Since Alibi isn't really working for her supper like she used to, we have to do what we can to keep her muscles toned and keep her in condition so she's ready when go out hunting.
One of the ways we do this is to have her jump from the floor or her low perch to the glove...
which is pretty good excercise when jumping to a Giants glove!
We're supposed to have her jumping to the glove many times every session, and we can't give her a tid-bit every time she jumps up, soon she would have eaten several days worth of food in one excercise...
so we practice what is called intermittent condtioning, which is she gets treats often enough that she will jump every time just on the hope of getting a tid-bit. This is very basic, as it's what happens in the wild, they absolutely don't catch even close to everything they chase.
We can't wait to get her out hunting again, hopefully she'll be successful next time!
Think Giant likes the hawk much? lol! Actually he's holding her like this so she can be banded...
Whenever a falconcer traps or buys a bird, it must be reported to the Division of Wildlife with 5 days...
then an officer comes out and puts a band on the birds leg. The DOW monitors falconry very closely; the band is basically like a license plate that identifies this bird as our falconry bird. Also, if the bird is ever lost, it can be returned to the falconer.
When we release Alibi, we have to notify the DOW in advance, then we'll simply cut the tag off, and she's good as new!
and on an ironic note...
see the rabbit tracks in the snow?
several sets of them lead directly underneath Alibi's mews lol! Hawks have a really good sense of smell; I'm not sure it's good enough to smell a rabbit under the mews-for Alibi's sake, I really hope not lol!
happy hawking and happytrails!
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