Reflecting back on this past season there wasn’t a day out hunting when I didn’t come home with some type of scratch/cut from pushing my way through the underbrush. What surprised me was that given the fact that Jane my RFRT crashed into briars and other sticker covered underbrush every time out, that with the exception of one small cut on the edge of her wind she came through the season pretty much unscathed.
In thinking this through further, it occurred to me that a hawk extends its feet out just prior to the point when it’s going to make contact with a bunny, and I’ve got to believe that this often results in driving a thorn deep into the bottom of the foot.
I haven’t read anything anywhere about this phenomenon, and I’m wondering if it’s a real problem or not? And if it is a problem, how and what to look for, and how best to treat?
Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours. From Richard Bach's "ILLUSIONS" - Diary of a Reluctant Messiah (1977)
Post by crbhawking on Mar 30, 2009 21:01:02 GMT -5
Well birds do get thorns in their feet and especially at the Texas Hawking Association meet we would spend long periods of time pulling the cactus thorns out of the bird's feet. Now if there is just a small hair like thorn that can simply be removed with tweezers however the larger thorns, if they cause cuts can be taken care of probably with neosporin or other aniseptic like medications. The last two years I have used iodine just about cuts, no matter the size, however this is by sponsors orders, but for the number of bites that my bird got, not one didn't heal up perfectly. So Iodine has my bet; To apply it I would cleanse the cut and if it had already dried I scrubbed it a little to see if the scab was loose, thus allowing me to cleanse the intitial spot of effect, but if the scab isn't losse I would simply apply iodine to it. This allows the surrounding area to be cleansed and it may have some effect, however on the open wound I simply apply to the cut and surrounding areas.
" Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH" -Patrick Henry
Post by Master Yarak on Mar 31, 2009 6:56:53 GMT -5
I went to field outside Abilene one year. It was reputed to have tons of CTs. It was covered in prickly pear cactus. We saw zero rabbits. Instead it was full of rats and mice. They drove my bird bonkers. Of course they lived beneath the cactus. She flew recklessly into many of them. From the tops of the Mesquite trees down into the cactus. I called up and cast her more than a few times. I pulled many cactus needles from her feet. Very quickly I saw how this was going and left that place never to return. She suffered no apparent effect, apart from the indignity of being cast. We got back to the hotel and I sat with her in my lap with my apprentice holding a magnifying glass and pulled even the small ones out. I guess I got them all. She demonstrated no discomfort. 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
Last year, FalconBoys saker falcon had thorns driven through the bottom of his feet. These thorns will honestly go through your truck tires. Falconboy had to take the bird into the vet and have the thorn removed by surgery. His bird was coming out of a 200 to 300 foot stoop when it would hit the thorn bushes.
...Very quickly I saw how this was going and left that place never to return...
I won't hunt fields heavy with multiflora roses for the same reason. My concern isn't so much about thorns in feet, but thorns puncturing or lacerating eyes. I won't risk it.
My redtail stooped many times through prickly pear cacti - one of our regular spots in Ca was a prickly pear field. While the dog and I always ended up full of thorns from head to toes, the bird never got one in her. On the other hand, like Matt said, there's no avoiding thorn hawking in W.Wa. My sponsor's male RT last year got a blackberry thorn in his eye. The tip had embedded completely and the end broke off. He was unable to connect with a rabbit that day, so we think his vision was off, but the vet said not to worry about it because the body would dissolve the thorn. A week or so later, he was good as new.
Aurelia - General I ------------------------------------------- "It's not about the style of the flight; it's about the blood on the glove"
Haha, good luck hunting in western WA without thorns... ;-)
its unheard of!
Sux to be you. ;D
Luckily, there's a wide variety of habitat to hawk here, so I can avoid the thorn fields. Multifloral rose can be so dense, I can't even walk through the field to flush game out without the talon-like rose hooks ripping me to shreds - even wearing the toughest hunting gear. Man, talk about pain! Even the biggest RT can't penetrate that stuff, so I see no point (pun intended).
Migisi, All of what you said is sooo true. Which is precisely why I have the mini-doxies. It greatly reduces the exposure I have to those sharp pointy things! -Joby
Migisi, Your wearing the wrong stuff out hawkn! ;-) :-P and thats what dogs are for...
You're right, Matt. I'd need a suit of armor to wear in those rose fields. ;D
And you're right too, Joby. But my old imprint RT hates dogs with a passion. I really think she'd kill minis, or at least hurt em real bad. Heck, she attacks my Shep mix and GSP if they come close.
I hunt VERY similar terrain in Western Oregon. If you want to hunt bunnies, you have to get out in the thorns, no way around it. Around here to find bunnies you have to look for thorns, thats where they are. Almost impossible without a dog and a good pair of chaps or 1000 cordura pants. I prefer pants, they just protect more VITAL areas that chaps don't quite cover. There are patches of the multifloral rose in the blackberries so you have to contend with both. Luckily in two seaons of bunny hunting there have been NO injuries from thorns to my hawks or anybody else I know that flies the same areas. The falconers and dogs are a different story though. Even through the pants and carhart coat I still come home scratched up and my dogs ears are raw and thorns all over in her coat.
Life is hard, it's harder when your stupid. - John Wayne