In Game: vs. Wright State

[raptorcat]

Chapter Four of the Falconry Chronicles: The Training Process (for both Falconer and Hawk, alike)

Larry and I went on a few more hunts with Beauregard, and the little bird continued to impress me. He was a marked contrast to Cindy's BIG female Redtail, Peach, who hunted with a more calculated, deliberate style. Beau just rushed right in as soon as he sighted his quarry, which gave him the element of surprise, but meant that he didn't have time to think things through and would be outwitted by the squirrel. Larry said this seemed to be a trait of male RT's, and over the years I have come to agree with this observation. (Several years later, while on a falconry outing with Stedman Lyles and his wife, Cissi at Davidson's Lake Campus, I passed these thoughts on to them and Cissi pursed her lips, shook her head, and said, "Why am I not surprised?") I decided that when the time came to trap my own bird, I wanted a female. They were just so large, so magnificently regal, so ... imposing.

Eventually, Larry decided I might make a decent falconer, and he offered to be my sponsor. By this time, the falconry season was winding down; the season is from October 15 to March 1, and then it's time to put the birds up in their mews so they can begin the annual molt. During the spring and summer months, they gradually shed all of their feathers and grow new ones, and falconers let their birds rest and become relatively fat so their new feathers will be nice and strong.

In the meantime, it was time for me to begin studying for the Wildlife Commission exam and to think about building my mews. Since Mrs. Raptorcat always harbored doubts about my level of commitment to this all-consuming sport, I decided it would be best to prove to her I could pass the exam before expending the cash outlay for the construction of the mews. Fortunately, there were a few resources available as study guides. The exam is based on a national model that all states use and the California Falconers 'Association published an exam study guide. Also, a website called "The Falconer's Apprentice" was helpful with terminology and other, more obscure topics such as raptor parasitology. The exam covered broad topics that ranged from species identification and traits to raptor health topics, to falconry terminology and equipment. Species identification and traits were relatively easy for me; I'd always had a knack for that kind of thing. Falconry terminology was both arcane and nonsensical, but I gradually got my head around it. Raptor diseases, wound treatment, and parasitology remained a concern, and I remember getting a friend to drive me to the Wildlife Commission headquarters in Raleigh while I crammed for the exam, trying to recall the symptoms of bumblefoot and aspergillosis, and how to treat disorders such as sour crop.

I arrived at the appointed time for the exam. The young woman who worked with the falconry licensure program was exceedingly beautiful (albeit not very friendly), and I had been warned about this distraction. But I wish she'd been an old battleaxe who was more prepared to receive me. First, she couldn't find a copy of the exam, and I had to politely wait while she shuffled through the papers on her desk and looked in various cabinets. When she finally found the exam after fifteen minutes of searching and muttering, it consisted of 100 multiple-choice questions and it didn't take me long to complete it; at this point, I either knew the answers or I had no clue. Perhaps as a way of making amends, she offered to grade it right there but then she couldn't find the key that contained the answers. All she said was, "Oh, well. The answers look right. I'm sure you passed. I'll mail you the results." I returned home, relieved yet jittery by this rather anticlimactic result. But then when weeks passed and I didn't receive the results along with the issuance of my provisional license, I had to reach out to her. She had found the key but lost my exam ... again. It eventually got all straightened out, and I began with the second phase: the construction and approval of my mews.

