Day 65: March 5, 2016 Chris and Jesse Go Falconing - Another Guest Writer

March 5, 2016

Day 65   Chris and Jesse Go Falconing- Another Guest Writer

On Tuesday, I, Jesse, and my brother Chris, went falconing with someone named Rob Giroux. Let me just tell you, I would not suggest anybody else. He loves doing this and he likes going with other people. At least he seemed like he did. He kept informing us with loads of information.

One of the pieces of information he shared was about predation; when another animal eats another one alive. He spoke of a hawk catching a rabbit. Rob said, "let me just tell you this, if one of my hawks catches a rabbit it's not gonna sound pretty."  It might not sound pretty but that's alright its the hawk's way. 

What I and Chris love about this, is that it's a team relationship. The hawk looks for the owner who goes around shaking squirrels' nests. "COME ON GET, GET OUT COME ON!", Rob would yell. The hawk just watches and waits and looks for squirrels and rabbits. And if Rob sees a squirrel or rabbit he yells, HOOO HOOO! The hawk has learned what this means because it then comes.

This begins the game of chess. The hawk carefully goes from branch to branch and drives the squirrel up the tree. Most trees split and make a "V" and there the squirrel tries to hide. It is rarely successful. The squirrel continues to go up the tree. The hawk comes in and BAM! The hawk has the squirrel.

The hawk comes down with the squirrel. Hawks eat their animals alive, remember, it is called predation. What Rob does then is he tries to trade a liver, or another organ, from a former dead animal so that he can take the squirrel from the hawk. It really is a magnificent thing and I will definitely pursue more falconing.

I will try to write about the training of the hawk and or falcon tomorrow.