Yogi carries the load

YOGI AND PUDDY

Karen and I picked up Tami and Reuben at their house and headed out to the field that we found the last time the girls flew.

We waded out to the field and began our walk. The first rabbit that flushed Yogi pulled hair, but it managed to get away from her. Puddy is still on welfare and waiting for Yogi to catch one so that she can join in.

 Its rather peculiar that this year Puddy really putS on the weight and Yogi loses when fed the same amount. Puddy is a bit fat, but she does help with the kills. Yogi could get along without her, but Pud will turn on sometime soon. I am just going to have to turn a few of her screws a bit tighter. Last year she caught three times the rabbits that Yogi did. Not so this year. With today's totals Yogi has 7 more kills than Puddy.

The next rabbit that jumped Yogi burned down so fast that she overshot it. Puddy made a shot, and the rabbit ducked behind a bush, and tried to freeze. He didn't take into account that Yogi had turned for another shot and was not fooled at all. Yogi grabbed him where he was hiding, and Puddy grabbed him in the head. When I got there Yogi was pulled up tight to one end of the bush, and Puddy was on the other side. Reuben and I had to break the Sage bush apart to get Yogi free.

This was the view that Karen had.

 The other side of the bush

 I finally got the both on the same side and got things sorted out. I gave each a front leg to eat while I cleaned the rabbit. Reuben helped and used his knife, so that I wouldn't cut myself again. :-) I need all the help that I can get. Between hawk talons and my own klutziness , my hands are a mess. Oh well, I at least haven't started drooling yet.

We stood around a bit waiting for the girls to finish their meals, and get their minds around the idea of chasing some more rabbits. After a bit of time I thought they might be ready to hunt again. We picked  them up and started off again. They watched a couple of rabbits run off without any response, then Yogi remembered that she hadn't had enough rabbit and could hold a bit more. She gave chase and missed one that ran up a bit of a hill. She sat on a bush, and did not seem to want to come back. We had seen a rabbit run out of that area and assumed that it had been the one that she was chasing. She showed no indication that she was going to leave the area at all, even though we had gone quite a ways from her. Finally she was so far back that I either needed to get her to come or go get her. We were watching and trying to get her to come to us, when she started her "There is a damn rabbit hiding here" call, and Puddy immediately started her way. Before she could get there Yogi took off and dove into the ground about 15 feet in front of her. Two rabbits busted out and ran off, but she didn't get up again. Tami thought that she saw some dust where she had gone in to the brush, so I did my best imitation of a sprint where she had gone down. Puddy had gone to the ground but not where Yogi was. When I arrived I found Yogi with both feet on a Jack's head.  

Puddy was standing off, as Yogi obviously had the head and there wasn't any where to grab. They are very good that way. I know I have mentioned it before, but if one has the rabbit in the butt, the other will take the head. However if the catching Hawk has the rabbit by the head, the other will not go in at all.

I was finally able to untangle her and stretch the rabbits neck and put him out of his misery. Yogi got another leg and Puddy got nothing.

I believe that I have told you how big and strong Yogi is before. Here if you will notice that Yogi having grabbed the Jack by the head with both feet has popped one of his eyeballs out. Quite a grip indeed.

After she ate that leg, we went on and made one more circle back to the gate to exit the field. I really wanted Puddy to catch something, and felt that two front legs might slow Yogi down enough that Puddy might be able to catch one on her own. Well that was just wishful thinking, she was still not trying very hard.

We came upon evidence that we were not the only ones using this field for a food source. An Eagle had eaten his dinner in the top of this Sage bush.

We were walking back to the fence to to leave the field, when another Jack jumped and Yogi gave chase.

She pulled hair out of another one. This bird this year has finally come into her own. She caught two Jacks, ate two full front legs and pulled hair out of two more Jack Rabbits. Her understanding and cunning in finding hiding game is unparallelled compared to any other hawk that I have ever flown.

JESSIE

Jess has been surprisingly indifferent about killing anything this year. She did catch a Duck opening day, but since then has not been motivated to duplicate that feat again. I have kept her way down in weight compared to years past, hoping that her behavior would be a bit better. As I have said before, she is a bit cranky and independent in her thinking normally.

I flew her yesterday at the Lake a bit earlier than normal, and unfortunately did not find much more than a bunch of Coots on it. I gave her  some Starling on the lure, and rather than come to the fist for the rest of her meal she elected to fly off and make another circle of the pond before she came back down to the lure and more food. I decided that I would fly her again today and raise her weight a bit to see if that would help. I really couldn't have gone much lower than the weight that she was carrying.

I rolled out the plane this afternood to check on locations of the ducks, and found that the ditch was almost empty and the only place that was holding any ducks at all was the lake.

At 6 PM we picked up Grace and went to the Lake. I put her in the air and we walked up on the Lake. I was surprised to find that a flock of about 40 Wigeon had arrived from points North and were sitting on the Lake. It took some doing, but I finally got them off far enough of the water that she could slam one into the ground. She made a short throw up and grabbed him.

He was not dead, so I clipped her up and tried to give her the head so that she could kill it. She didn't like that, and proceeded to kill my hand. Karen tried to put the telemetry receiver between us and ended up being the recipient of the other foot. I then had to release her, which meant that I got it again. Have I mentioned that Jessie is a bit cranky?  I finally got things straightened out and her back on the duck, but not before we were both leaking quite a bit. Stupidity and masochistic tendencies are a big help in this sport, at least as I practice it.