Escaped Hawk

[Sky Spy]

:oops: After tethering my female Harris Hawk to the Bow Perch after the summer moult she bit through the heat sealed knot on her leash and escaped. She is flying around with a swivel and 2 jesses. After 4 days missing I have located her but she's taken residence right next to a pheasant pen. She obviously helped herself to supper as she looks fit as a fiddle and unresponsive to the many pheasants running beneath her. She is also to high in weight to fly back to the fist. How the hell do I get her back? Suggestions would be most welcome.

[HawkMan69UK]

trap net or peg out a pheasent in the middle of the feild tye a long string to the pheasant and when and if she comes down make a huge circle slowly wrapping around her legs its a long shot but if you dont do it soon she goona get caught up ggood luck

[ColdZero]

can't the pheasants be put somewhere safer? then wait for her to get hungry. Or put the pheasants in a barn etc and wait for her to follow and close the door? just random ideas...or maybe just climb the bloody tree and grab her

[Sky Spy]

Thanks for the response Coldzero but the pheasants are everywhere, in the pens , out the pens so isolating them isn't an option. Secondly, no buildings nearby. Tree also unclimbable.

Hawkman.

Nice idea but the grounds to rugged with gorse bushes for that to work.

I'll try and track her tomorrow see where she's lying roosting for the night, wait till it gets dark then get a friend to shine a torch at her then try and hook her from behind with long pole fitted with a hook.

Please keep the ideas coming in, I'll keep you posted what ever happens.

[OhMyGod]

you could open a carcass in the morning under the tree where she roosted.

Have the carcass covered in strong fishing line nooses so she will get her toes caught up on them when she comes down to feed. you will need 20 or 30 on a pheasant, but not big enough for her to get her head in and secure enough that they will not come off the carcass being trailed about behind her getting snagged on trees.

You will get your bird back this way, you will need to use fishing line and not creance line as the nooses need to be sticking up to be most effective.

good luck

[HawkMan69UK]

omg a bit like trapping a wild bird in the states ....good one

[Hawkmaster]

MOVED FROM THE BROADWING SECTION?

[Sky Spy]

Great news everybody, I've caught her. What a drama its was though. When I arrived at the pheasant pens I saw her straight away diving at the young pheasants but only half hearted attempts. I tried a tied up rabbit, tied up pheasant but to no avail. She just sat up a tree and watched. When I walked away she followed but wouldn't come near. So I climbed the tree she was up and got her interested in a chick I was holding. She eventually got close enough for me to grab her jesses. She wasn't happy but I am and she's safe. Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Bengal Owl]

good news ss glad you got her back

[Goose]

Happy days.............

[HawkMan69UK]

well done mate :D happy days

[Finnish]

Glad for you mate. I no what it's like lent my male HH out to some one they lost it was out for 9 weeks. When he rang me and said i got him back went striaght up there and got him. Well happy.


Finnish

[Wightwings]

brilliant.........now aint that just the best of feeling once you have them jesses secure.......well done pleased for you

[Albie]

Hi There SS, and well caught sir!
How did the catching of your Hawk now... compare with the first time you let her fly free?
When I caught my Owl after it went fly about for 6 days... and after all the wondering wether it had survived or not the feeling just to get it back was awsome!!
Well done mate..
Albie.. :wink:

[Sky Spy]

Believe me, knowing I only had one chance my adrenaline was racing. If I missed it was unlikely she'd give me a second oppertunity. In order to give myself the best chance I held a chick in my right hand so that she'd have to come across my body to get it and then I could grab her jesses with a bare left hand. You wouldn't believe how I felt after succeeding. I stood up the tree for several minutes thinking exactly that, not believing I'd caught her and all the worry was over. In answer to your question this felt worse than letting her go free for the first time because her weight was far to high and the chances of getting her back were much slimmer.

[Finnish]

So how is she now she is home. :wink:

[GoneHawking]

There seems to be alot of hawks biting through leashes, my Gos did this but luckily it was on the screen perch and the mews was shut, I wonder why so many cases, inferior leashes or bored birds, I would like to have a much stronger leash, maybe gortex or some other strong material, any suggestions anyone???

[Dave G]

i brought some mounting climbers lease bird would never get through that

[Sky Spy]

Finnish/GoneHawking. She absolutely fine now. I work on an RAF base north of Scotland during the week an then travel home to fife at weekends. During the week, now that she out of the aviary at home I kept her in a disused dog compound, nice high fences and half covered above. I'm sure she was definetly bored there hence her messing with her equipment so now I've moved her to a new location in some private and secure gardens with plenty going on around her. She seems much happier there and hopping from perch to fist quite nicely although she's still at full weight. When I caught her the other day I noticed a couple more feathers growing down. I thought she'd finished the moult. So now she's getting maximum rations to promote heathly feather growth. I'll start reducing her when these have grown.