I have heard several stories about foot injuries due to squirrel hawking. Some hawkers are so adamant about it they almost PREACH against squirrel Hawking. However, the people that hunt this prey regularly seldom report any perminently crippling injuries. Some even swear that bumblefoot isn't a problem. Like most things, i figure the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
FB, we have agood supply of rabbits arround here, but watching the hawk take the squirrel out of the tree... Amazing! It's just another avenue for fun
I am a squirrel hawker, If anyone has any questions about it I would love to help out in anyway I can. I just finished a good hunting weekend with my sponsor, Keith Buch and Gary Brewer. Total head count was six for the weekend. Five fox and one cat. We had some of the best chases to date with my bird and she planted a cat squirrel into the ground after it bailed out of a tree when the pressure was on. Gary's bird is new this year and it is turning out to be a heck of a squirrel bird. His bird made the most butt puckering stoop into the ground that I thought it killed itself as it didn't move until I sprinted over to help out with the squirrel. We heard the thump into the ground from about 100 yards away! Keith's 9x intermewed RT, Bane, was on her usual killing spree with a double on Saturday and a double on Sunday. She received two bites, one on each day but they were only flesh wounds and no tendon damage. All in all it was a fun weekend. I think I will hunt my bird for about 2-3 more weeks and then put her up for the moult. Talk to ya'll later, Noel
Well actually Keith Buch is my sponsor and Gary is just a good freind and hawkin buddy. We go to Gary's place as much as we can as each time I leave there I have learned some new peice of information to better my techniques. As for the bites, I have seen most bites on the toes on each side sometimes through and through. It's usually a flesh wound and only requires a little peroxide with a tooth brush to clean as the cuts are like a razor blades. If you want, you can put a little neosporin on it but I don't think that it's necessary. If your bird loses a toe, that means your not getting there fast enough to help the bird out. This is the single most important thing to do when the bird catches a squirrel....Get there quick and dispach the squirrel. This is not to say that they can't be bitten just about anywhere else on their feet or body for that matter. My bird was being bitten by a cat squirrel up high on the tarsometatarsus near the joint! My sponsors bird was severly bitten several months ago and it severed the extensor tendon in #4(little toe) this put her out for 8 weeks of the season. Prior to this his bird had a bad case of West nile and destroyed her plumage so he has had a rough time this season with his bird but she has bounced back with gusto and still managed to get a good head count. We are fortunate in this area to have an excelent avian vet who is also a falconer named Greg Moore. This man has saved our butts numerous times with meds and surgeries so it's a good idea to find a good vet in your area if you squirrel hawk. I would love to say that squirrel hawking is safe but it is IMHO more dangerous than rabbits but it's so much fun to see a bird chase a squirrel up, down and across the tree's rather than a strait flight with a wingover into a bunny. I would certainly suggest using chaps on these birds as they have more than proven themselves on mine. It looks like someone used a sewing machine without the thread in some places as they do not give up fighting to the very end. The only bumblefoot I have encountered was from my bird bouncing around the mew as she is not a gentle lander and was causing some abrasive cuts on her feet. I regularly check her from top to bottom to check for wounds and she is used to me holding her feet up to inspect. In the area I live there are more squirrel areas than bunny habitat so I just hunt what I have. Plus, I don't think I could give up these squirrels if I tried<G> :-) Talk to ya'll later, Noel
Squirrel hawking captured my fancy for the last few months. It seems that falconers polarize on this subject. They either like it or hate it. Sometimes it's hard to separate fact from pure bias. Thanks for the explainations. How much did you get out of Gary's videos on squirrel hawking? Again, you get mixed reviews, usually from the non squirrel hunters vs. the squirrel hunters.
OK, I'm now logged on as a member ;D......just don't like the guest thing<G>. I've taken several long time falconers on squirrel hunts for the first time and they changed their mind set on the subject that's for sure! Gary's video is good if you can stay awake through it as it has some good info but he talks a llliiitttllee ssslllllooww......in the video. The best thing to do is talk to him directly via phone. he will talk to anyone for hours on end about falconry. I've been there when someone from England calls out of the blue to chat and talk squirrels. Lots of people don't want their birds to get injured since they may be flying a smaller bird such as a Harris or Goshawk that could receive a potentialy worse bite than a female RT with beefy feet. I trapped quite a few birds before I settled on the one I have now. She trapped in at 52.5 ounces and is flying at around 40 now. This is a good all around size for squirrel hawking and she is reckless to boot. When she was trapped she had a crop of skunk on her and spray pattern all over her wings(what a three hour ride home that was). There are quite a few succesfull squirrel hawkers out there that fly Harrises on them and teircel RT's that have never had a problem but I heir on the side of caution. Unless you can get a hold of a small forest eagle, the female RT is queen in my book. Cheers, Noel
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
Post by Falcon Boy on Mar 23, 2004 15:41:36 GMT -5
Oh boy a squirrel hawker! Nice to see we finally have one posting on the board
Im considering whether to get a RT next year or a kestrel, and this topic is getting me all excited about RT's again. Ive only seen 2 squirrel flights and they are the most amazing flying i have ever seen a RT do. I may have to reconsider this kestrel stuff and start keepin my eye out for squirrel lands!
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
WOOOHOOO!! Took another fox squirrel yesterday! I took a buddy of mine to the local park to see what we could find and after about 10 minutes she started stalking one. It began laddering over from tree to tree to try and make it to a hollow tree out in a clearing. I moved to the base of that tree and started trying to spook the squirrel away from it. Instaed of running into the hole it headed strait down the tree and ran across my arm then jumped to the ground. No sooner than it hit the ground I saw a brown flash in front of my face as my bird t-boned it into the ground. Since I didn't have far to run....I made in to dispach the critter with my hand, did the transfer and hooded the bird. I put the squirrel in my game pouch and walked to a park bench to let her calm down a bit before putting her back up for a double. A couple of bystanders came over and I started telling them about the bird and why I do what I do when I felt claws dig into my back. I didn't want to reach back there with a bare hand so I asked my buddy to grab the squirrel out of my pouch. It took several minutes to wrestle this very pissed off squirrel out of my pouch. Now, I'm still in shock that this thing is alive as I was sure it wasn't moving when it went into the bag. So now my friend is holding this squirrel with both hands with this look on his face that I'll never forget It was sort of a "What now?!?" look than anything else. I won't get into the details of how we finished this situation off but I'll tell you what, squirrels CAN bite through a falconry glove and they do growl loud enough to attract attention to yourself. Just a reminder, make sure the quarry has gone to meet it's maker BEFORE it's in the bag. :-) Cheers, Noel
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
Post by Falcon Boy on Mar 24, 2004 16:14:15 GMT -5
Sounds like quite a story! I actually saw a "finished"[or so we thought] squirrel get put into the bag, and 5 minutes later i hear the guy go "what the hell?" and then it jumped out the back! [he uses a vest]. Luckily the hawk was up in a tree, and caught the squirrel AGAIN! This time, we made sure he was gone. Glad we arent the only ones to have that happen!
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
Hehehe! I think the worst thing about it was that I was busy talking to some local folks when it happened. Kind of embarrasing.I can see the papers now.....
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."