Rats Destroying the Vegetable Garden

My cool weather Vegetables were doing really good. Until a few days ago. I noticed that specifically my Broccoli came under attack all of a sudden. Towards the end of last season I noticed that my green leafy veggies were being ripped from the ground, leaf, stem and root; as if someone just helped themselves to my garden. I couldn't believe it! So it was no surprise that a few days ago I saw the same thing happen and needless to say I was pissed!! Because Broccoli is one of my favorite veggies to grow and eat fresh. That night I went on a hunt for rat traps to see if my suspicions were correct. I find the best bait for rats is using some sort of gooey power or cereal bar that can be molded around the copper step trigger. I used something from kashi. As night fell I set the traps. I was excited to kill something... cursing at the bloody rats hoping that I would seek redemption. After the Traps were set I walked back into the house still pissed about the fact my broccoli bed was decimated. I laid down still cussin under my breath and suddenly the ambient sound coming from the TV was shrilled with a sharp "SMACK!!" and Instantly..... A devilish grin forced it's way through my face followed by a sigh of relief as One "SMACK!!" after another continued through the night. Because I'm a big pussy there was no way I was going outside to check on those traps. I would have definitely lost all my cool points had I seen a rat squirming around in the trap (this coming from a guy who jumps out of high performance aircraft for a living)

All in all I end up killing 8 rats in 2 days. A quick way to find out if you still have rats is if there is food still on the traps. All the rats that were killed in the traps had no food left in the traps. Tonight weather pending if they will hold up or not due to the cold. We will see how many more we can Kill. But at the end of the day. I'm not happy until the last rat is gone. It may take some time but I'm determined. Life of an Urban Farmer.. Just when you thought things would get easier.. They don't and suddenly your dealing with rats!!

Koto Preparing for the Molt

It's that time of year were we falconers have to make a decision. To keep or not to keep. Most years I release my birds back into the wild so that they can go back and contribute to the gene pool. Its certainly an option and every falconer is different. But sometimes there comes along a hawk thats just special. Koto and I have formed a prettu good relationship. She is not the tamest of hawks that I have encountered. But she is definatelty the most tolerant of people and especially dogs. This year for the first time I hunted Koto with my GSP Jackson and they did wonderful. We took one flying squirrel and one grey squirrel on that particular hunt. Those are the qualities that are hard to come by and im not sure im ready to just give it up. So for another season I will keep Koto around. For now she will eat to her hearts content and soon Molt into her new feathers for this upcoming hunting  season.

2010 Falconry Season

This hunting season I trapped another hawk it turned out to be a Female Red Tail hawk. I named her Koto after my wife protested me naming her Madia. Two of her tail feathers were broken when I trapped her, but I didn't care to much about that because she was fearless, I trapped her in town harassing the local pigeons and causing hell to the city squirrels. As a wild hawk she didn't pay me any mind as I watched her closely one day hunting squirrels. Hawks who are accustomed to the city tend to be a lot more tolerant of people and the busy life that the city brings. It makes great for a hunting hawk. She has manned very nice and is very calm around people and dogs. All of these are big plus. Down here in GA we have alot of leaves that are still on the trees. It makes hunting squirrels really tough. However today she scored on a huge buck squirrel. That guy was fat. When I released her into the canopy I saw the squirrel shoot up the tree and Koto saw the squirrel jump into it's nest. Immediately Koto flew to the tree examining the nest for a few minutes. I guess she realized that there was a big huge squirrel in there and the risks might outweigh the benefits of slamming the nest. I shot a BB into the nest and that peaked her interest as it got the squirrel to move around in the nest. Koto Slammed the nest throwing her talons into it, but that ol buck squirrel grabbed her leather jess and pulled it into the nest. She had a look on her face like, "What the Hell!!" there was just a pause she didn't know what to do as the squirrel was holding onto her jess inside the nest. After a couple of minutes of analyzing the situation she became furious and started tearing the nest apart. The Big Buck Jumped from the nest circling the tree towards me with Koto in hot pursuit crashing through limbs. The squirrel stopped short of coming down the tree as him and I did some sort of Mexican standoff, He was just out of reach for a good stick whacking and would not move knowing Koto was on the other side. I pulled my daisy BB gun out so that I can pop him and get him to move and when I popped him he stood still holding his ground not moving an inch. Koto Swung around the tree to a branch to see what I was looking at and the squirrel immediately lept towards me. EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!! I jumped out of the way and Koto slammed the ground just missing the squirrel as it bounced from the ground and back onto the tree. But what do you know Ole Buck squirrel was too heavy to move faster than Koto was and she nailed it as it tried to scurry back up the tree. A great hunt and looking for many more this season. Now all I need is 4 more squirrels for my amazing stew.

