Winter is here

This picture was not "Photo shopped", I only sharpened the image a bit. 

 This is the sunrise that we were blessed? with this morning. I checked and I didn't see any sailors  on the creek, but if there had been, they should have taken warning. I am sure your parents repeated this old saying when you were young. "Red sky in the morning, Sailors take warning'.

Well, it snowed a bit later in the day. While I didn't have to shovel the driveway, it was a reminder that the comforts of fall are fast slipping away.

 We had decided to not fly yesterday as the wind was much too brisk for the Harris' Hawks. Karen and I were on our own today, and at 6 PM we picked up the girls and started around the house to hunt some of the rabbits that hang around the house. Yogi decided to try to see if we would help her catch another Chicken, but we had our sights set on Jacks and were not any help at all. When we began chasing Jacks with Puddy, she decided to join us. It was just as well as she grabbed the first rabbit that we jumped.

We were walking into the Sun, and I stepped around these two thinking that they were just a boulder. This Jack was the first one that I have not had to kill. Apparently Yogi grabbed him in the chest and punched a hole in his heart, as he was dead by the time that I found them.

I guess I am going to have to cut Puddy's weight and take her out on her own for a while. She seems quite content to let Yogi make the catches and then just join in to get her chunk when one is caught. Some of her pursuits were plain pitiful.

We had gone through the field that borders the property to the West, and then started on the West side of the runway. There was a good group of rabbits in there, and just as I was about to take Puddy back home, she saw one sitting in a bush and slammed into the ground hard enough to cut her foot. I noticed blood dripping down the T perch, but when I checked her, it was nothing that required any attention.

It was getting a bit darker, so we turned back to the house. I was just about to go through the gate when Yogi flew off, and back behind us. A Jack had stayed hidden and let us walk past, but Yogi had seen him, and made a shot at him, but missed. Puddy saw where he was hiding and slammed into him hard. Yogi was the back up this time. We gave them their meal instead of a front leg, and while they were busy, I cleaned rabbits.

If you look close at the jacks in the sink, you will get some idea of the wounds inflicted by the girls. The Jack on the right was actually at least a year old, and the one that was killed out right. He had a substantial amount of fat on his body.

These are the wrapped packages ready for the freezer and destined to feed the girls through the molt. The two Jacks supplied 11 meals, plus chunks  and tidbits for the next hunt. Nothing is wasted, and all appreciated.