squirrel trap. take a falconer friend with you. place the trapped squirrel (while in trap) in the middle of a field. cover it with brush. have the friend stay with the trap. release your RT ito some trees walk halfway to the trap and yell Ho Ho Ho!!! Friend releases squirrel and you run towards the squirrel like a nut and keep yelling "Ho Ho Ho". The hawk will kill the squirrel if it's at weight. Let the bird feed up on it. Make In, whistle and tidbit, help dispatch squirrel first though and open it up for the bird. The bad news? It is not even close to being fun. Bagging is ugly business. I do not recommend it unless it is keeping you from hunting the game of your choice. The other option is to trap another RT. I'd rather try bagging once then take the bird to the easiest slip you can after that... grave yards are great!
Just the thoughts of a guy who doesn't know anything. :-)
My first RT was on squirrels from moment one... 1000g Tiercel. My 1250g hen would look at squirrels walking in front of me 10 feet away and do nothing! I bagged her and the next day she took one off the fist! so far... 5 Gray Squirrels and a Full Sized Ground Hog in the last 8 hunts! She is a beast... P.S. - I got her off the Ground Hog. But she had him fair and square. Pinned to the ground.... man those things are big!
I think I am hurting my passage Hen HH. I am flying her at 915g. and she does great on the lure and squirrels that I have shot and pulled up the tree on string. My problem lies in that when we are in the park and none is around she still doesn't give chase to the wild tree rats. She would rather sit and scream, I have hid from her and let her hunt on her own. This stops the screaming but she still just watches the rats run around. Do I have her weight to high or is she just not a squirrel hawk. I got her from a gentleman from Nevada, I hunt in Indiana. Can anyone give a bit of help? Advice or kick in the a$$.
Post by Master Yarak on Nov 9, 2006 8:52:22 GMT -5
I would love to help! I need some more info to be useful though. How old is the bird? Was it a passage? How long have you had it? What has it killed before? How sharp is its keel? Anything else you can think of to add that I may not have thought of might also prove useful. Yarak
Last Edit: Nov 9, 2006 9:04:50 GMT -5 by Master Yarak
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away
I am sorry. It is an eyass he received her from a California when she was about 37 days old. All the info I got from him I am going from memory because like an idiot I was more excited about receiving the bird and less about the history. She is very sharp which scares me. He said he flew her at 900g. He entered her on jack rabbits. As far as kills i believe yes on JR. He had her soaring where I am hunting tree to tree. She listens great. Wed to lure. I actually had 14 different squirrels before her and ran 2 within 5ft. in front of her and she just watched them run on by. These were fox and black squirrels. The lure I use is a black leather squirrel shaped lure with a squirrel tail attached.
She screams constantly even while eating and flying to the gauntlet. Is she food imprinted? i have given her great slips to no avail. My mentor no longer is into hawking and did little to no squirrel hawking to begin, so all I have learned is from this website and others and books videos and such. She is a first year bird and I have had her a little over 1 month now. She seems overall healthy doesn't seem to wind, last night after showing no interest I flew her to the lure and as I went to put her in the giant hood bated like crazy. This is only the second time she has done this. I am feeding her beef heart 40-45 grams a day. She fed up on a squirrel Monday night. I ran it up a tree with no hesitation she grabbed it. it was a fox squirrrel. I think that is all I can come up with. I flew a RT last year with great success last year and thought I would try a HH because my buddy and I want to fly together when he gets one. I hope there is some informatio0n in this rambling that can help you help me. Thanks
Post by Master Yarak on Nov 9, 2006 11:09:58 GMT -5
Unfortunately, she does sound food imprinted. As I am sure you know hunting squirrels and jacks require two completely different styles/techniques.
The first thing I think is that your bird is less confident about squirrels, fox squirrels are a tough animal. A Jack obviously kicks hard and struggles. A Fox does that too and also bites. Once a Jack is grabbed its body is punctured by the talons. Not so with a fox. My 3lb hen RT has been thrown off more than a few of them. If it can happen to her it can certainly happen with a HH. Harris are smart, it may feel that there has got be something easier than this.
The second thing is experience. Jacks and squirrels do not share habitat. That means the birds exposure to squirrel country has been very limited. By just getting her out and exposing her to them is going to solve this. It may take several outings, weeks even depending on how often you can get out and for how long an interval.