Delta gettin Fat

So I decided to keep my hawk this year instead of returning him to the wild like I have done with past hawks. I'm taking a big gamble on Mr Delta, because I believe in his abilities. This past hunting season he got skunked. He had some great chases but he couldn't connect on anything. It was so disappointing. Some may say think that Falconry shouldn't be just about Killing and to a point they are right. But falconry in it's essence is about killing. Because that's what birds of prey do. They have amazing eyesight, speed, and strength so that they can become efficient killers. Delta has all the tools, but this past year he has had nothing to show for it. I hunted him extremely hard in the pursuit of game only to be left with talons full of fur. So I made a decision to keep Delta for one more year. Many falconers wont even think about keeping a bird of prey that didn't finish the season with several heads of game. I on the other hand can't let Delta go without knowing that he is at least capable of killing for himself. My ethos for falconry has always been to return my feathered friends back into the wild more healthier and equipped with extraordinary hunting skills from when I took them from the wild. So from where I stand Delta is not ready to fend for himself. For now he is getting fat and eating a big rat called Nutria, that has tons of protein, along with baby chicks, and chicken necks. Im preparing him for the molt and can't wait to see what feathers he produces this year. Until then Eat well, My friend, because by early fall we have alot of hunting to do.

Falconry Weight Management Ups and Downs; Literally

These past few days I have been getting antsy because I would rather be hunting with my hawk, instead of just waiting for his wait to drop. The key to hunting with birds of prey is proper weight management. There are several trains of thought on this idea, but everyone agrees that weight reduction is key to hunting with your bird of prey. Birds used for falconry like my Passage Red tail Hawk are motivated by food and the drive to hunt. But when they are full, they don't have much desire to do anything except sit there and look into space. When Delta was trapped he was 1020 grams, in order to get him to respond to me I had to drop his weight gradually. Everyday I would weigh him and record his behavior. He didn't respond to me until he lost 120 grams which put him at 900g. It was only then that delta accepted me as his provider and source of food and at this weight he was very keen and making unbelievable progress. This training came to a temporary halt when I had to travel to Oklahoma. I had my wife feed Delta for 3 chicken necks every other day. I figured this would be enough feeding for him to maintain his health and still keep the keen hunting spirit I desired for a hunting hawk. Ohh Boyyyyyyy to the contrary; when I got back Delta was Hog Fat, He was a whopping 1160 grams, that's right ELEVEN HUNDRED SIXTY GRAMS!!!!!!!! I just shook my head. I thought at this weight It will take forever to bring his weight down. He was trapped at 1020g and he had to go all the way down to 900g to even want to eat and now he was 1160g. This was fatter than he was trapped. But something happened over the course of several days that led me to rethink my position on weight loss. Even though Delta was Hog Fat he was still responding to the fist when bigger pieces of meat were presented. Of course I didn't give him the reward of a big hunk of meat, but I did reward him with a tidbit once he came to the fist. So over the course of several days I offered him a mix bag of small tidbits, tirings of fur and feather that can't be digested but will give him that sense of fullness as though he has eaten and washed meat; meat that has been rinsed in cold water over a period of 24 to 48 hrs in order to pull out all of the nutrients so that he can still eat and lose weight. (Maybe this can work for me too) So finally I got Delta back down to his Trap weight which is 1020g and although he is not as keen as he was at 900g he is definitely showing interest, by flying to the fist when called. This leaves me a bit perplexed about weight management because conventional thinking would suggest that he must reach the magic number of 900g in order to respond as his hunting weight. I have a feeling that Mr. Delta may start flying way before the 900g mark. But then again I really don't know, he is still truly a wild hawk I don't know if we will ever share the same relationship as I did with my other hawks. Ours may just be a mutual respect that predators share amongst one another and nothing else. If Delta could talk he would probably say to me " Hey buddy, Don't take this personal, It's just Business."

