A Door Closes . . . A Door Opens
Upon returning from our vacation I applied myself to trying to trap a new hawk here in Wisconsin. On Thursday, December 30th I did not have too much time, as I did have to sleep in just a little to recover from our trip. But I did get out some, and drove all around my area, working my way eventually to the La Crosse area. I tried a couple times for an immy that Dave had been trying to trap all the previous week, and had caught, once, but it got away from the trap . . . leaving with a lesson about traps. I couldn't convince it to come to my traps, and it also tended to hang out on poles in a very busy intersection, so not very safe to try to trap.
On the last day of 2004 I met Bill Oakes down at the pheasant farm in Janesville. We were there very early, and went into the place as it opened. They said we could trap until noon. So we spent the day, each of us driving around in separate vehicles, looking for hawks. We both set some traps on top of the pheasant pens. Near the end of the day, an immy did go for Bill's trap, and was caught, but as we approached, she yanked so hard to get away, she stripped the wire of the noose right out of the connectors used to lock the nooses to the trap. One of my traps was knocked off, so something hit it, but didn't stay trapped. We left at noon empty handed. I took the slow route back to Madison, and eventually home. Not too many hawks, and what I did see were mature.
I had to return home, as we were meeting friends for dinner, and then had a small party planned for New Years. I was disconsolate the whole evening, and actually, rather exhausted . . . I had not been getting enough sleep. The window for trapping in Wisconsin was now closed, and I was resigning myself to the idea that I would be hawkless until next September. Close the door!
The following week I received an e-mail from Dave, forwarding a message from one of his brothers. There was a falconer in Illinois looking for someone to care for his ferruginous hawk for a couple of months, due to an injury (to the falconer, not the hawk). I contacted him, and whereas I was not a suitable person to take on the care of such a large and aggresive hawk, he did give me a little information which turned out to be most helpful. He informed me that Illinois has an open trap season up until January 31, and gave me the name of the contact person. Well . . . here was a new window of opportunity.
I called on Tuesday, got the man in Illinois with the Department of Natural Resources, and had him fax me the application. The next day I overnight mailed my application, with payment, with a return envelope. Everything went smoothly, and on Friday afternoon, I had an Illinois permit. Dave had referred me to his hawking buddy in Illinois, Mark Snyder, who was willing to take me driving around the area over the weekend, looking for hawks.
A new door had opened!
On the last day of 2004 I met Bill Oakes down at the pheasant farm in Janesville. We were there very early, and went into the place as it opened. They said we could trap until noon. So we spent the day, each of us driving around in separate vehicles, looking for hawks. We both set some traps on top of the pheasant pens. Near the end of the day, an immy did go for Bill's trap, and was caught, but as we approached, she yanked so hard to get away, she stripped the wire of the noose right out of the connectors used to lock the nooses to the trap. One of my traps was knocked off, so something hit it, but didn't stay trapped. We left at noon empty handed. I took the slow route back to Madison, and eventually home. Not too many hawks, and what I did see were mature.
I had to return home, as we were meeting friends for dinner, and then had a small party planned for New Years. I was disconsolate the whole evening, and actually, rather exhausted . . . I had not been getting enough sleep. The window for trapping in Wisconsin was now closed, and I was resigning myself to the idea that I would be hawkless until next September. Close the door!
The following week I received an e-mail from Dave, forwarding a message from one of his brothers. There was a falconer in Illinois looking for someone to care for his ferruginous hawk for a couple of months, due to an injury (to the falconer, not the hawk). I contacted him, and whereas I was not a suitable person to take on the care of such a large and aggresive hawk, he did give me a little information which turned out to be most helpful. He informed me that Illinois has an open trap season up until January 31, and gave me the name of the contact person. Well . . . here was a new window of opportunity.
I called on Tuesday, got the man in Illinois with the Department of Natural Resources, and had him fax me the application. The next day I overnight mailed my application, with payment, with a return envelope. Everything went smoothly, and on Friday afternoon, I had an Illinois permit. Dave had referred me to his hawking buddy in Illinois, Mark Snyder, who was willing to take me driving around the area over the weekend, looking for hawks.
A new door had opened!
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