Things have been a bit hectic here in the desert. Of course it is dryer than a popcorn fart. The weather has been just perfect if a little warm. Tough on hawking, but saving my woodpile, so I guess it isn't all bad. I am still at a total loss as to what has happened to the rabbits. Puddy will meet her new owner this coming Friday, and I feel a bit bad that I have not been able to get her in shape, but I just can't see beating all of us up and not finding anything to chase.
We had tried one of our really good fields in past years and saw only three Rabbits. There are some Alfalfa fields and we found Rabbits right around them. Not so this year. The fields, or rather "pastures" (Sage brush and Lava outcroppings ) that we went to today are bordering the fields near the Alfalfa, but further out. I have found that Jacks will travel fairly large distances to a food source. One would expect them to be gathered around a food source, with fewer and fewer Rabbits the further afield you go. Not so, they have territories just like all the other critters in the wild, and while they will tolerate those passing through, they are not allowed to stay. Just like every thing else, the biggest, gets the best.
The area that we went to today is about 1/2 mile or more away from the Alfalfa. We parked the rig and began to spread out to cover as much ground as possible. Jacks are pretty good at hiding, and it is necessary to make them too nervous to sit still. We jumped one right away, and he managed to escape just barely. Both girls were really trying hard, and I was a bit surprised that he managed to escape them both.
The girls were both anxious to catch something, and would fly to what ever vantage point that they thought might put them in a better position. You will notice that Karen and I both have a camera that we are taking shots with. Hers was set on the "Sunset" setting, and the pictures were more true to life, and a lot richer in color. The one below is from her camera. The next is mine, set on "landscape".
The Lava outcroppings made good vantage points, and they take advantage of them when they can.
In total we managed to jump about 8 Rabbits in an hour walk. Finally Yogi started after one, and it of course doubled back under her. There was only one problem, Puddy was riding on my Tee perch, and she saw the Rabbit before he knew that there was two birds in the area. She slammed into him, and as usual the Jack tried to scrape her off in the Sage bush. Yogi cinched the deal by grabbing him in the butt on the other side of the bush.
You might find it hard to believe that there are two Harris Hawks and one Jack Rabbit in that tangled picture.
Puddy has the head, and Yogi on the other side of the bush has him in the butt.
This is the Yogi side of the bush. She just grabs and lays down. That way she can exert more pressure, and doesn't get kicked or drug through the bush as easily.
This is the two of them eating their reward, side by side while I take care of the Jack. They are eating Coyote, as that is about all I have for food this year. It is a bit funny in a wry sort of a way. Yogi hates Coyotes, so she might even prefer the taste, but neither of my dogs, Betsy or Josie will eat the meat. They like Rabbit, but will not eat Coyote. Frank our obese Cat thinks they taste good. The other one, Tiger, will not eat it either. Harris Hawks will eat Carrion if there is nothing else, so I can't see wasting "ole Wiley", just because I want his hide. Jessie will not eat it however.
Karen and I had a pretty good hunt. It was warm enough that we had to strip down to our Tee shirts, and even then I worked up a sweat, but who is complaining. It could be a lot worse, a Jack in the bag, both Hawks and falconers healthy. It really doesn't get a lot better.
