Since the acquisition of such Raptors as Peregrines and Gyrfalcons from the wild has, in the past been impossible, we have had to learn how to interact and train captive bred raptors. This is the most difficult task possible. There are many pitfalls that do not occur with a wild caught Raptor. If you recall the earlier posts concerning Lee-Zard the Prairie Falcon, beginning in May. It was the culmination of many days and nights considering how to traverse the mine field of taking a baby falcon and ending up with a hunting companion that was as minimally mentally scarred as possible. The difficult part is teaching that if you don't kill, you don't eat. Since the "eyass" (meaning baby) raptor thinks you are its mother, it stands to reason that you are the source of food. If it is hungry, it demands that you give it food. After all your its mother, right?
Stripped to its basics, the term, trained Hawk, implies that one has conditioned a raptor to accept a human as a hunting partner. The better falconers have learned how to get a raptor to accept their presence and to be aware that the human will enable them to catch game. Some of this is through repetition and hunger management, with a little Stockholm syndrome thrown in.
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Stockholm+syndrome
(you may have to copy and paste)
The success of this endeavor can be enhanced by the age that the raptor is taken, but also by the species. Not all raptors are created equal. Some, such as the Coopers Hawk, are wound so tight that it takes little for one of them to go over the edge into total insanity. Some are virtually un-trainable. The key to being able to hunt one of them is to have it so accustomed to your presence that it is totally comfortable in your presence. No easy feat, I might add. In the case of Accipiters, one is much better off not taking an eyass, rather waiting until it is hunting on its own.
Other species naturally seem to be designed for falconry, such as the Peregrine Falcon. The British, who did most of the early notable works on Falconry, valued it above all others. Primarily because they naturally hunt from a height. Thus most of the time being in a position to take advantage of the falconer and his dogs flushing game for them to catch.
This of course is the key factor in hunting with a Hawk- having it being ready and willing to catch what ever the falconer flushes for it, as well being able to recover it when it has done so.
Over the course of my life I have had many Hawks and some Falcons. Having the ability to remember, honestly and without excuses, my actions and the results, has given me a bit of an edge in Falconry. I have drawn some conclusions as to how to find and encourage the behavior that I need in a raptor that I intend to hunt with. Now having spent my life with rather limited means to acquire the "better" strain of raptors, it has taken a bit longer to compile any useful knowledge of the subject. I do not lay claim to being an "expert", it is totally possible that I could be as full of shit as a Christmas Turkey.
I am afraid that this discussion is a bit deeper than I can adequately explain in a short written message such as this, since there are many variables that could influence the discussion. I will do my best however.
The age a raptor is taken from its mother influences the outcome of training almost from day to day. Taken at 19 days old a Peregrine could either become an imprint, or just a dual socialized raptor. In other words it would know that it was a Hawk, but thinks that you might be a distant relative. One taken at 35 days old will be merely an unskilled version of a fully grown Hawk. An imprint can best be described as the little lap dog that will go crazy if you get close to its mistress. Unthinking, and very demanding. Not very pleasant in something with a sharp beak and eight very sharp talons, not to mention very loud vocal chords.
I should add that what I am looking for, is a raptor that knows what it is, and is comfortable enough with its life that it neither fears nor disrespects you. It does not long for freedom, or is dissatisfied with its life. With that accomplishment the only limiting factor is its innate ability to catch game and yours to present the game. That stage for a Peregrine is about 28 days old. In Prairie Falcons the age would be 22 days. Gyrs and Hybrids would be about 38 days old.
The way to achieve this level is through the age that it is taken. Too early and it is an imprint. Too late and the feathers can suffer through shock marks, ( a weakening of the feather shaft due to the withdrawal of the blood that feeds them. Occurring through the shock and fear brought on by handling)
It is only when you have accomplished such as described above that you see the bird for what it actually is. A raptor that is uncomfortable around you, will not show you its true self. It will always hold back, or be reserved in its reaction with you. In many ways you can get away with some mishandling of an older bird, that you could not with one taken at the time that I describe.
In Accipiters such as Goshawks, Coopers and Sharpshins, none of this is needed. Falcons can benefit, having descended from totally different stock they have different reactions and thinking processes. Plus they are readily available in the wild, there is no need to jump through unnecessary hoops, although some will continue to do it.
I have mentioned many times that Jessie is a character. She can be described that way because she has reached a level that she is totally acclimated to her life with me. She unfortunately treats me the way that she would a mate. She is totally trustworthy in the field. I don't have to look for her when I go to flush. She will be there. She however does not like to spend the nights outside, preferring the comfort and safety of her night perch in my shop. If she thinks that I have treated her unfairly she will not hesitate to attack me with beak and claw. She has so far laid about 38 eggs unsolicited or fertilized, by me.
