I have been monitoring the fields i plan to hunt this fall and lots of cottons and yes lots of toothy groundsquirrels. I have been a little reluctant to enter my tiercel red on the ground squirrels especially since there is an abundance of cotontail. But i will not limit the hawks ability or instinct just beacuse im afraid of injury. I plan on getting the chaps and giving it a go even though my tiercel has feet in the smaller range. I just hope for the birds sake all goes well.
The only good news is that you live very close to a really good raptor vet. Dr. Weldy will take your money when the squirrels bite your birds feet. Most of the falconers try to avoid ground squirrels because they are so thick skinned and tough for the birds to kill. That said, the bird will chase and catch them anyway.
I am on the fence, I dont want to see my birds toes get bit off, yet i dont want to discourage the natural predation...if he does go after a squirrel, since there are many in the fields around and at my house, should i put the chaps on? what would you do? to tell you the truth i have a blast just chasing cotton. The tiercel does have small feet but he is deadly on them.
There is really not much you can do but to try and get to him as fast as you can. In the past some of the falconers will strip the squirrel away from the bird so that he gets no reward for chasing and catching the squirrel. I'm not sure that works, but, I have done it in the past. even with chaps, bites occur.
If you do use chaps, talk to folks who use them first. Myself and a few friends prefer barrel chaps that do not have the little skirt that cover the toes, they are just a thicker leather that covers more of the tarsus, while others swear by the skirt. I'd try and get the pro's and con's of each type so you can make your own opinion about it.
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I do what I can to keep my girls away form the squirrels ( FHH's ) but if you live in Arkansas you have little choose but to hawk squirrel rabbit population is very low If there is a possibility you will be taken many squirrel , skirt chaps are best !
I feel stupid asking this but, these chaps ive been seeing are the removable ones, and there not supposed to be on permanently?, what about the regular anklets that are already somewhat permanently grommeted on the bird? do they get removed? and then the squirrel chaps go on for the hunt? and then, from then on.....i guess use the regular removable anklets so i can put the squirrel chaps off and on?
it sounds right.. but what do all u squirrelhawkers do?
I am on the fence, I dont want to see my birds toes get bit off, yet i dont want to discourage the natural predation...if he does go after a squirrel, since there are many in the fields around and at my house, should i put the chaps on? what would you do? to tell you the truth i have a blast just chasing cotton. The tiercel does have small feet but he is deadly on them.
Try Chaps. With and without skirts. I have found that one some RT's are great at dancing on the squirrels 'til they get a good lock on the head. I had a tiercel who would dance to get the head if he didn't get it first shot. He got bit WHEN he had chaps on (Skirted Chaps). I think it was bacause they got in the way. Barrel Chaps would be better with a bird like this.
A lot of big Hens will just take a bite like it gives them some sick pleasure to take it. I had a 48oz hen with only 7 working toes but huge feet. She would not let go no matter what was going on with biting. In this case the Skirt was a good thing. I have a big girl now that will be wearing skirted chaps.
If I trap a bird under 39oz I release it (that's just me). The bird I am flying now was over 52oz on the trap with a VERY small crop (size of a little rubber bouncy ball). I have only trapped 11 birds. Out of that 11 I have flown 3 that I deemed to have good enough feet to fly on squirrels (that's all I fly on unless going out West). If your tiercel has small feet you might think about trapping a new bird for squirrels. Esp. Ground Squirrels.
I feel stupid asking this but, these chaps ive been seeing are the removable ones, and there not supposed to be on permanently?, what about the regular anklets that are already somewhat permanently grommeted on the bird? do they get removed? and then the squirrel chaps go on for the hunt? and then, from then on.....i guess use the regular removable anklets so i can put the squirrel chaps off and on?
it sounds right.. but what do all u squirrelhawkers do?
I put squirrel chaps on for the Hunting Season. Regular cuffs for the molt.
Hey Yarak, you stated in that it is very hard to get a hawk to look up, and I have found this to be the case with Tommy. We have only been hunting squirrel and have caught several already, along with a chipmunk. That being said, I feel that we have lost several opportunities for kills due to Tommy not looking up. There have been numerous instances where a squirrel will run right up a tree in front of her, and she will look up briefly, and then back down paying no more attention to the squirrel above. Do you have any pointers as far as getting them to look up/tree up? She's not exactly taking advantages of the higher perches and I feel that we have lost opportunities for kills as a result.
I have talked to my sponsor and he said it will come with time. He said it will be alittle easier when all of the leaves have fallen, and she will probably learn then. He said she has to see the squirrels treeing up and making nests before she will look up/get higher and rip apart nests. I am wondering if she will catch on since she has watched a bunch get higher than her and did nothing about it. Is there anything that can be done, or is it just something they eventually learn on their own?
Post by okiereddirthawker on Oct 23, 2007 14:15:08 GMT -5
Everything with time...a 1st year squirrel bird is trying but fun. A second year squirrel bird is a blast. A 3rd year bird is a well oiled killing machine! Just wail until you have a couple months of hunts under you belt. It will all play out in time. Just keep putting the bird in a target rich environment and it will do the rest!
Health....... is the slowest possible rate at which you can die! That's Dr. Okiereddirthawker!
Post by okiereddirthawker on Oct 23, 2007 15:05:05 GMT -5
Some of them wont get it. I had a tercel that was a great hunter...he would hunt turtles, mice, rats, snakes, pecans, rabbits, and 6 squirrels. The straw that broke the camels back was when i flushed a squirrel up the tree and right across in front of him, this squirrel was below him. he just sat there....I tried several weight ranges and even took him really low..He was inconsistent at best. you might think, oh it was probably my technique or weight management but i caught this bird fairly early in the season, had a great sponsor to help me and hunted with him almost exclusively so he knew exactly where the birds weight was and my techniques. This bird would not consistently hunt squirrels. If I had been taking him to an area with tons of cottontails the story might have been different. Who knows? Like a post I read the other day said the best thing about falconry is if the bird isn't working out release it and get another one. Which is exactly what I did. Caught her the las day of trapping season and flew her for 3 years. Best bird I ever had!!!
Health....... is the slowest possible rate at which you can die! That's Dr. Okiereddirthawker!
Ask FB about that, LOL. He has a short video clip of one of his birds that just decided to ignore squirrels. I have a male this year and I plan to fly him on squirrels, if he'll let me. So far in training he seems to know what's going on with them If he ends up not liking them I'll hunt rabbits and turn him loose next year. I NEED a squirrel hawk.