I would allow a novice a Goshawk for her apprentice period. We have ducks in excess all year around, Quail are in great abundance. We will just have to struggle along until next November when Tami will be a "General" falconer and can have what she wants.

Day four

What is behind bush number 1?

This morning was foggy, so I put off my departure to the rabbit field until 10:AM. It was still foggy here at the house and extremely foggy in Rome, but it was clear over the Lava field where we hunt. The temperature was 38 degrees. I had returned to the house after starting, to get a coat, but when I got to the field and found the sun shining I decided to leave it in the car.

The tall grass that is every where, was really wet, and it didn't take long for me to get that way as well. The rabbits the last time we were there, were being really sneaky and hiding, so I moved slowly keeping my eyes open for a chance to shoot one if I had to. As I said in my last post, I was starting to feel sorry for her and was worried that she might get discouraged and quit trying. I have seen it before, and it took a lot to change the situation. Of course I was going to give her as many chances as I could before I made it easy again.

Her weight was the same as yesterday, so my guess on the amount of food that I gave her to counter act the calories she had burned in yesterdays efforts, was right on. She was still doing her inexperienced best to catch one of the sneaky critters. They were hiding in the thick Sage and then sneaking or busting out when she committed herself on an attack. Each time I was angling for an opening, but I wasn't going to shoot unless I could be sure of pinpoint accuracy. If you have never hunted Jacks, you cannot know how hard it is to get such a shot at 15 yards or less.

I was mixing up my routes of travel as it doesn't take long for a Jack to profile ones travel habits, and start hiding in areas that you don't walk. It was paying off by us rousting out Jacks that had successfully avoided us in the past. Pud got several close slips at the sneaky critters and was making some serious committed shots at them in spite of their cover, and seemed to be right on the verge of getting her feet on one of them. I had just gotten finished combing two out of a pocket of cover normally not covered, when she took off after one that was at least 80 yards out. She of course was not able to catch up with it and took a perch on some rocks.

By that time I was starting to get seriously heated up. I kept the tee perch in my left hand so that she would not come to me. I walked to where I had last seen her, trying to flush the hiders out of cover so that she might get another shot. I dropped every thing and peeled out of my vest, rolling it up to put in the back of my bag. When I finished, I looked for her, but didn't see her. That is not that unusual as she is dark and blends well with the Lava.

I put the perch up in the air, which is generally enough, but no Puddy materialized. I started looking around for her. Faintly far off in the distance I heard a Jack Rabbit singing its death song. At first it didn't register. I thought of the various Eagles in the area, and the Coyotes, but the coincidence was a bit much so I started as fast as my now clumsy feet would take me in the last direction that it had seemed to come from. I was worried that if the rabbit quit screaming, I wouldn't be able to find her. She really likes the head and has killed almost every rabbit that she has gotten her feet on.

There was a small Lava outcrop back around the corner from where I had been standing. I got around the flow and could again hear the rabbit. Finally I saw a Jack sticking out of a bush. Only that, no sign of what had it, but it had to be Puddy. If you will notice in the first picture there was a hole in the rabbits head. I was not about to go anywhere near that rabbit. The last thing that I needed was for it to get so panicked at my wild eyed approach that it might tear out of her feet. This had to end in success for her. Since I couldn't see her and could see the other side of the rabbit, no problem!

 After I shot the rabbit, I still couldn't see Puddy. I had to peel away the brush layer by layer to uncover her.

 You will notice the rather large amount of blood on the Jack's hind legs. That is from her talons. The entire rear of this Jack was torn up and so blood shot that it looked as though he had been shot. I guess there wasn't anything to worry about as far as him getting loose. I would still do it again however.

I pulled her out of the brush after I uncovered her, and started giving her tidbits. She soon relaxed and I gave her a front leg saved for that purpose. She took it off under a bush to eat, and I took the Jack to clean. When she finished the leg I gave her, I called her to the fist for one of the hind legs to finish her meal.

I walked back to the car while she ate the rest of her meal, with tears in my eyes, almost overcome with gratitude with the way that it had all worked out. I have denigrated this hawk like no other that I have ever had, and it is an unquestionable truth that she has deserved it. However in spite of all her slowness and lack of maturity, I have maintained that if she ever came around she could be as good as any of them. I guess we will see over the next few months.

