Puddy update and Jasper gets a bit better

I have been taking Pud out to the rabbit fields and showing her plenty of Rabbits. She sometimes chases the Bunnies, and occasionally puts a little effort into it. However four days ago, I wounded a Jack for her and she really never even tried for it. I left her without food for two days, then she did the same thing the next time I took her out. I brought her home and left her without food for another two days. She finally lost down to 790 grams today. She does not lose weight seemingly at all. She stayed the same weight for two days and never got any food from me other than tidbits to put her out and back in at night. Maybe she is eating mice during the days in the weathering area. Even at that weight she does not act really hungry. She comes well to the fist, and will follow, but shows little incentive to feed herself.

Today I shot a Jack no more than 80 yards from the truck. Unfortunately I flinched and hit it in the chest rather than the butt. It was still twitching when I got there with Pud. She looked at it with some mild interest, but did not offer to go down on it. I looped my leash around its legs and drug it around her, but got no response. Finally I tossed it by the rock she was sitting on in disgust and intended to try for another. It landed with its belly up and I guess looked enough like carrion that she hopped off the rock and walked over to look closer.

I just sat down and let her do as she chose with it. She drug it into a bush so low that she could do little with the carcass. Finally after 10 or so minutes she started trying to eat the ear. She couldn't get any traction to tear into the scant flesh of the head under the bush, so after 15 or more minutes, I went over to open the Jack. Of course she footed me for my efforts. I let her eat all she could hold. I am not sure that it will improve her attitude or desire, but at least I won't have to fool with her for a few days.

I noticed today that she had broken another tail feather either on the perch or today in her struggle with a dead Jack. Sometimes I despair of her ever achieving the title of Hunting Hawk.

Tami brought Jasper over last night, but there was no wind so he was less interested in flying in a hover. He also showed little interest in the Sparrows, taking off to try to catch a Meadow Lark up in the field by the runway. He took a perch on the top of the hanger, and sat for a while. Tami called him to her and one of the Black Birds that I was trying to hide in my vest escaped. It had a good 50 yards on him, but her took off after it and finally put it in down at the creek. They both went into cover at about the same time, so we were worried that we might have trouble finding him. Fortunately he did not catch it and soon was winging back in our direction. He went into a hover right in front of us. I pulled out another Black Bird that did not have any feathers pulled and tossed it. He stooped after it, scaring it badly enough that after ducking over John and Boyd's head it ran into Boyd's airplane.

I was more than a bit surprised at his ability to press the Black Birds hard enough to force them to cover, since it was not handicapped at all.

Jasper Scores!

Tami had brought Jasper and all the kids over to the house. A friend, Boyd Young from Utah had come to visit with John Hauck and I yesterday. He had agreed to take the kids flying in his Kolb. I cannot take passengers, and things had not worked out in the past to give them a flight. Grace especially wanted to fly, just to see what it was like, so she was the first to go.

 Then Isabel got her chance to go up.

 I believe Isabel was scooting back in the seat a bit on this landing. There of course was no problem, but the first landing in an aircraft with that much visibility can be a bit exciting. Reuben, when he got out of the plane from his flight had a grin that stayed most of the day, as did the rest of the family. 

 Finally Tami got her chance to see the ranch from the air. Boyd was generous enough to take all the kids for a flight. He enjoyed the grins of pleasure that the kids had, the hugs went a long way to make a memorable day for all of us.

After the flights were over, it was time for Jasper to get to do a bit of flying. Heretofore Jasper had ignored Sparrows. We had been giving him only Black Birds because he was less likely to carry them, and after something that size he should be willing to take anything. It apparently doesn't work that way however, so I had a Sparrow on the fishing pole for him. There was no wind and he wasn't that anxious to fly as he was quite a bit heavier than his normal flying weight. Finally I just flipped the Sparrow out and yelled for him. He wasted no time in grabbing it and killing it. He was a bit flighty, but with the line we kept him in the area. We let him eat the rest of the Sparrow. I felt that we would probably have to give him several flights at Sparrows and then he would probably consider them as fair game as well.

Tami brought Jasper over this evening weighing 94.5 and chomping at the bit to go flying. I only had one live Sparrow, and we were concerned that he was going to carry if he did kill a Sparrow, so I went out to the Black Bird trap, and brought two of them to use for bags.

