Nov 10, a first for Hope.

 I am afraid that the title is a bit over blown. Yes Hope did catch her first Quail of her career, but in truth the success was more the fault of the Quail than in her prowess. What the heck, even the success that comes of Happenstance, is better than none at all. It all still counts as one. I have never taught her that she can catch winged quarry. She will try for them on the ground, but when they fly, she forgets about them. I have been content with that arrangement.

Jack Rabbits don't have horns, no matter what you have been told, so the only trophy that they possess is their tails. They pull off easily and don't stink so they serve to keep me honest. My memory banks are full of trivia so there is not all that much room for things such as how many rabbits my hawk has caught this year, so exaggeration can easily get away with me. By keeping the tails right in plain sight, they assist me in my quest to be humble.

I decided that a different angle would better allow comparison, so I put them both on the floor. As you can see at the top of the picture that I had an interloper, who himself aspires to be a great hunter, and was actively stalking what he perceived to be his prey.  The string on the right is this years count. The ones on the left is last years total. 

The Quail head may end up stinking for a bit, as the kitten has no problem sorting out the one tidbit that should be tasty. I had to choke the little sucker out to retrieve my trophy Quail head, just added today. 

Connie is off to the Valley this week and I am "kitten sitting". These two characters are of course charming, while still being challenging. However you need to keep a wary eye out, or they might attack when your back is turned.

I had attempted to hunt Hope yesterday, but she did not seem all that interested. I did change hats, and I am not sure if that is why she chose to not stay on my fist, but return to her perch, It didn't matter. We didn't go hunting.

Today she was anxious to hunt. The wind is due to come up and we are supposed to have a bit of snow, so I went out a bit earlier than usual. She got a flight while I was still walking to the fence, but missed. I crossed the fence and hadn't gone very far when I heard a Coyote yipping an alarm call not very far away. Well that was just great, having to hunt a field that has been worked by a Coyote is not one of the best ways to find an unwary victim, especially since it kept up a constance warning yipping at us. We did find at least two highly motivated Rabbits to chase, with no success, even while the Coyote was yelling his fool head off.

I was zigging and zagging all over the Sage, when Hope launched off the Tee perch and slammed into the ground. Two Quail flushed out of the skimpy Sage, and then two more as I approached where she was crouching.

 

This was the first time she has actually connected with a Quail, usually they are in pretty heavy cover. there is not a lot of chance to see the Quail in her feet, as she kept her back to me. She had a few tidbits to reassure her out of the cup then jumped to the fist with the Quail when I held out my gloved fist.

The wind was coming up and I could not find a reason to continue. Our deal is, when she catches she gets to eat. It was time for me to live up to my end of the bargain. I traded her some Jack for the Quail, and we began our trip back to the house. She got her fill of Jack Rabbit, and I will have Quail for dinner.