She still has a lot to learn, and a long hard road ahead to become what I call a hunting hawk, but she has a start. It only takes hard work and time in the field.

Third day

Pud was down to 813 grams today. Karen is still gimpy, so I left her behind to do my chores and headed out to the field.

Pud allowed the first two Jacks to go unmolested, but soon started chasing any and all rabbits that flushed in front of us. Most of the flights had no chance since she wasn't crashing the brush, merely trying to line up on them much as a novice trying to land on a narrow runway. We walked for two hours solid, with her flying off after the rabbits, turning around and flying back to the perch. I rarely have to call her, or even pay attention to her once she lands after a chase. If I have seen the rabbit leave the area, I just walk on and she comes to the perch before I have gotten very far away. In all actuality if she caught something occasionally, I could not ask for a better hawk.

She tried so hard and often that I felt sorry for her today. It was special and a bit amusing to be out on a fine fall morning walking though the Sage to the raucous territorial boasting of the Rooster Pheasants across the valley. Geese gathering for their southward migration forming tentative Vee's in the skies as they moved from night time resting ponds to day time feeding areas. I even had a passage juvenile Coopers Hawk fly right in front of us to check out the weird Hawk that was hanging out with a man. She sat on a rock 30 yards away watching us until her attention, fickle at best, took her off to find something to kill. Today was a special day at least for me. As we walked along, I talked to her, telling her what was required for her to be able to make a living. I can't say whether or not she listened. She did try, and didn't want to quit, even after two hours or more.

After I arrived home, it was Jessie's turn. She has been quite restless sitting on the indoor perch, and of course rebellious as well. She was down in weight a bit today as I didn't feed her yesterday. I took her outside on the front lawn and tossed the lure. She ignored it for a bit too long, so I brought her back in and secured her to her perch. I again took her out an hour or so later, and sat her on the fence while I tossed the lure to the ground in front of her. She finally flew down to it, grabbing the food that I had tied there. She sat for about five minutes before she started eating. After she finished she hopped over to look over the fist, and again rejected the offering that I had for her, deciding to show her contempt by trying to fly away. I retaliated by hooding her for the night.

One of the problems or side effects of living in an area so remote, and removed from what is called "civilization" is the lack of comfort stops, or even places to get off the road. There is little to no cover anywhere, so driveways and gravel pits, when the roads in to them can be seen, are places often chosen for that sometimes unforeseen and unwelcome necessity when it arises. The ranch drive way across from us is often the target of such  emergencies. The gate to the road is only closed when they are weaning calves, and it is a bit disgusting to have to walk around someone's less than thoughtful deposit generally right in the middle of the road. Off in the Sage it wouldn't be so bad, but they rarely do more than get behind the car. It is also amusing to me how unprepared most people are. Too used to having someone else handle their little inconviences for them I guess. I have been amused to notice that the preponderance of them tend to use their socks to tidy up afterwards. Since there is almost always two of them lying in the aftermath, I have wondered if the job was that big, or if they don't want to explain why they are only wearing one sock. Do they take them off first or hop around after the fact trying to get them off. Perhaps that is why they use two rather than one. I had thought that the phenomenon was specific to the ranch next door, but when I stopped at Rome to buy gas the other day I noticed a pair of socks in front of their shop by the gas pumps. Funny they all seem to be brown?

The count down begins

Oct 14th. first serious day.

Karen and I took Pud to Arock to see if she would be able to catch anything. Her weight was 840 grams. We got there a bit later than I would have preferred, and it didn't take long for me to shed my sweatshirt. Pud actually did better than I thought she would. Of course the few Bunnies that we encountered were flown hard, but Bunnies are much harder to track and catch than are the Jacks. Their smaller size of course makes them much more appealing, but it is deceptive, because they stop, start again, hide and all those things blow a young hawks mind.

We walked a lot! Poor Karen's knee is bothering her again, and the rough terrain doesn't help at all. Pud actually made some pretty exciting tries for Jacks. Once she managed to turn inside a Jack but only hit him in the ears, and he squirted out the other side and was gone.

 Actually I was quite pleased with her. She is going to make it, if I can hold out long enough. She is much more excited by the ones that flush close to us, and run hard. We had one hop to within 15 yards of us, and she just watched it. She got into the middle of a large covey of Quail, but couldn't connect with any of them.

