A friend asked why I couldn't hunt during the molt, since hawks in the wild have to eat, why does Hope have to stop hunting? Here is the answer.
A human that is starved, or if you would prefer, deprived of food, loses weight by feeding on its fat cells, and if carried far enough, its muscle tissue. In a human it takes weeks for that to occur. In a Raptor it can be less than a 24 hour period. In a Harris Hawk about 48 hours. The food or its carrier, the blood, is withdrawn from its extremities, in the raptors case the blood in the growing feathers. This also creates a "hunger Streak". The result is the same whether it is from Shock or food deprivation.
A feather that is growing is filled with blood. If that flow is interrupted then the feather grows out with a "shock mark" all across it. It is therefore weakened and will break at that point under any serious stress. Of course a raptor with damaged feathers loses aerodynamics and ability to maneuver.
A raptor in the wild will carry at least 10 percent more body weight than one in captivity. A fat bird, (one in the wild) is basically either too lazy, or unwilling, to seriously pursue to the extent that it is able to catch prey. That same bird in captivity at that same weight is also the one that will go sight seeing or sit on a pole and reduce the falconer to begging and unrealistic promises to get it to return to the fist.
Now granted Hope was way more than willing to overlook the hunger requirements, and I could most likely keep her growing feathers from the flaws that could come from not enough food. I doubt that the same could be said for the more active and faster metabolism raptors.
As of this time Hope is most likely in the 1200 gram weight range. She is heavy enough that she wheezes much like I do just from the fat packed on her body. She has just now dropped her first feather. I went out to pick her up this morning to put her out in the weathering area. I offered her the heart and lungs of a rabbit that she had killed and she refused to step on the fist. :-) Then when I forced her to step up, she showed no interest in the food.
The molt is triggered by two things, sunlight, or length of the day, and a comfortable weight cushion. Hope has just reached both the levels so that a molt has been triggered.
The other thing that perhaps I need to clarify concerns my statement concerning Jack Rabbits coming into the breeding season, and my unwillingness to hunt them at this time. I like to think and do believe that falconers have developed a bit higher level of a code of ethics than most hunters. I know that one of the things that I try to instill in any novice, that I sponsor in Falconry, is a reverence for the quarry and the raptors that we work with. The only time that I try to stack the odds in my hawks favor is for the one that is just starting. Once they are made to game it is an insult both to the prey and the raptor to choose a situation that the prey has no opportunity to escape. A flight that the Duck or Jack is able to escape is valued just as much as the one that the Hawk won.
A falconer that I know questioned why I did not continue hunting right on through the breeding season for Rabbits, since they were so common and in some species, an introduced species. My explanation to him is about as good as I could do, so I have copied my letter to him. While I do not harbor any belief that I am right and he is wrong, It is just not right for me.
As for the prey species, I suppose that we will just have to disagree. While scientifically I suppose that my draw on the wild species of Jacks will not make any more inroads on the situation than is covered in the wild. All excesses will be drawn off by nature, and it is unlikely that my efforts will be even noticed by any one, or thing, other than myself.
I suppose that my main objection to hunting at times of maximum vulnerability is more of a principal than reality. I just don't need it and actually my goal is not a headcount, but a raptor than can out perform its best opposition.
My up bringing was by a man who revered wildlife, and was a superb hunter. Through the efforts of his and my mothers hunting ability we were able to eat and eat well. I never had beef that wasn't on a hamburger bun before I was 19 years old. I was taught to revere wildlife, and to waste nothing. I consume one way or another every thing that I kill, and am very grateful for the wildlife and dedicated to maintaining a healthy population so that I can continue to have some, available to kill when I need it next. My parents instilled in me a reverence for all life whether it is a Rabbit or a human. It is perhaps a "romantic notion", but to me it is a matter of ethics, both for the sport, and the way I live.
I do know, and have witnessed, that excessive hunting pressure can effect the amount of wildlife in an area. Are either you or I likely to attain that level of pressure? Certainly not with Hawks.
Be well!
