Hope's 7th Day

Hope has consistently wanted to eat each day. Jack Rabbit is rich food. Lots of calories. Yet each day her stomach has been empty and the digestive juices have colored her mutes green, indicating that she needs food. It would appear that her metabolism is the type that falconers pray for. A fat hawk is generally a rude hawk, that just doesn't need you. If you recall I was always bellyaching about Lee not eating much. Well Hope is on the opposite end of the metabolism scale. She puts food over quickly, and burns it just as fast. A hawk that is hungry learns fast. This is the reason that Hope has made as much progress as she has.

I left her in the house today while I did all the things that keep this place going. If you spend the day bored then someone comes along that has goodies, you tend to appreciate the time that you spend with them just a bit more.

The dogs and I went out to do chores this morning, and Josie kept rattling around at the hanger. There is an unused sheet of roofing, and I could hear her banging it trying to get to what ever was hiding under it. When I finished what I was doing I went to see if I could flush the ?Rat? that was hiding behind it. I pulled it up and there was this cute little bunny. Snap, Josie had him dead quicker than either the rabbit or I could move. Gosh I love that dog! I patted her on the head, praised her and took the rabbit in the hanger and laid it down with all the Jacks that I had not yet frozen.

I had gotten a stump and my hatchet to remove the feet of the Jacks that I am putting in the Hawk freezer, so that they wouldn't take up so much room. The freezer is pretty small, so I need all the room I can get. I had frozen half of them last night, and it was time to put the rest in the freezer. When I put the last one in, I turned and the Bunny was gone. I knew right where to find it. Josie had picked up "her" bunny and taken it out on the lawn, laid it down and lay down with it. That is what she does with the Rats and Mice that she kills. I went in, got her a dog biscuit, broke it in little pieces and fed them to her. Then I took the bunny back.

I prefer to "gorge" my hawks at least once a week. Then they fast the next day. They look forward to getting all the food that they can hold, and the day without food allows them to empty out and look forward to the next time you feed them. It is time for Hope to get a good full crop, and the Bunny is perfect for that. It has few enough calories that she will put it over quickly and not gain that much weight. The main lesson that I want Hope to learn is that I am the source of food, sometimes lots of good food.

She reluctantly walked to me the first day, then a bit quicker the next. I was sure that today she would jump to the fist quite readily. Especially once she began bating towards me when I was preparing Venison for dinner, and dropping bits of Venison scraps for the Cat.

When it was time to feed her, I skinned the bunny and cut it in half, and took the head with me as a "tiring". ( tough chunk of meat that the hawk has to work at to eat. Builds muscle and makes them feel that they had more food than they actually get.)  I picked her up and took her outside. I could tell that she was wanting me to get on with it, so I relented and put her on the hot tub cover. I flicked a piece of meat near her, and she went for it with no hesitation. I then put a piece on my glove and she wasted no time in hurrying over to get it.

I did that with about three pieces, then moved back enough that she could not reach the fist. Once she thought about it a bit, she jumped to the fist to get it.

Then again with no hesitation. I called her three times and the third time I had the bunny half in my fist for her.

I let her eat all that and before she finished, I slipped the head in my fist, so that she would have uninterrupted food.

Bunny gets a bit dry, so a little water helps it go down better.

You can see the crop that she is carrying, and she was never able to finish off the head totally. Karen sat with her while I scrounged up another tarp to put in the line of fire, since she will have lots of ammunition over night.

We put her up on her perch, a happy and contented little girl. Tomorrow I will not handle her at all except to put her out in the weathering area overnight.