When I finally started feeling sorry for Karen, we made our way back to the car. All in all Pud probably didn't get more than 10 tidbits. She hopped into her box and we came on home. She screamed her frustration when I tied her to her perch without giving her anything more to eat.

Then it was Jessie's turn to see if she could remember what it was like to work for her food. She remembers, but she isn't admitting it. I tried to call her to the lure on the creance. She tried to fly off.
After she landed on the lawn, she came back to the lure. After she finished the half of a Quail breast, she walked over to the fist, looked at it and turned to try to fly off again. Less food, more time, she will come around.

This evening around 6:30 I picked up Pud again. I tried putting her on top of the house to ambush the Jacks when they came in to mow the lawn. Well they didn't come in, so I called her to the perch when it started to get seriously dark, and we walked a big circle outside the fence. She had two chances at Jacks and did her best, but it wasn't quite good enough. We will go out again in the morning and see if she can make it happen tomorrow. Again she got no more than 5 or 6 tidbits.

Oct 15, New day.

Karen decided to stay home this morning, so Pud and I got to the field at about 8:30 AM. There were plenty of Jacks in the field. Pud managed to ignore almost all of them. Finally after at least 8 had wandered off, and we had stood on the top of a little rise watching one just 20 yards in front of us eat for 5 minutes or more, she decided that another one might have merit. Of course she got nowhere close to him. All in all I walked for at least an hour, flushing Jacks at fairly regular intervals. She had chances at Jacks, a few Bunnies, and a hand full of Ducks on a handkerchief sized pond. We will go out again in the morning.


I arrived back home and rolled out the plane for a trip to the Alvord. There was supposed to be a bunch of planes from Nampa going there over the weekend, and since I had not flown much at all this fall I thought that I would fly over to see what was going on.

This is the first year in my memory that the Alvord still has water on it. It is normally dry by the middle of June or earlier. Not this year for sure.

The Aspens are beginning to turn up on the mountain, the snow level has been down to about 7000 feet here recently, although most of it has melted off.

Unfortunately there were only two planes on the lake, so I didn't even land. The weather this weekend was as good as it ever gets in the fall. Winds were calm, temps were supposed to be mid 70's. There was a group of wind Sailers a little further down the lake bed. I'm afraid that they are in for a dull day, as the wind is only forecast for about 6 MPH.

I turned and headed for home across the desert with a bit of a tail wind. As I got over the ranch next door I could see the crew separating calves for shipping this coming week.

Looks like I am the only one to get to play today.

Pud finally caught one

I decided that I wasn't going to bag Pud any more. After her last trip I seriously considered not flying her again. She has done that badly. I mulled it over for a couple of days and decided that I was going to not reward her any more. She was going to have to give me something to prove that she was worth the effort and time. I decided that I was going to take her out hunting and if she didn't catch something then I would not feed her more than tidbits. I would take her out in the evening and mornings until she caught something. Feeding her only enough to keep her alive.

This morning she was down to weight, but the wind was howling, and due to pick up to 18 or more MPH as the day progressed. I didn't want her to start out low, so I fed both her and Jessie a Sparrow each. The idea with Jessie is to get her weight down to the point that I can start flying her, and for Pud it was to keep her weight up. Karen and I split the rest of the two cords of wood that would keep us warm this winter, so it wasn't a total loss.

The wind finally died down about 6:30 PM, so I picked her up from the weathering area and found that she was 835 grams, well within her response range. It is a mystery as to where all these rabbits that dine on my lawn in their multitudes each night, actually live. I started off across the runway and crossed the fence, moving through the Sage paralleling the field where they all seem to come from. I made a full circle of about a mile and saw three Jacks, and Puddy saw two Bunnies. I was surprised to see her really burn after a Jack, but he managed to avoid her. She seemed to be quite a bit more serious than I have ever seen her. She rarely really tries to close with Jacks, but the one flight that I saw tonight was serious.

I crossed the creek well below the house and walked back to the road crossing on the creek. It was starting to get pretty dark, and the moon was well up by the time that I got even with the corral. We hadn't jumped anything at all on the flat where the house sits. As we neared the fence at the end of the corral Puddy took off really burning it and crashed into a Sage hard. I had seen nothing, but a thin scream proved that she had.