For the most part she is a hard working, very determined hunting falcon. She will, as long as there is game take a pitch over Ducks as many times as is necessary to kill one. She will fly as long as she can, rest on a hill side when she needs to. Regaining her pitch when she has rested. She has killed three Geese, Sage Grouse and even attempted to take a Swan. She was lost when we first moved to Jordan for three days. She chewed her leash off and flew off with a swivel connecting her legs. Three days later she returned to the house and when I picked her up she had a full crop.
All of that makes her sound pretty good. In fact she is but like over achievers everywhere, she demands a price. If I am clumsy when she has killed a Duck, and show too much eagerness to secure her to my glove she will get pissed and stay pissed until the next time and I do better. She has attacked me three different times, because of my insecurity with caught game. If I wear a different hat than the one that she is used to, she calls alarm and won't let me touch her. If I get impatient and do not wait for her to step on the fist when I am moving her from her inside to her outside perch, she will bate from the fist and be cranky for at least a week. She has a well developed sense of dignity, and I had best treat her in accordance.
At this time of the year the raptors in my care spend the days in the weathering area, and the nights on their perch in the shop. This allows me to maintain a working contact with them, and in the case of Hope, the Harris Hawk, allows me to feed her without the counterproductive aspect of "tossing her food". I put their food on their outside perch and take them to it. This keeps Hope from making the connection of hands always having food in them. Harris Hawks are too smart and will sometimes get aggressive. It is best to not let that happen.
Since they are both molting, and the molt is triggered both by the time of the year and the amount of food, or their weight. Control is a fine line. Too much weight and the bird doesn't want to be bothered, and too little, the molt suffers.
Hope is not a problem. I stick my fist out and tell her to "get on" and she eventually will. The hungrier she is the more willing she is. If either bird will not get on, they don't go outside. Hope almost always will, but only takes one day without food to ensure that she is cooperative. Jessie is another matter. The key is to keep them as heavy as I can and still obtain cooperation.
Jessie's indicators that she is getting too heavy is, when I step outside the shop, she will bate off the fist. Once and she is close to too heavy. Twice and she is for sure too heavy. I then normally do not feed her the next day. She however has a tendency to try to set me up for failure. Now I do not ascribe to the Disney school of thought that critters think and reason as we do. With Jessie I would call it more think and un-reason. That is because we don't think the same. 2+2= 14 for her. In other words, most of us are too stupid to see the result of her thinking. Simplified, Raptors think in terms of strength. If I am strong enough, I will take what you have, and maybe your life. Paranoia is merely an advanced sense of reality. So no matter how many times you give your bird its meal, it still thinks that it stole it from you and you are only waiting for the chance to take it back.
Jessie, yesterday when I went to pick her up, looked at the fist, then looked up at me, as if to say NO! What are you going to do about it? Normally I pick up her jesses, put my fist on her perch and give the command, she will step on, softly talking to me. We then go outside, I tie her to her slider, set her on the tire and she will then fly to her perch and start eating her food.
If I get pushy and nudge her with my fist, she gets cranky. She will generally get on, but she is simmering with dignified outrage, that will soon come out as anger. The worst thing I can do is to scoop her up with her jesses. That comes with vocal outrage and eventual rebellion. So in the last few years, I have decided to take my cues from her. She is a bit like pushing a chain. You can try, but the result is generally messy.
The part that I find amusing is that you can see the gears turning in her little devious head. So anyway, yesterday she would not get on the fist. I stood there for a bit, even repeating the command. Nope! she would look at me, then look at the fist and stand stock still. I turned and left the room. Since the weather was good enough that I had gone out earlier than usual, I marked it up to that. You see, she is very conscious of time as well. 10 AM is the usual time, and 10 AM is when it should happen. I am not kidding! So I waited until 10 AM and went back out. It only took one look at her to know that she wasn't going to cooperate. At this point I was enjoying the contest of wills. I made the offer any way and of course she refused just as before. I left her there all day, and didn't approach her again.
This morning I went out, picked up Hope, and put her on her perch, but did not supply any food to her today. A bit too heavy after about 8 oz of Rabbit back strap yesterday. I approached Jessie and I could again see the rebellion in her stance. I offered, she refused, I walked away. I left her until we went out to exercise, and offered again. She looked at the fist, then at me, at this time it was OK to bump her legs a bit. She stepped on confident that she had made her point. She was a perfect lady while I tied her to her slider. She then went to eat her meal. The consequences are not so bad if we are not hunting. If we were hunting, she would have ignored the flush or just whiffed it, if I had offended her.
She will be a little angel for a while, then soon in the near future she will again set her trap to see if I still respect her.
Its too bad that Jessie came so late in my life with her lessons. I'm not sure if I have time enough to start another. Hawks are, basically simplified, better their first year than the second. While a Falcon will take as much as three years to develop a winning strategy that can be counted on each time.
Jessie seems to have recovered from whatever state of mind or malady that affected her the last two years, so I will take her up to hunt again this year. I can hardly wait.
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