Tami turned him loose, and he flew to the Motor home antenna. We intended to go out of the driveway to see if we could get some action on the various birds hiding in the Sage. As we drew even with the Motor Home, Jasper flashed off the antenna and made a quick turn by the little utility trailer.  He was after a Sparrow. There was a smattering of feathers floating down to the ground as he took a stand on the side of the trailer. I told Tami to go around behind the trailer to flush the Sparrow. The Sparrow could not stand the pressure and tried to make a break for it. Jasper however was a bit faster and he caught his first wild head underneath the rear tires of the Motor home. He was pretty excited and looking for escape routes, so I told Tami to crawl in front of the tires to see if she could get him before he decided to book. She had to part the weeds with her hands, but was able to give him a tidbit and then secure the Sparrow. I asked Karen to get a camera while I returned the Black birds to the trap.

I was lucky that Karen had told Tami to stay there with Jasper, so I was in time to get a picture of Tami's best feature. I won't repeat what she said to me. It is sometimes surprising to me how some women don't appreciate our point of view.

 Tami crawled out of the weeds, still carrying a few, but with one of the biggest grins that I have seen for a while.

 Jasper of course wasted no time in digging into his favorite part.

This little guy is quite a warrior, and about as gutsy as they come. Every thing that has occurred with him from the time of his capture to his handling to this point has been without mistakes. Tami, as well as Jasper have progressed at a pace that cannot be less than very satisfying.

Sponsoring an apprentice can be a demanding process. The process takes two years. It can be fun or it can be very, very disappointing. In my 48 years of falconry, I have sponsored quite a few people, some were so transitory that they left little impression. At least three of them were so dismal that I never finished their apprentice period. All but three of them eventually decided that falconry was too demanding to continue. Of the remaining three, two are female. Last year I had decided that I was done with sponsoring apprentices. The cost had gotten a bit high in emotional disappointment. I am glad that Tami changed my mind. Like Boyd's statement regarding payment in grins in exchange for the flights. The joy and pride that Tami has shown with Jasper, is payment in full. 

Jasper and Pud, two days combined

Pud is still coming down in weight tonight, so we will fly her tomorrow. Jasper however was ready to go. My friend John Hauck is back from Alabama for his fall visit to the West, and seeing Jasper work in person was quite a different experience for him. He is used to Jessie and the Harris Hawks, and Jasper so little, with such big courage, was a big surprise.

We turned Jasper loose and he followed us towards the gate this time rather than go to the top of the hanger. This is the first time that he has done so. Tami called to him to come with us and he cranked up into a hover right over us. I could not resist and I tossed him a Black bird that was hampered a lot less than those that he has been catching. He flew it hard, but wasn't able to keep up with it. He took it at least two hundred feet in the air, and went into another hover. The only problem was that he was over the yard rather than us. I yelled and waved my hat at him. He came towards us without losing any of his height. I tossed a bird that was only slightly more handicapped than the first, but with his height, he drove it to the ground under the Motor home. We were all just a bit agog at his flight, and we made our way to him in a leisurely fashion, thinking that he had caught it. When we got there Jasper was running around under one of my small trailers. While we watched, he turned and looked up in the spring and wheel area of the trailer. He jumped up in there trying to catch the bird. It however crawled out over the tire and made his escape.

The way that I handicap these birds is to pull primary feathers out of one wing. The bird can still fly, some quite well, but it slows them just enough that if Jasper does it right he can catch them. If they get away then the feathers regrow in a couple of weeks or so, and they are no worse for wear. The idea is to help him develop a style that will enable him to catch birds rather than mice and Grasshoppers. Of course his confidence has to be developed in such a way that he will try to catch them. If he believes, he has plenty of ability to make it happen. As I have said before, Falconry is expanding on the things that the bird does naturally, and convincing them to allow you to help and watch.

When the bird escaped we were left with the decision of what to do next. I suggested that Tami might take the opportunity to refresh his lure awareness. While Tami was walking off far enough to call him, he took off and climbed up to about 150 feet. It took me about 2 seconds to hot foot ( yeah right) as fast as I could for another Black Bird. He stayed over Tami for quite a while, and had just moved to another spot still higher than I had seen him. I chucked the bird and yelled. He started his stoop, but since it was a head on flight, he wisely turned in behind the bird and drove it into the ground under John's 5th wheel.

