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I wanted to get this blogged immediately, but the flu struck me hard over the weekend and I wasn’t able to actually sit down and get this typed out.
We experienced several nights of freezing weather last week. In fact, I think it was hard enough to finally kill the lemon trees, so much for growing citrus in North Florida… sigh. Well, those cold cold nights were enough to take Musket’s weight down to where she could be hunted again. I decided that I would get everything ready so once the morning hit, we’d be able to hunt squirrels in the yard without having to go outside. Musket was eager, she was armed with new bells and a hungry attitude. She was as low as she’s been the entire season. I was pumped.
Two squirrels were casually raiding my feeders surrounded by maybe 100 local birds (they empty our feeders every day now). Hazen came armed with his air rifle to wound the squirrel if I needed him to in order to give my handicapped bird a fighting chance. We came around the house beside the RV and everything that was in the yard took off for cover. Musket put herself in a high tree, and didn’t immediately make for the squirrel as it blindly ran across the yard. Undaunted, I went searching for the squirrel, intent to flush it or work my bird around it. It had lodged itself at the base of one of the tall pine trees. Hazen asked me to walk forward to scare it away from me towards him so he could take a shot. Instead of hanging on to the tree, it decided to make a break for it and jumped off the tree across the bare ground. Hazen was standing aiming at it, knowing he didn’t have a prayer to hit it, however, there was this hawk, who happened to be in perfect position, a bullet with a set of eyes! She came diving out of this tree onto this squirrel and nailed it, dead on. It happened lightning fast! I rushed over to protect my bird from gnawing squirrel teeth (they can be nasty) and pulled him off of chewing the back of her leg. Then I just held on until he gave it up.
I clipped Musket in so I’d have her secure in case she decided to take her prize into a tree, which I’m glad I did because after she settled, she did try to carry it away. After a couple of tries, I finally managed to trade her off to a chicken neck, but later in her mews I gave her the whole squirrel, her prize. She was full from the meal of chicken I gave her as a reward, but that didn’t stop her from protecting her rightful kill. She spent the next two days on the ground with it, hunching over every time I came near to take a picture or to check on her. By Monday, there was nothing left, and she was fat and happy. It was amazing. I feel like I have finally arrived, like finally, after all this time, I can call myself a falconer.
We experienced several nights of freezing weather last week. In fact, I think it was hard enough to finally kill the lemon trees, so much for growing citrus in North Florida… sigh. Well, those cold cold nights were enough to take Musket’s weight down to where she could be hunted again. I decided that I would get everything ready so once the morning hit, we’d be able to hunt squirrels in the yard without having to go outside. Musket was eager, she was armed with new bells and a hungry attitude. She was as low as she’s been the entire season. I was pumped.
Two squirrels were casually raiding my feeders surrounded by maybe 100 local birds (they empty our feeders every day now). Hazen came armed with his air rifle to wound the squirrel if I needed him to in order to give my handicapped bird a fighting chance. We came around the house beside the RV and everything that was in the yard took off for cover. Musket put herself in a high tree, and didn’t immediately make for the squirrel as it blindly ran across the yard. Undaunted, I went searching for the squirrel, intent to flush it or work my bird around it. It had lodged itself at the base of one of the tall pine trees. Hazen asked me to walk forward to scare it away from me towards him so he could take a shot. Instead of hanging on to the tree, it decided to make a break for it and jumped off the tree across the bare ground. Hazen was standing aiming at it, knowing he didn’t have a prayer to hit it, however, there was this hawk, who happened to be in perfect position, a bullet with a set of eyes! She came diving out of this tree onto this squirrel and nailed it, dead on. It happened lightning fast! I rushed over to protect my bird from gnawing squirrel teeth (they can be nasty) and pulled him off of chewing the back of her leg. Then I just held on until he gave it up.
I clipped Musket in so I’d have her secure in case she decided to take her prize into a tree, which I’m glad I did because after she settled, she did try to carry it away. After a couple of tries, I finally managed to trade her off to a chicken neck, but later in her mews I gave her the whole squirrel, her prize. She was full from the meal of chicken I gave her as a reward, but that didn’t stop her from protecting her rightful kill. She spent the next two days on the ground with it, hunching over every time I came near to take a picture or to check on her. By Monday, there was nothing left, and she was fat and happy. It was amazing. I feel like I have finally arrived, like finally, after all this time, I can call myself a falconer.
It would not let me upload my video of trading Musket off of her squirrel. I've posted it on YouTube. You can probably see it in the video bar next to this post.
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