A 'Dollar' can carry a wealth of imagination and joy

Every year, including this year, I tell myself I’m not going to buy another electronic, moveable, talking, no imagination needed, to expensive gift for a child that right after opening it they toss it a side and play with the box it came in instead. Some how though every Christmas I give in to my adult psyche and buy the too expensive gift. This year was different I followed through on my plan—no expensive, electronic, talking, no imagination needed, gifts.

I’m almost ashamed to admit it— this year I did my Christmas shopping at the Dollar Store for the little kids (ages 2-10). I usually don’t mind shopping at the Dollar Store, I find lots of nifty things, and if I take the time to look, I can even find stuff made in the USA. But this was Christmas, and this time entering the Dollar Store, I wondered what people thought. Did they think I fell on hard times with the economics the way they are today? Would they wonder if I’m down trodden and cannot afford anything, because I over extended elsewhere, but something from the Dollar Store. Would they look down their noses at me—then I thought—probably not they are in Dollar Store too; I had to get over the expensive gift stigma.

I walked around the store, un-certain if I was going to go through with buying the children’s gifts on my list—in the Dollar Store. My inner voice telling me, “come on, it’s not right—The—Dollar—Store— at Christmas?
I picked out a few items, put them in my basket, then put them back feeling guilty about the $ amount of the gift. At one point, I even put my basket down and started to leave the store. But something beckoned be back to my basket and I continued shopping.

I tried hard not to think about the price. Would a little kid think about the price when they played with a spinning top, giggling at the colors going around? I thought of one of my favorite gifts I received one Christmas, a spinning top with red, black and white sections, a simple toy that I played with for hours.
I put five spinning tops in my basket.

Surrounded by sparkly razzled dazzle hanging on the wall, I tried to look at the items as a child. I took an action figure off the wall and fingered the small object. If I were a kid, I’m not sure I’d like this. It doesn’t feel good in my hand. I closed my eyes and tried to envision myself as a child playing with this. I decide nope this is not good. But before I could put it back, I hear a small voice.

“Hey Mrs. Lady, what ya doin? What ya got there in your hand?”

I look down at a little boy with huge brown eyes, about the age of four, who I think is a bit precocious, thank goodness.
I respond with a smile, “Well I’m looking for Christmas gifts for nieces and nephews about the same age as you and a little older.”

He spied the action figure in my hand, “They won’t like that. I don’t like it.”

“I didn’t think so; I was just going to put it back,” Slightly embarrassed that I had even considered it.

Hanging the figurine back on the wall, I ask him, “What are you doing here?”

“Chritmit schoppin.”

“Oh do you like the stuff in here?”

“Oh yeth…I like this, and this and this and this. This here is really cool,(he picked up one of the spinning tops) but I can’t have it because dad said Santa is coming soon, so really I am only pretend Chritmit schoppin, picking out all the stuff I would buy me if I were a grown-up or Santa picking out presents for me.”
I blinked my eyes, and thought, wow, what a mouthful for a kid, but holy cow the truth was told.”

I started looking for presents again, but this time I really, really, pretended I was four and buying it for myself. The next thing I knew my basket was over flowing with a load of presents for $50 that would fill five gifts bags to the brim, which made me feel like I had Santa’s own bag on Christmas.

I was at the checkout and the little boy and his dad got in line behind me.
“Hi again Mrs. Nice lady,” He stood up on his tiptoes to see what I was taking out of my basket. “Wow, what cool stuff.”

I smiled feeling as if I had just got a zillion trillion dollars worth of stuff for the best deal ever. OH wait…I reminded myself to leave my four year self in the razzle-dazzle isle and with the squashy, bally, spongy thingys.

I was actually excited about giving the gifts. If this little boy liked them, then I am certain the other children would. Especially the squashy, bally, spongy, thingy, one green, two bluish pink, one orange, and one rad pink, which I played with as I walked through the isles.