The third thing is weight, I think your bird may be too low. Think about the energy it takes to fly down a jack. If the slip is good its a basic level flight, more of a sprint if you will. Now think about the energy required to chase a fox squirrel. The bird must twist, tuck and fold, pump and go vertical and it also has to sprint. That is just to chase and catch it. Now the really hard and risky part starts. Once grabbed it has to control the head and body find some way to get down and get on top of it to kill it. Trust me....that takes a lot more energy. I am not saying that your bird is not in good enough condition to do this. What I am saying is without enough reserves the bird is less willing to spend what has. Raptors are very calorie conscious. If they feel there investment will not bring about a larger return they will wait for a better opportunity. By raising her weight she will feel better about her reserves and it may also reduce the screaming.
One or two more things; If it were me I would feed nothing but squirrel, except maybe for tidbits. Garnish the lure with them and anytime you won't be hunting for a day or two give her a decent crop of one. Lastly I would set one up. I would live trap one take it a field with no trees put your bird up on a pole and release the squirrel. On the ground running it will be very hard to pass up. I would do this only after feeding her squirrel for at least a week. Have her weight good and if after all that she just sits and watches it run away then I would say she just does not want to hunt squirrels.
In closing I would NOT give up. I would try everything I could think of first. As things progress post about your observations and what you have tried. The more you tell us the better info we can give. Yarak
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away
Post by Master Yarak on Nov 9, 2006 13:29:47 GMT -5
Hmm... Joby you say too high, I say too low. I wonder how it will pan out and which of us will be right. Time will tell.. Yarak
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away
Actually Yarak, I just modified my message because after reading yours, I realized I was probably wrong. It just seemed that most of the female Harris' that I've seen flown flew at about that weight, so I thought that he might have had it a bit too high. But, then someone reminded me of another Harris' that we fly with that flies around 960-975, so she definitely could be too high. -Joe
Yarak has helped me alot with getting my bird going on squirrels. Since the end of august i have been showing him slips daily, and he just finally started chasing 2 days ago after 4 feedings or so of only squirrel. Feeding the prey i think helps alot!
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
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even though its tempting to say its a wieght problem, i dont think it is. It might be a part of the problem but it just doesnt sound right. Even if the bird was 20-40 gr too low it should still make some effort to chase if it was veiwing squirrels as a prey item. Especially those squirrels that run 2 foot beside her. It doesnt sound like you have been keeping her that low for a prolonged period of time, because you mentioned cropping her up. That makes it hard for me to believe its just a lack of energy. Also she has no idea of the kind of energy demand it takes to kill squirrels b/c she has never killed one. If anything she has a false impression b/c she has been served dead ones. That should be more of a reason for her to try one when she is low, so far none of them have fought back. They have been easy prey. I dont think you will have a problem with her, its just going to take time for it to click in her head. Its just new to her. Heck she never saw a squirrel till you got her. It took me months to get my HH to show any aggression on crows. They even passed on injured ones that i could walk right up too. Now they kill with a passion.
I think yarak is right about feeding her squirrels though. I would probably feed her up for two weeks on squirrels( make sure its recognizable as a squirrel,like including the head) this will also reinforce footing the head. Which will cut down on your bites. Also if the bird has been malnurished, two weeks will be a good time to replenish some energy. Then start redropping and evalute her performance from there.
Post by Master Yarak on Nov 9, 2006 18:38:20 GMT -5
You make great points. I can see no flaw in your observations. I think just more slips will be the most important element. Yarak
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away
My advive would be look for cottontails, fox squirrels are big nasty biting rats I am sure you can kick up some bunnys. I am not a big fan of squirrel hawking with a harris unless you have chaps and a big bird I just have seen too many harris with missing toes and that just turned me off to it. I know there are harris hawks out there with hundreds of squirrels under their belts and know how to handle them and all but there is also alot of toe less birds too It is a risk the falconer has to take if he chooses to fly squirrels. I would hate it if my male went after a squirrel and had his toe bitten off in his first year or any year for that matter. There is alot of other safer quarry out there for her ducks,pigeons,crows,sparrows,starlings,black birds,cottontails, and more. That is just my 2 cents on the matter. I would look for another harris hawker in your area and take your birds out together if they get along they learn alot from each other. Your bird is use to wide open areas maybe the trees and different game is throwing her off? If she doesnt start chasing soon I would start throwing out some sparrows or a rabbit keep her mind on game and not you as for the screaming are you calling her to the glove alot and if so how much are you feeding on the glove?
