A Most Excellent Session
Today had to be the best session yet that I've experienced with Abby. Her lessons are coming together, and soon, very soon, I'll be ready to attach the telemetry, and try flying her free. But not for a few more days.
The last few days I've been reinforcing lure training. It is very important that she has a keen attraction to this most important 'insurance policy'. However, today I wanted to test her out on distance for the creance. And distance to the lure.
I've been working with her on the road that runs in front of my home. It is a country road with very minimal traffic. It allows me to use the creance with no problem of it tangling, but is also far enough away from all the large trees on my property. The last place that I usually work my hawks is a nearby park (Nelson Park) that allows me to use the double over of the creance, for a full 100 yards of distance. I will also usually test my hawks with a crowd of people. When they ignore all that, and come to my call, I know they are safe to fly free.
Her weight, pre-training, was 2 lbs, 9.2 oz (41.2 oz). This is her lowest weight yet. She's been spending time in her weathering yard, and does a lot of bating when in there. I've watched her from inside the house, and discovered that she is quite capable of returning to the bow perch, if she wants to. But instead she chooses to remain on the ground after a bate. The cold on her feet (standing in ice and snow) and the repeated bates causes her to burn her calories, so she's ready for training every day.
I set her up, and upon my first call, she hopped right to the fist. I then ran out to about 1/4 the distance of the creance. She paused for only a short time, thinking about the distance, and then came to my call. OK, out to half the creance. Again, pretty quick response. Big test now, run all the distance of the creance (50 yards). She came with very little hesitation. I then decided to test her lure response while she was still hungry. I went out half the distance of the creance, and swung the lure. She came off her perch right away, and landed a short distance from the lure, and then walked the rest and footed the lure. I came to stand next to her while she pulled the mouse off the lure and ate it. It is important for her to also be comfortable with me standing right next to her while she eats on the ground, and for her to know that I will not steal her food from her. When she was done with her mouse, I called her up to my fist for a tidbit, and stepped over the lure so I could pick it up and tuck it back into my bag. I returned her to her perch, and went out the full distance of the creance. I then swung it one more time, with a small hunk of rabbit. She responded, but did fly over me and landed a short distance on the ground behind me. But she did then walk to the lure and eat the rabbit attached.
There is still more work to do, to perfect her responses, but today I saw definite progress. Today is day 25 since trapping. It is amazing the changes from a frightened hawk on the trap, to one who responds quickly, and flies willingly to me for her food reward. Many techniques, some ancient, some modern, to change a wild creature's response to a willing hunting partner. Soon, very soon we'll be out chasing bunnies . . . Together!
The last few days I've been reinforcing lure training. It is very important that she has a keen attraction to this most important 'insurance policy'. However, today I wanted to test her out on distance for the creance. And distance to the lure.
I've been working with her on the road that runs in front of my home. It is a country road with very minimal traffic. It allows me to use the creance with no problem of it tangling, but is also far enough away from all the large trees on my property. The last place that I usually work my hawks is a nearby park (Nelson Park) that allows me to use the double over of the creance, for a full 100 yards of distance. I will also usually test my hawks with a crowd of people. When they ignore all that, and come to my call, I know they are safe to fly free.
Her weight, pre-training, was 2 lbs, 9.2 oz (41.2 oz). This is her lowest weight yet. She's been spending time in her weathering yard, and does a lot of bating when in there. I've watched her from inside the house, and discovered that she is quite capable of returning to the bow perch, if she wants to. But instead she chooses to remain on the ground after a bate. The cold on her feet (standing in ice and snow) and the repeated bates causes her to burn her calories, so she's ready for training every day.
I set her up, and upon my first call, she hopped right to the fist. I then ran out to about 1/4 the distance of the creance. She paused for only a short time, thinking about the distance, and then came to my call. OK, out to half the creance. Again, pretty quick response. Big test now, run all the distance of the creance (50 yards). She came with very little hesitation. I then decided to test her lure response while she was still hungry. I went out half the distance of the creance, and swung the lure. She came off her perch right away, and landed a short distance from the lure, and then walked the rest and footed the lure. I came to stand next to her while she pulled the mouse off the lure and ate it. It is important for her to also be comfortable with me standing right next to her while she eats on the ground, and for her to know that I will not steal her food from her. When she was done with her mouse, I called her up to my fist for a tidbit, and stepped over the lure so I could pick it up and tuck it back into my bag. I returned her to her perch, and went out the full distance of the creance. I then swung it one more time, with a small hunk of rabbit. She responded, but did fly over me and landed a short distance on the ground behind me. But she did then walk to the lure and eat the rabbit attached.
There is still more work to do, to perfect her responses, but today I saw definite progress. Today is day 25 since trapping. It is amazing the changes from a frightened hawk on the trap, to one who responds quickly, and flies willingly to me for her food reward. Many techniques, some ancient, some modern, to change a wild creature's response to a willing hunting partner. Soon, very soon we'll be out chasing bunnies . . . Together!
1 Comments:
At 12:44 PM,
Tom Kufahl said…
Well, see? I did actually make it here. With all this information and contact, I just realized that I want to start falconry/probably spelled wrong. I think I shall start looking for my falcon today. Am I really kidding? No, I think I shall start looking for my hawk today, and I'll worry about the law tomorrow or the day after :)
Oh.. I loved seeing Abby, although I haven't made any video for quite awhile. Maybe I haven't made video because I've been freaking out over the Floreado Spanish Timbrado in America. I think I was surely too severe to the CWWCBCWCCBCCWB group. I wasn't talking about them, I should assure them, I'm merely talking about everyone else.
Have a good hawk day. supposed to get warm again?
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