They ride through a swale with earth dams, silver ponds, green grass, reeds, willows, cottonwoods, black hawthorn, wild rose, wax currant, crimson sumac and purple-flowered thistle - game food and shelter.
If I were there, I would enjoy the scenery but not the hunting. Sorry to be hasty, folks.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I'm not a hunter either but I have no objections to hunting nor do I think it is wrong to hunt wild animals. Also, sometimes hunting is necessary, both for obtaining food and also for keeping some types of wild animals from becoming too numerous or dangerous.
Sean
The only thing I've got against hunting is that I find it excruciatingly boring. Basically, it's not really different from agriculture -- both a way of using our natural environment, both potentially harmful if done badly.
Harris Hawks -- native to the American southwest -- are unique among predatory birds in that they're social hunters, rather like wolves.
This makes them much easier to use for falconry, because unlike other hawks and falcons they easily form emotional bonds with their handlers.
It's rather like the distinction between wolves and leopards.
Dear Mr. Stirling,
I agree with what you said about hunting. And I had not known Harris Hawks are SOCIAL birds. I got the impression raptors are loner types.
Wolves are canids, and I knew canids are PACK animals. That is, social animals--in contrast to felines like leopards.
Sean
Most raptors are loners, or work as mated pairs.
Harris Hawks form "packs" of up to a dozen (more commonly about six) and hunt and nest cooperatively. Some will act as beaters to drive the game into the claws of others, for example, and they share food.
They even stand on each other to give the top bird a better position to sight game -- it's sort of comical looking but apparently effective.
Dear Mr. Stirling,
These Harris Hawks do seem to be very fascinating and unusually intelligent birds!
Sean
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