Like Joel Katz of Bedlam Farm Journal, I think that the case of these horses, well- kept but attracting the attention and money of — I can’t soften it, deranged animal “Rights” activists, possibly backed by the money of cynical real estate interests– is emblematic of our “rather stupid time” (Ortega), and a preview of …
Tag: Animal Training
“Carrier” Pigeons and Pigeon Paraphernalia
So- called Carrier, ie messenger pigeons (sophisticated bird folks know they are Racing Homers, not the heavily wattled show bird of that name) have been in the news a lot lately. Reid sent this article about a lost WW II messenger from the legendary Code and cryptography center Bletchley Park discovered in an English chimney; …
Jean Craighead George and Jim Marti: RIP
Old friends and heroes are dying faster than I can write about them. Jean Craighead George, author of one of my favorite childhood books*, My Side of the Mountain, and sister to the even better- known conservationists and falconers , the twin brothers Frank and John, died last week at 92. NYT here , Wiki …
Raising babies
Retrieverman is raising a new pup, with a mirror for “company” when alone. I use an analogous technique with baby falcons. But with Post Office bears:I also feed them from a timed automatic cat feeder to eliminate begging, and keep them in that kid’s swimming pool in the living/ computer room 24- 7, with dogs, …
Tidbit
Hawk is learning fast. He actually JUMPED to me after this pic– with his weight completely un- reduced! Has anyone any name ideas? Somehow it has always been difficult for me to name birds…
Old Bird
Last week, Anne Price of the REF e- mailed to tell me that her Harris tiercel Indiana Jones had died, very much of old age and attendant frailties. Anne: “This morning I said goodbye Indiana Jones, a.k.a. Indi, my Harris Hawk. I would be lying if I said I weren’t sad, but he was kind …
How to make (this) bird happy…
The peregrine (who I sometimes call Bella II after an older bird of the same breeding I once had, who moved to Utah ended up killing five- pound sage grouse though she only weighed about what this one does, 23 ounces) is pretty well trained now. She even has good manners. She never screams or …
Commonplace Book
From the Essays of Montaigne: “The men who serve us do so more cheaply than our falcons, our horses or our hounds, and they are less carefully looked after…what menial tasks will we not bow down to for the convenience of these animals! The most abject slaves, it seems to me, will not willingly do …
Training
I like my dogs & hawks to– literally– be able to share a lure or kill. For just one thing it makes the birds eagle- proof in the western field; for another it just makes everything easier. Ataika is a good teacher.
Progress?
As several readers who communicate outside of the blog know, the redheaded falcon has been extremely wild and difficult. I had decided to send him back to the breeder and was feeding him to repletion every night. But, as his weight rose, against all expectations he got tamer and tamer. He is now butter- fat, …