I believe Christmas is to commercialized, putting to much emphasis on the Big gifts and drilling in our brains that the most expensive gifts are the ones to buy. Big dollar gifts that make you feel you are special in the receiver eyes thus making us feel better about the debit we made buying a too expensive gift. But does a child know the difference between $1 and $100. NO. What they do know is if you really thought of them and put some feeling in to it. It is something a child can sense.

Standing there now with pride in the dollar store at the wealth of gifts I found, I remembered another idea I always wanted to do for kids at Christmas. I’ve wanted to get big huge boxes, draw on them with crayons, and write the child’s name in big letters, so they can read and point at the letters in their name, wrap that box up and give that as a gift with a box of crayons. It’s an idea born from one of my all time favorite toys I had as child, when I was about five or six. My mom gave me a huge box after she had gotten a dryer or something. I took that box with excitement, made it my own, creating my own little world out of cardboard, and crayons. That box became a house, a castle, a fortress, and ultimately the finest snow sled—EVER. So next year— I just might go for the Big Box wrapped up gift—I think it will be a success. Speaking of success, all the stuff in the gift bags, but especially the spinning tops, and squashy, bally, spongy, thingy’s—were!
The Big Box Gift—definitely an idea I’ll want to keep in mind—I’d better start stocking up on crayons now.
Hmmm what time does the Dollar Store open?

A Falconer A Father

CONGRATULATIONS JONATHAN AND WENDY!
We welcome Scarlett Clarkson to the world!
Jonathan (Interview with a Falconer) and Wendy's little girl, born this week.
May God Bless you all.
Love Kellie

Interview with a Falconer Part III

Welcome back. This is the third and last installment of my interview with Falconer, Jonathan Clarkson.

KMS
Is any breed of raptor bolder than another?

J
Yes —Goshawk’s are very aggressive, and some species of falcons are more aggressive than others. Some falconers like certain falcons over others because of their flight styles. The Red Tail hawk is a very good hunter, plus many like them because of their beauty. It really depends on the falcon or raptor, just like a litter of pups; there are the bold ones and shy ones.

KMS
You spend so much time with your bird, does a bond form between you and the bird?

J
Yes it does, but not as much as you think…we (falconers) all kind of want our birds to love us, like a dog, but they only perform because they know they will get food. Their bond is mostly around the food and game we provide them. As they become better at hunting with you as a team, they learn that you are their partner and you help provide game. There is a species of hawk however, called the Harris Hawk, that is very social and they live in a family group. Most raptors I know are solitary. Even during breeding season, they stick to themselves. The Harris Hawk on the other hand, is a big family group.




KMS
Do hawks then mate for life?

J
Yes most species do, until one dies or is killed. They will use the same nesting sites for many many years too. Often when one of the parents dies, the offspring will come back.
Let me go back to the Harris Hawk, because they live in families, when you take one you can take two and hunt them both or sometimes more. This is called gang hawking, kind of like a wolf pack. These raptors actually form a bond with you. They are very smart, and a lot of falconers like them because they are easy to train. Out of all the hawks, I would say the Harris Hawk builds the biggest bond

KMS
Are raptors considered a bird or is a raptor in its own category?

J
They are a bird, but they are in a group called Falconiforms, (eagles, falcons, hawks, osprey, secretary bird, vultures; class Aves) An order of diurnal birds that have sharp claws and strong hooked bills. They are mainly carnivorous, feeding on a wide variety of animal prey.
There are five families:

Accipitridae …
which are true hawks…hawks, eagles etc.
Falconidae …
Falcons,
Pandionidae …
Osprey
Sagittariidae …
Secretary bird that lives in Africa
Cathartidae …
are the vultures, which are really not considered birds of prey but they classify them together.
Owls are strigiformes

KMS
Tell me a little about Amelia

J
She is a Prairie Falcon captured from the West Desert in Utah. Prairie Falcons are only found in the North American continent. For years, they thought they only lived in the Western Plain State and a little bit of Canada, but now they are finding that they nest deep in to Mexico.