 As we were feeding him another friend, Boyd Young, flew in from Brigham City Utah.

Wed. Sept 21

Puddy was down to 800 or so grams this morning, so we all loaded up for the trek to the rabbit field. I am not sure whether or not 7 people in the field bothered her or not, but her performance was not what I had expected. She put in a hard chase on a Bunny, but when I shot a Jack that was slowed but still able to run a bit, she didn't seem to show any interest at all. We followed it for several hundred yards, but she only made one half hearted attempt at it. I had to finally shoot it in the foot to get her to grab it. It took her no time at all to kill it, so I am not sure what was in her mind.

After we got back home, John, Boyd and I loaded up the quads on the trailer and went fishing. This is the third time that I have been fishing all year because the water was so high. It is still high and the trail that we have to use to get to the hole, had suffered a fair amount of water erosion. The road goes down a natural gully and it was apparent that a large amount of water ran down it this year.

We managed to catch some Small Mouth Bass, and of course some Channel Cats.

 

Tami and the kids came over for a fish fry and Reubon and Grace swam in the pool. It was a bit cool, but it didn't stop them from getting in at least one more swim for the year.

Puddy still heavy, we go hunting anyway.

Pud was still at 821 grams today, and what has been fat, but her attitude was starved, so I decided to go anyway. It is no wonder that she is feeling neglected as her last hunting day was on the 15th. Then she had only eaten Bunny, which is the celery of the rabbit kingdom.

When I let her out of the box, she went to a fence post and even though I called her quite close up, she declined to come. We walked off and left her sitting there. As I got further away she showed more interest, but still declined the offer of a tidbit. Finally she couldn't stand to be left behind and flew to the perch with no coaching on my part. Soon a Bunny flushed and she gave chase. Not very effective, but a chase non the less. She stayed with us, only flying when either a Jack or a Bunny flushed. She is still flying like a baby, but she is improving, and made several impressive flights at the elusive rabbits. She also tried for Quail a couple of times, but she still doesn't have the flight requirements mastered as of yet.

The grass is extremely high, and rabbits are not as plentiful in Arock this year, but she tried every chance she got and stayed right with me every step of the way. As I was beginning to give up hope that I would get a chance at a Jack, we finally found one that apparently had not heard about my prowess with a pistol.

 She was on the Tee perch when I shot, and this time, she only flinched. She saw the Rabbit and wasted no time slamming into him.

 The rabbit screamed when she grabbed it and this time, she didn't get scared, just excited. It did not take her long to kill the Rabbit.

 The buzzards didn't take long until they were circling over head.

 I secured her, and skinned some of the rabbit. I sliced open the chest, hoping that she would get into the chest cavity.

 We took the opportunity to catch our breath.

 Unfortunately she seems drawn to the guts. I guess she likes spaghetti.

 Then as we were walking out, we picked up some curious locals. The dark one with the blase amused himself by blowing into the end of the perch. The others were intrigued by the hollow sound.

 If Karen started to lag, the horses would push her with their noses. Puddy was not amused and wanted me to go faster.

 As we were driving out, a large dark falcon flew overhead. It was the size and with the naked eye the color of a Raven, but the wing beat was definitely different. I was sure that it was a Peregrine when it took a stoop and a bunch of Black Birds along the road side. I was having a hard time keeping up with her until she found the kettle of Vultures, and stopped to harass a few of them.

There was also a Golden Eagle flying with the Vultures in the thermal. I was wishing for my large camera, but you make do with what you have.

I guess that it is time that I set the record straight. I earlier said that I had not seen a Harris as dumb as this one. I saw the dumb one the other day when I went into the bathroom. As Pogo said, "we have met the enemy and he is us." Puddy is showing that she just might make something out of herself. She took three days to come down from a meal of Bunny, I can't wait to see how long it takes her to come to weight with a meal of Jack in her crop. Oh well, I guess that means that I can go fishing I guess.

Puddy's still fat, Jasper steps it up.

Poor Puddy is just too efficient. She is still more than an ounce over weight, so she has to wait another day without food. So I spent the day doing things that needed to be done here at the house. I worked on the wood shed, stacked wood, found the problem with the airplane. Needs a new Mag. Fixed a screen so that Puddy doesn't have to sit and watch Jessie eat. Finished a book that I have been reading.