The Wildlife Commission's requirements were straightforward enough. I had to build a minimum-sized flight chamber of 8' X 8' with a floor that was permeable, presumably to allow the hawk's mutes, a fancy term for poo, to soak into the substrate. It had to have a suitable perch with a window, plus a few more things I can't remember, but that was it. Larry told me that anything I built had to pass his personal standards, which would be tougher than what the Wildlife biologist would require. He insisted upon a separate chamber to keep my equipment and to house a small workspace, along with a refrigerator and freezer to keep the hawk's food. He also explained that this additional room would serve as an escape pod for me to get away from an angry or overly persistent hawk, which sounded portentous. (It turned out to be one of several very helpful things that Larry recommended, such as a pipe installed in the walls between the rooms to serve as a way to feed the hawk its meals without actually entering the chamber.) I also did my own research by visiting several online forums where I sought out suggestions. One forum featured an extremely opinionated and irascible older falconer in Texas, who actually had some excellent ideas about the exact placement of the perches in front of windows in the mews to discourage the bird from bating (which is the tendency of the bird to repeatedly leave its perch and fly at the window, thus potentially damaging its feathers, or worse). His suggestion worked like a charm, as none of my birds ever developed a tendency to bate. He also made some excellent suggestions about how to construct the perches in a way to mitigate the possibility of foot injuries. I wound up using those kids' pool noodles, sliced open lengthwise and placed on a broomstick or dowel, then spiral-wrapped with scrap leather I'd scrounged from somewhere. Raptor foot care is crucial to maintaining a healthy and hardworking hawk, and with my pool noodle contraption, I never experienced any foot ulcers with my birds.

I purchased one of those prefab utility buildings, built to my specifications, and had it delivered to my backyard. The overall dimensions were 16' X 12', with the flight chamber being 8' X 16' and the "escape pod" room being 4' X 16'. It had an airy Dutch barn-style roofline that prevented the hawk from being tempted to fly up to the rafters that an A-frame design would offer, thus becoming unreachable without a stepladder. This overall design gave me adequate room to work and the hawk's quarters were positively palatial, with two windows protected by small PVC bars. The hawk's night perch, set on one of the 16-foot walls about eight feet above the floor, would make the hawk feel safe when roosting at night (when they are most vulnerable in the wild from marauding owls -- more on this in a later chapter). Overall, it gave the hawk two perches and windows to fly back and forth and provided adequate space for the initial phases of its training. The piece de resistance was an elbow-jointed large PVC pipe with a cap on one end that I could shove a chunk of squirrel meat into, avoiding the need for someone to enter the flight chamber to feed it. I was set: Larry was pleased, and the Wildlife biologist was impressed. He passed the mews with no reservations or suggestions, saying it was a job well done. Mrs. Raptorcat was satisfied because she deemed it large enough for me to live out there with the hawk in case she ever banished me from the house. I was ready for my first hawk.

Up next: Locating and trapping my first wild Redtail.

Until then, GO CATS!

[DC69Wildcat]

Another masterpiece, following in the footsteps of T.H. White and Helen McDonald, and yes, I have read their works. White's The Goshawk is currently available on Kindle for $0.99.

[raptorcat]

I agree that White was a masterful writer, but as McDonald effectively argues in her book, White got it all wrong about how to train hawks.

[RestonCat]

Raptorcat, I’m enjoying these peeks into your avian obsession. Can’t wait to find out what happens in the next reel.

I’m the meantime, I look forward to what promises to be a high-flying, high-scoring affair—plenty of game, just not the squirrel kind.

Go Cats!

[MrMac]

Skog is a large part of our offense (and defense). He feel asleep on that play and gave WSU a free layup.

[MrMac]

I like the way we are drawing fouls. So unlike the past few years.

[i77cat]

1 of our first 5 free throws, as bad a possession as you'll ever see after winning a jump ball. Yet we're tied 14-14 at the under-12.

[Corpulent Cat]

Absolutely awful start - yet we are tied. If we quit turning it over and hit a FT or two we should be fine.

[MrMac]

Reed can do that all day, every day. The moves are there; the confidence is not...yet.

[MrMac]

Grant channeling his inner Jason Richards.

[MrMac]

Gotta love Sean's defense (except on that last play) but man, his offense....

[MrMac]

Bobby "Microwave" Durkin.

[BaseRich306]

What’s the deal with Jarvis?

[MrMac]

Started slow. Better at the half. Huffman, Durkin, and Skogman were very good.

[85Wildcatsky]

Decent half, defense still pretty bad.