Okay,
I've decided to start this blog so my family and friends can see all the fun I'm having with my red-tailed hawk Musket. After hunting three times last season (she was a late capture, but more on that later) we are in the off season. She is spending her days molting (loosing her old worn out feathers and growing new ones) and eating like a pig. She has lost her fear of me, but now has decided that she just has to sit and look pretty to get her meal, no performing necessary. I let her have a few stress-free months off without expecting much of her, except that she not attack me when I bring her her daily meal, but now I'm asking her to eat off my glove again, no pressure, just take the food off my glove and eat it. I've been doing this for a week now and she has gone from unapproachable to at least tolerating my hand near her food again. She'll make a quick grab for the food off my glove with her foot and then casually eat it at her leisure, not giving me the time of day. It's enough for now, but I can't wait to start working with her again!
We got a quota to hunt the archery season at Camp Blanding this year. She still has most of her tail to molt in and does not seem to be in any hurry to do it, so I don't know how prepared we will be for that weekend at the end of September, but the goal is to be hunting by the 25th of September, so wish me luck!
Next post I'm going to start from the beginning with this bird, for my own benefit so when I re-train her to hunt I can remember the steps we took to get there the first time, and so you all can see just how fun it is!
3 comments:
This is such an awesome picture! The picture looks like one of those professional ones from a magazine. She looks gorgeous. Can't wait until other pics come up!
Hey Anni! I'm so excited about your blog! I can't wait for more posts, how did you go about catching Musket?
I'll go into detail on how I caught Musket in a later post. It was very exciting. Thanks for asking!
Post a Comment