Tami, Grace and Tami's brother TJ showed up with Jasper. He was down to 94.5 so I put a couple of Black Birds in my pockets. The plan for today was to get him away from his comfort zone in front of the hanger. We went over behind the chicken house hoping that he would chase some of the Sparrows that are thick there.

This time I put the video card in the camera and took one of Karen's headbands and secured it to my head. The mount was made for a helmet so it is tilted a bit, and there is no sound. It also is wide angle, so some of the best action is lost in the distance, but it will at least give you some idea of what the little guy is doing.

He ignored the Sparrows all together. This has caused me some concern for quite a while. I know that he has made several shots at Meadow Larks, and did so again tonight, but he has not been chasing Sparrows. I had thought that he was just chasing the ones that we tossed because they where handicapped. Imagine my surprise when he took off after a Black Bird that he saw at the Chicken house. Then it hit me, he doesn't know that he can catch Sparrows. I only catch Black Birds here, my wire is too big to hold Sparrows. We are going to have to find some Sparrows to give him, so that he will know that they are on the menu as well.

He chased the Black Bird down in the creek where it evaded him in the Cattails. He went up on the wire as we were walking down there. We stopped and he went up into a hover and I threw him an unhindered Bird. He chased it for several hundred yards, staying remarkably close to it. I was surprised that he could do so well. He eventually broke off the chase, and went into a hover out in the field in front of the house. He was quite a long way off, and I tried waving another bird at him. Of course he made a bee line straight at me, so I tossed the bird when he got close. He made a grab for it, but it evaded his talons and they both hit the Cattails at the same time in the creek bottom.

We went down with Tami prepared to wade the creek to get him, but he was halfway up in the Tules, so she called him. He couldn't fly since it was too tight, so he dropped to the ground and walked to the edge and then flew to her.

I went to get more birds, and we continued out in the Sage and grass outside of the fence. Jasper took off and went over the open ground to hover, and eventually sat on the fence. He took off from the post and slammed into the ground, flushing a Meadow Lark. He went up into another hover and I tossed a Black bird. He chased it and went back into a hover when it got away from him. I tossed him one that he could catch and and streaked across the sky catching it in the weeds.

Quite frankly I was surprised by his flight today. We are hoping that he will come to understand that where we are is where the action is. We are going to have to get him a few Sparrows to catch. He flew four birds today, and he flew them all harder than I thought that he would, and with more ability than I thought he possessed as well.
http://vimeo.com/29205474 Will take you to the video.

Another step!

Even though Puddy weighed 810 grams this morning, we decided to take a chance a try to get another rabbit in her feet. It is important to keep the successes coming once you start. I turned her loose in the yard to test her response before we made the drive to the spot that we are hunting. While she was slow, she still came after "thinking" about it.

Once we got to the field and I turned her loose, she sat on a fence post while we walked away. She ignored us for a while, but at the edge of her ability to see us, I waved a glove at her and she flew to Karen on the Tee Perch. She rode with her for quite a way while I looked for Rabbits. They were a bit scarce to my liking, but she did began to hunt and once made an exploratory flight after a running Jack. I circled around them at the edge of a Sage covered point and found a Bunny that thought that he was hidden. I decided that one more Bunny wouldn't hurt her, so I popped it in the butt. Karen walked up and Pud plowed into it as soon as she saw it move.

She again went right for the head and killed it in no time at all.  Not wanting a repeat of the messy handling of the guts again, I pulled the skin off the legs of the Bunny, to give her a place to start eating.

 She calmed down a lot quicker this time and seemed to be waiting. I gave her some tidbits, and that got her started eating.

 After she had eaten for a while, I pulled off a front leg, and gave it to her. She took it and turned around allowing me to clean the Bunny. Before she finished, I had the front end of the Bunny ready for her to finish her meal.

Things are beginning to look up a bit regarding her attitude and actions. She is still very footie and any time your hands get into range, she is going to poke holes in it. If she kills Jacks, I can always heal.

