ChrisRobbo
14-09-2005, 11:25 AM
Help!
Hi I am relatively new to this and was wondering if anybody with a bit more experience than me could point me in the right direction. I have had a male Harris hawk for 4 weeks now and I would consider everything has gone reasonably well up to this point! I will start by giving some background info. The bird is flying free with great response come tree or hill he drops to the whistle up to 680g at this point he becomes hesitant. He is also trained to take a leather lure from the ground and attempts to take it mid air (getting better!). He will step to the glove when approached on his own without forcing the issue. His maximum weight he holds is 750-765g. I believe he has been ready to hunt for around a week and a half which I am willing him to become more independent. The problem I am having is to enter him onto rabbits. I have established rabbit as a food source by putting a whole carcass in and after breaking it for him I thought he was well on his way. I have use of some good working ferrets and some good land. I then tried to introduce him into a controlled situation at 600g only 10g above the lowest he was in manning. He seemed interested but almost nervous it was a fully grown doe at around 4lb. I persevered and may have committed a sin as I let him approach the rabbit via foot for further investigation? Upon which he decided he liked lets say less fresh food. I dispatched the rabbit cleanly and then let him dance around it until he took a good grip and eventually he attempted to eat it hesitantly. Basically my logic was to try and simulate the parent’s way in the wild (well roughly). From this point after trying a few more times with more fresh food he has seemed unwilling to do the deed himself. You can see he wants to but is not willing to chase a moving target. I have limited literature on this particular area although I have ordered a book by Philip glasier (soon to arrive). Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am sure he has great potential and it is probably something I have done that I must rectify quickly!”
Hi I am relatively new to this and was wondering if anybody with a bit more experience than me could point me in the right direction. I have had a male Harris hawk for 4 weeks now and I would consider everything has gone reasonably well up to this point! I will start by giving some background info. The bird is flying free with great response come tree or hill he drops to the whistle up to 680g at this point he becomes hesitant. He is also trained to take a leather lure from the ground and attempts to take it mid air (getting better!). He will step to the glove when approached on his own without forcing the issue. His maximum weight he holds is 750-765g. I believe he has been ready to hunt for around a week and a half which I am willing him to become more independent. The problem I am having is to enter him onto rabbits. I have established rabbit as a food source by putting a whole carcass in and after breaking it for him I thought he was well on his way. I have use of some good working ferrets and some good land. I then tried to introduce him into a controlled situation at 600g only 10g above the lowest he was in manning. He seemed interested but almost nervous it was a fully grown doe at around 4lb. I persevered and may have committed a sin as I let him approach the rabbit via foot for further investigation? Upon which he decided he liked lets say less fresh food. I dispatched the rabbit cleanly and then let him dance around it until he took a good grip and eventually he attempted to eat it hesitantly. Basically my logic was to try and simulate the parent’s way in the wild (well roughly). From this point after trying a few more times with more fresh food he has seemed unwilling to do the deed himself. You can see he wants to but is not willing to chase a moving target. I have limited literature on this particular area although I have ordered a book by Philip glasier (soon to arrive). Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am sure he has great potential and it is probably something I have done that I must rectify quickly!”