I had prepared myself for a long ordeal to get her to actually catch something. I would have preferred that she catch a Jack, but I wasn't about to complain about any catch that she made on her own.

Apparently in the dim light the Bunny never saw us. No matter, I was happy and Pud was absolutely ecstatic.

I was quite pleased when she looked to me as I got a hand full of tidbits out of my bag and offered them to her. She quite willingly took them from my glove with no effort to try to foot me. I exposed the rear legs and back of the bunny. She immediately opened the abdomen, but made no objections to me disposing of the guts. I let her eat until she was over the initial adrenaline rush. I picked her and the rabbit up and made my way to the hanger where I could sit down while she did her best to get around as much of the bunny as she could.

She still has no regard for her feathers, but hasn't broken any more of them lately. I guess I am going to have to imp some in soon.

Pud update

Well summer is over. There will still be some nice weather, but it is time to secure the air conditioner and clean the soot out of the chimney. Perhaps Pud will start burning some more calories and get with the program.

I tried to fly her last night as her weight was at 820, which is what I think she flies best at. Alas some one told the rabbits, and they stayed away in droves. This morning was supposed to be very windy, and while it wasn't that so much, it was pretty nipply at 39 degrees. John stayed under the covers out in his 5th wheel home, and I had to do some yelling at Josie to get him to stir enough to turn on his furnace, so that he could get up. We finally straggled out of here around 10:15 or so. Puddy was now down to 800 or a bit less.

As in the last few times at this weight, she was a bit slow to come to the fist. I would have thought that at a low weight I would have to scrape her off the fist, but she is just not as responsive at 800 grams. I had decided to go to the fields by the Alfalfa fields in the hopes that there were more Bunnies that she could chase. So far she is excited about Bunnies, but not Jacks. I just want her to catch something, I am not particular at this stage. The rabbit numbers are way down, bunnies more so. All the Jacks there, are really gun shy, and jump way out in front and do not stop at all. The lighting today with the rain, and cloud overcast made visibility really bad.

We did jump a few Bunnies and Pud put in some shots that had all of us cheering for her. The sad part is that the Bunnies are about twice as hard to catch as the Jacks. by the end of the day she even put in some tries on Jacks. We had walked all of the fields on that side pretty thoroughly with no chance for me to help her. It was obvious that she wasn't going to be able to do anything on her own. Karen was getting pretty tired, so I asked her to take the truck and meet us on the other side of the fields. A distance of about a mile. I just didn't want to walk back after we either got something or gave up. I was pretty sure that neither John or Karen was interested in that walk either.

Once we got away from the fields that had been shot, we started seeing some Jacks. Pud made a few more chases after Jacks, and after one of them, took a perch on one of the Lava outcroppings. While walking towards her in the hopes of flushing a Bunny in her direction, I finally got a chance at a Jack and hit him. She of course chose this time to be reluctant to come to me. When she did, the Jack had disappeared. I started working in circles, she went back to the rocks. Finally I saw what I took to be another young Jack. This one was close enough that I could get a good shot at his butt. I hit him where I wanted to, but Pud again did not want to come to me. I finally got her to come to me with the promise of large tidbits. The Jack was still able to move quite well, and she finally saw him. She wasted no time in grabbing him. At least this one wasn't "road Kill". She was pretty excited, and after I got them sorted out, I finished the Jack by breaking his neck. I gave her all my tidbits, and opened the fur on the Jack. She wanted to drag him to a bush, so I gave her a front leg off a previous kill. She was finally able to disengage her feet from the Jacks head, and she went into a bush to eat her prize. I took advantage of the time to clean the Jack and get another front leg. By the time I got back she was looking for some more food, and came to the fist for the other leg. When I cleaned the Rabbit here at the house, I discovered that it was the one that I had shot earlier. I had hit it in the abdomen just in front of the rear legs. They are tough little critters.

We then had a relatively short walk to the truck and Karen. Pud ate while we walked. When we got to the truck, Karen retrieved the liver and heart for her to eat. When she finished that, she had no more room for any more food.