Jasper

We were getting hazardous wind warnings here at the house, so I called Tami to suggest that she come over early to avoid possible problems. It was windy, but within the abilities of Jasper. She turned him loose and he immediately flew out into the field and into a hover. We continued walking towards him, and he soon tired and went to the hack tower to rest a bit. We continued our current path out into the field, and I  started calling to him, encouraging him to take to the air. He took off and flew directly in front of us and up into a hover. I chucked a Black Bird and he immediately started a dive after it. The Black bird flew with the wind for a bit, then as Jasper closed the bird took evasive action and they both hit the ground. The Black Bird bounced up and flew into the wind over our heads. Jasper used the wind to regain altitude thus air superiority, and the Black Bird broke and tried to scrape him off on my legs. It didn't work and Jasper caught him about a foot off the ground and they ended up in a small tumbleweed. It was then that I remembered that I had fixed the problem with the video camera. Oh well "pobody is nerfect" Maybe tomorrow. 

Puddy makes a giant step!

Bribery in the form of breakfast at Rome served to get Karen to accompany me to Arock to try to finally get a Rabbit that Puddy could catch. Once I finally was able to come to grips with the fact that she is going to be an 800 gram bird, she has been slowly making the adjustments necessary to be able to eat. One of my problems is that she is so footy, that you cannot get a bare hand close to her without having four puncture wounds in said hand. I finally solved that problem with the bill of my hat under her beak so that she cannot see the hand. Once I could feel her keel it was obvious that she wasn't that big a bird. She has been very slow to mature as well. I suppose that is normal for a Harris Hawk, but apparently not to my thinking.

I was a bit dismayed at the height of all the vegetation at Arock. The Cheat grass is knee high, and there seemed to not be as many rabbit paths as last year. Karen was carrying Pud on the Tee perch, and she was free to fly. Her weight this morning was still at 800 grams, so she has been on skimpy rations for about two weeks. After we had walked a couple hundred yards into the field, she began to want to do a bit of prospecting on her own, and flew to one of the rock piles. Karen put a tidbit on the perch and Pud came as soon as it was offered. Karen saw a Jack bust out behind us, and Pud flew to another rock that has been a haven to the Bunnies in the area. I decided to circle the Sage in front of it to see if I could drive a Bunny towards her. I had not gone very far when a Jack jumped and circled out through the Sage. I attempted to get a view of him, but a Bunny jumped out to my left. I circled around and saw the Bunny frozen just a few feet to my left. My pistol has a red dot sight that even my old eyes can see, and I popped him in the butt. I stuck up my fist and whistled for Pud. She came immediately to the fist, and after she ate her tidbit, I walked up to the area that I had last seen the Bunny. He moved and she immediately pounced on him. No hesitation!

 To say that all of us were excited is an understatement. I just stood back and left her with the Bunny. I had not intended to start with Bunnies, but a benefit of a Bunny is that I didn't have to get in there to help her at all. The Bunny was no contest for her at all, so Karen and I just left her to figure out what the hell she had in her feet and what to do with it.

 She soon killed it with her constant footing and grabbing, then the only thing left was for her to get over the excitement of having caught something alive. It took her more than five minutes for the adrenaline to subside in her body. To say that she was torqued is a total understatement.

 She is very hard on her feathers, because she has no clue as to what they are doing. She ate almost a quarter of the Bunny before she closed her wings. She never ever closed her tail. I had to imp a center deck feather into her tail after the last time we flew her. I fully expect her to be the rattiest Harris Hawk in captivity before the year is ended.

 Once the Bunny was dead and she recovered enough to stand up, she had no idea what to do with her prize. She made some tentative nibbles at the fur, trying to figure out how to open this thing. I finally offered her some tidbits on the glove and was able to pull some fur off the legs without getting some new holes in my hand. Once she saw the meat, she of course footed it, then began eating. She knows nothing about guts and soon had a mess going that had us both making disgusted noises. That would be Karen and I, Pud was " happier than a pig in shit". I let her eat most of one side before I even secured her jesses. She finally got into the rib cage after I bared some more flesh for her. In all she ate one half of the Bunny before she could hold no more.

When we got back to the car, I found a spray bottle and tried to clean her feet of some of the gore. After I got her cleaned up I opened the Giant hood and wonder of all wonders, she hopped in of her own accord. Things are looking up and for the first time, I have hopes that she will be a hunting Hawk.

I paid my debt of breakfast to Karen with pleasure. Since I seem to do most of the cooking it is doubtful that Karen was the only one to benefit