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Old October 10, 2000, 09:46 PM   #8
Seronac
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 25, 2000
Location: Utah, in the Good ol' US of A!
Posts: 316
What a beautiful creature.

I have considered falconry a number of times, but I never can justify the time, space and money it would take to do it properly.

Many years ago a friend of mine was a falconer and he brought his red-tail to a Boy Scout meeting for us. We were in the gymnasium and as soon as he let the bird go it flew across the gym and landed on the backboard of the basketball goal on the opposite end of the room. Then my friend raised a piece of beef heart (perfect training food for them, very low in fat) on his glove and the bird launched off of the backboard, flapped its wings once or twice, and soared over our heads to land gently on the glove and get his treat. It was breathtaking!

My friend had to wear old, long-sleeve shirts with that bird because it would walk up his arm to stand on his shoulder, leaving holes in his shirt sleeve from its sharp talons!

He told me of a Great Horned Owl that he had once, given to him by the Dept. of Wildlife for rehabilitation. He also raises pigeons to feed his birds with. He would occasionally place a pigeon in the cage with the owl to see if it wanted it. For the longest time the pigeons were ignored. Then, one day, he put a pigeon in the cage and, of course, the pigeon went nuts ("OWL! OWL! Fly away! Quickly!") but the owl stared at it for a while. Then, as the pigeon passed the owl, it disappeared in a puff of feathers! It as then that my friend knew that the owl was ready to go back home!

I love birds and have the greatest awe for birds of prey. Thanks for a great photo.
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