I will be extremely glad when this phase of the training is over. It is by no means sporting, but it is very necessary. In the wild she would be able to watch her family group chase and capture game. She would be able to perfect her skill in flying in cover and the strikes necessary to be able to make her own kills. They learn a lot by watching. That is where Peg would have been invaluable. The process is called a "Make Hawk".  Peg would have shown her the intensity required to actually catch rabbits. She would have helped Peg with the securing of the Jacks, and thus developed the skills necessary to survive. With Peg gone, I am left with the onerous chore of trying in my limited way to teach her these skills. The only thing that I can do is to provide her with as many opportunities to get her feet on Rabbits as I can, and hope that she will figure out how to do it on her own.  She seems to me to be extraordinarily  slow developing. Perhaps it is the distaste of this phase that makes it seem that way. We put in about three hours today.

Jasper's Second wild kill.

Today was a bit hectic. Karen, John and I made a trip to town for the monthly shopping resupply for the house. We got back about 4 PM. I called Tami to see what she wanted to do regarding Jasper. I wanted to make sure that he got a chance at some Sparrows this time. Tami and the rest of the crew at the ranch had about 115 calves to vaccinate before any hunting could even be attempted. I wanted to hunt at the ranch since there were lots of possibilities for Jasper there. John and I went over to help out so that we could be ready to hunt as soon as the work was done. I took 5 Sparrows with me to use if necessary. He hasn't made any effort at the Sparrows here at the house, chasing Meadow Larks, Black Birds, and Quail, but for what ever reason, dismissing Sparrows as viable quarry.

 The calves have been separated from their mothers and held in a corral. Tami, on horse back, was pushing them into a chute where they could be immobilized, vaccinated, and ear tagged with an ID chip.

 Reuben was keeping Dave Supplied with tags, Rosy with the syringe's, Isabel and Sam were keeping the calves coming. My job was to stick a post in behind the calves in the chute to keep them from going back.

We finished about 7 PM, and Tami put her horse up and met John and I at her house. Jasper was really restless and ready to go. It was a bit late, but we took him outside to see if any of the Black Birds were out by the chicken pen. No such luck at this late time, so we went out to the willows behind the garage. There were a few Sparrows there and we started pushing them, to try to get them flying. Jasper was beginning to take notice of what we were doing, and eventually started taking an active part in the chase. We exhausted all the possibilities at the house and made our way down to the new barn. There were a couple of Sparrows in one of the Willow patches there, and Grace, Tami and I started trying to get one of them to break cover. Jasper had taken a perch on a pole in the middle of the small patch of Willows, ignoring the three of us encircling him, kicking the weeds and shaking the Willows. After a bit he saw the Sparrow on the ground running, and dove off after him. Tami was little help since she was laughing so loudly at him trying to bust through the weeds running after the Sparrow. Finally the Sparrow busted and took refuge in another small bit of Rabbit Brush about 20 yards away. Grace fortunately saw where he went, and we flushed him out of there. Jasper zoomed after him so fast that he took refuge in another bush within 15 yards. Jasper bounced off the bush, but took a perch on it, and was peering down into the bush. He soon dived off and had it on the ground.

 As you can see this was no skimpy girly cover, at least for a Kestrel. Tami pried the weeds apart and secured both of them and the second kill was in the bag. Tami didn't seem to be that excited.

 Yeah right!

I am totally blown away by this little hawk. Tami has done a superb job with him. He requires little in the way of tidbits, she has only to hold up her hand and he is there. He totally ignores the field of beaters as they try to get him quarry to hunt. He is 100 percent try.

Catch up!

There really hasn't been that much going on, at least not that much note worthy. At best I am teaching Pud to be a serious "roadkill" hawk. She is chasing Bunnies pretty hard, but doesn't know how to make a connection with them. There seems to be fewer of them this year as well.

 One of my fields has been pretty seriously shot out by the land owner. The rabbits were just getting too thick for his alfalfa crops. I can't blame him, but it wasn't what I needed. The area that we are hunting in these two pictures borders his fields on the other side. It however is being hunted and used by five Golden Eagles, so it isn't carrying the amount of rabbits that it did last year either.  There would be no problem for a hunting Hawk to make a kill in a fairly short time, but that is easier said than done with a new bird that seems to be slow developing. We are still able to find enough rabbits that I can cripple, (lately kill) for her.