Urban Falconry

Meet Delta he is a tiercel red tail hawk. He was trapped a couple of weeks ago and has been giving me hell ever since. This guy changed the game on me, I tried everything in my power to turning this little fella around and he still would not break. After two weeks and no progress I was faced with a decision to let my pride go and release him back into the wild. Sometimes the match between falconer and bird of prey doesnt mix. He forced me to pull out all of the stops. I had to dig deep into my bag of tricks to get this stubborn guy to respond. It was only a few days ago when I took another deep sigh and entered the dark room with my falconers glove and miners flashlight fitted on my forehead. I opened up the Giant Hood and he stared right at me. The process of breaking a falconry bird is delicate, because these are the moments in which trust is built and when dealing with wild birds of prey trust is all you have. One mistake can turn a good hunting hawk into Satan's spawn. Its important to move slow with the progress but it is also important to stimulate the hawk as much as possible in order to break his will. This may sound cruel to some but this is the process that Hawks and other Birds of Prey used for falconry must go through, because the end result is a hunting partner that has a mutual trust and is eager to hunt with you. Weight Control is the key to successful falconry. Every falconer knows that it is important to drop the weight to a point where the Hawk is responsive. In the past this has only taken from day 1 to day 3. However, with Delta it took 2 weeks. And so exhausted and frustrated I bend down looking into his Giant hood thinking that this is going to be another uneventful day and as I reach into grab him he looks at my glove, I push it up under his breast and he steps up. I think, hmmmmm, he seems quite calm today. I weigh him and he is 889 grams. I think to myself that this can not be good because that is very low. I trapped him at 1020 grams. The golden rule is to drop approx 10% of their body weight. With delta he had already exceeded that and showed no sign of breaking. But once again I would try and honestly this was the last time. Because I would rather have him flying free in the wild than starving to death, weak and nimble with me. So I would try one more time and I pulled the dead mouse out layed it on my glove in between his talons and he looked at me tilted his head and started tearing at the mouse. I wanted to jump up and shout "YES!!!!"" but I maintained my composure so that he would feel comfortable. I wanted him to know that eating from my fist is the best thing happening and he relished every bit of it. So there he was, I named him Delta after Special Force Operators who go through S.E.R.E School to endure the riggers of P.O.Ws and stay mentally tough to not break. That is the spirit of my new hawk. He is bold and although he finally broke, he pushed me to the limit of my training abilities can't wait to see with his angry ass will do on some squirrels and rabbits this hunting season.
Also in the News my buddy Jim trapped himself a "747" this girl was Big. I think she ate all her siblings and when they were all gone she probably ate her mom and dad. She is a beast. Jim trapped her today with that fancy mouse I bought from the pet store. I hear Jim has some females waiting back at the house for all of the good work he has done. But nonetheless, she is a beautiful bird and will be the envy for all falconers who aspire to hunt with a Dragon lady.
Jim Is going to have his hands full the next couple of weeks. I have to check on him regulary to make sure that girl doesn't eat him. Jim told me she wieghed in at 1462 grams. Considering Delta was 889 this girl is almost twice the size. WOW!!

First trapped Red Tail of the Season

Over the past several weeks I have been extremely busy and I have been scouting for immature Red Tails to trap so I can hunt with this hunting season. Today as I was leaving work I had my trap ready and I was on the look out for any signs of a Red Tail perched high on a tree or on a utility pole. I figure this would be a perfect time to trap because Red Tails are looking for their last meal before the sun sets because they will pretty much be in seclusion during the night.

So here I was listening to NPR and in the distance I can see the tall tale distinct sign of a perched red tail on the top of some trees scanning a field. I drove by and scouted the area to see where the best place for me to throw my trap out of the window that can serve as a good presentation for the tail. I found that place, threw the trap out of the window and drove down the road a little ways when I saw the the hawk take flight from my rear view. YES!!!!!!!!!! I got one...... I drove up to the trap and saw the red tail and became excited. The only thing that could make this date go wrong would be a RED TAIL!! Like literally. As a falconer I am looking for an immature red tail hawk and immature birds do not have "RED" tails. Only adults do and unfortunately so did this one. He was a beautiful male red tail. There are many reasons for why falconers don't trap and hunt with adults and one of them, is because adults have proven that they can live through the seasons and have lived long enough to contribute back to the population. Immature birds who are less than one year old are perfect for falconry, because they are easy to train and the take of immature red tails does not have any impact on current population numbers. Furthermore, many falconers like myself release there red tails back into the wild after the hunting season and start fresh with a new bird every year. SIMPLY AWESOME!!

Urban Hunter?

Hunting season is upon us. Here in GA the season really gets kicked off by Dove season. I lived in an Urban Environment all of my life and when most people find out how much I am into hunting and fishing they are amazed that an ol city boy can get down with the best of them. I even challenged an active member of the Klu Klux Klan that I could gut and clean a deer faster than he can. He was actually shocked and for a moment it seemed as though he was talking to one of his brothers. It goes to show that when people are on common ground stereotypes and prejudices can be pushed aside even if it's for a split second.


I am an Urban Hunter and in a nutshell it means that I support conservation. Now this may seem like an Oxymoron to some because the very notion of hunting seems counter productive to conservation. But to the contrary, my hunting license that I purchase every year goes to the Fish and wild life services to maintain our Forrest and public lands that are on the outskirts of our urban sprawls. Hunters believe it or not do more for conservation than is commonly known.


Our History has been clouded by the actions of the "Great White Hunters" who trek all over the Globe to kill defenceless animals for sport with no sense of preservation. These things inevitably changed by the actions of one man (President Theodore Roosevelt) who I have the honor of calling my hero. He single handily attacked the issues of preservation (the preserving of resources for the few) and conservation ( the the careful utilization of a natural resource in order to prevent depletion.) By tackling these two issues and providing a place for hunters to pursue game and at the same time manage our precious resources; the idea of our National Parks were spawned and along with that were myriads of laws and regulations that would guide our behavior to maintain the beauty of our rich resources.


So here I am a century later living in an urban sprawl; fine tuning my Bow, zeroing my arrows, dusting off the ole shotgun and preparing for this years falconry season. I'm looking forward to preparing a meal of wild Boar loins, grilled venison back straps, fried rabbit, stewed squirrel and wine braised quail, freshly made with the Harvest from my Urban Garden. For some people it's a way of life, for me the beat of my drum signals a different tune, As an Urban Hunter I find pleasure shopping and eating great food downtown but I find peace leaning against an ol tree stump somewhere deep among the hard woods.