It however does require some rest stops in the action periodically. Pud leaves little to be desired as far as hunting with us. She doesn't require constant tidbits to stick with us, or even come to the fist. It appears that 820 grams is a good weight for her. She is the most active at that weight, flying in front of us to the various outcroppings, and not hesitating to come to the Tee Perch or fist which ever is offered.

She made at least two serious tries for Bunnies, crashing into the brush. Of course with her experience or rather lack of it, it will be a while before that bears any fruit. She would score sooner with Jacks if she chased them with the same vigor.

I finally got a decent chance at a sitting Jack, but while the shot looked good, when we walked up there I was looking for the Jack in front of us. I couldn't see any movement. Pud fell off my fist to the stone dead Jack behind the bush I was standing by. Oh well, it goes like that sometime. This time when she started trying to drag it off, I held on to the rear legs, and got a hand full of tidbits. I would offer her one, and as soon as she swallowed it, I would give her another. I did that until all my tidbits were gone. Then I offered her a front leg from the last kill. She grabbed that and let go of the Jacks head so that she could eat the leg. I took the dead Jack to clean it and removed another front leg to give her when the other one was gone. I returned to her before she finished the first one, then when she started to look around for the rest of the Jack, I offered her the next one. She jumped to the fist and we began our trek back to the truck. By the time that we got to the truck she had a seriously bulging crop.

That evening Tami brought Jasper over. We planned to release Sparrows until he caught one. She turned him loose and we tried for a bit to get him to chase some of the numerous Sparrows in my Chicken yard, but he was interested in other things and soon took a pitch of a 100 or more feet over the hanger. I went into the pen to catch the Sparrows in my trap. I caught four and stuffed them into a sock. There was a full grown Quail in the trap with them. I decided to take him to where Jasper was flying to release him.

Jasper was still up there hovering and working his way back toward us, and I tossed the Quail up in the air about 15 feet high.  ( "It seemed like a good idea at the time" ) The Quail did not open it wings other than to break its fall before hitting the ground, then started running towards the dog kennel. Some one yelled here he comes! The quail ducked through the chain link fence, and Jasper flew into the chain, trying to get through. At the time I was thinking, "what the hell does he think he is trying to do".  I went around behind the kennel and ran a 2x4 under the box to flush the Quail out. It ran into the kennel again and then tried to go out the left side of the kennel. I heard someone say, "he got him"!

 When the Quail got halfway through the links, Jasper flashed around the pen and grabbed the part sticking out. The poor quail was in a chain straight jacket and couldn't fight back. Jasper was wasting no time and was digging for the brain with his beak.

It appears that when Jasper saw me coming out with the Quail in my hand, he started a dive towards us. When I tossed the Quail it was intimidated by his stoop and refused to fly in favor of escape on foot. It also appears that if I toss it, Jasper will do his best to catch it. While totally amazed at what occurred, I was still bummed by not being able to toss a Sparrow for him so that we can actually start hunting things that he can catch and hold. Oh well it goes like that sometimes. (have you seen that sentence before? )

This afternoon, John and I decided to go back to one of my fishing holes that I had lost a fillet knife the last time we went fishing. Since today was going to be the last warm day for a while, perhaps the rest of the year, it was a good choice. We arrived and parked the truck and about 5 feet behind the truck there was my knife lying in the road. So far so good.

We rigged up with my usual "never fail" spinner, but neither of us could get a strike. Finally I decided to try some of the plastic worms used in a "Carolina rig". I flipped it out and on the first cast caught a nice Small Mouth Bass. I told John to change, but he was stubborn, so I caught another on the next cast, and he was convinced.

 The water is a bit nippy, but you get used to it after a while. The temperature  of the water had the bass on the bottom of the river and the worms were just what they wanted. We caught our limit of them and went on home to raise our Mercury levels a bit. ( They recommend that you only eat fish from the Owyhee once a week or less due to the naturally occurring Mercury in the water. )

With our levels fully topped off, we took our naps and listened to the news with our eyes closed. Finally Josie insisted that I go do the evening chores, and on my way back I see a Coyote in the field down by the creek, just standing there watching the house and all the goings on. He paid no attention to me or the dogs, which was a mistake. He doesn't live here anymore.