KMS
Do you think that’s just recent?

J
No they probably just didn’t know. There are probably a lot of remote areas no one knows of yet. They believe the biggest population is in the Snake River Valley in Idaho. Falcons nest in rocky cliffs. Sometimes they will use old crows, ravens nests but not usually. Falcons do not build nests, they just lay their eggs in a little scrape. Some on real steep cliff faces. Their habitat is grasslands, prairie, desert, and open spaces.

KMS
In General how many young do they have?

J
This year in the nests they had around five babies, which is a good year. The amount of eggs a Raptor has depends on the prey base.

KMS
Kind of like the wolf population?

J
Yep, all predators are the same in that respect. When there is a abundant food source, predators have a successful year.

KMS
Out of those five eggs, how many usually survive?

J
Rule of thumb, mortality rate is 80%. 80 out of 100 raptors will die before they reach maturity.

KMS
Is that from other predators or different factors?


J
Lots of things. Other predators, competition for food. Not enough food. Harsh weather. A predators life is hard on them.

KMS
At what age do birds of prey start hunting in the wild on their own?

J
Few months, the Prairie falcon fledges at about 8 to 10 weeks.

KMS
Do birds of prey normally only have one brood a year or more?

J
Normally they only have one. Sometimes though rare, if it’s a good year they can have a second.

KMS
How long has Falconry been in existence and where did it start?

J
One debate is that it started in Middle East. There’s also evidence it started in China. We know for sure its at least 4000 years old and that it may be older. I think probably the Middle East is where it started. There is evidence that the Egyptians practiced it and then Japan also. It got very popular again in the Renaissance, well even before that, in the Middle ages. It was for the hierarchy.
Back in the middle ages, different birds signified different classes. The birds the kings didn’t desire were for the peasants. They were very strict too. If you were caught with a bird out of you class designation they would cut your hands off. It was a very big social status, mostly for the rich. As you look through history, it was mostly a sport for the higher class.

KMS
How do these birds fit into the hierarchy of the animal world and who are their predators.

J
Different species have different predators. An Eagles predator would be other Eagles or man —man is their biggest predator. For the small raptures, their predators would be Eagles and Owls. Most all raptors who are diurnal, fear Owls. Because Owls are a nocturnal predator that hunt at night, and take a lot of young birds and many adult birds when they are sleeping. Prairie Falcons, for example, if they see an owl in the daytime, they will try to kill it.

KMS
What do raptors eat?

J
Prairie Falcons or other birds of prey?

KMS…
Any bird of prey

J
Some birds have specialized diets such as some Kytes which is a small falcon. The Snail Kyte that lives in Florida, live only on a certain snail. That would be an example of a specialized diet. Osprey, mostly eat fish. Bald Eagles, eat fish and will eat carrion and dead animals if they have to. Most of them are opportunists, they will take the opportunity to get any kind of food they can get.

KMS
Will falcons or hawks eat anything that is dead?

J
Not usually. But I have seen Red Tails in the winter eat road kill. Usually though, that’s only if they are injured or it’s a hard winter and they are hungry. If they are starving, they are not dumb; they know they need to eat. In the wild, Falcons mostly eat birds. During breeding and hatching season they will change their diet, to rodents and other small game. But when they are hunting for themselves in the wild, the falcon is adapted at catching birds. Red Tails, (buteo) will hunt rodents, some birds and reptiles. Eagles would be the same, mostly rodents, but they can also catch birds.


KMS
You told me that Prairie Falcons hits speeds of 200 MPH. How do they catch their prey?

J
They will bind to them in the air, which means they will impact with their feet, called raking (strike hard and rake its longer talon across the preys back). Some birds will just clutch their prey, take them to the ground and if they are not dead, sever their spine with the notch on their beak that I mentioned earlier. All birds of prey have that notched tooth in their head that when used kills their prey instantly.

KMS
So actually then, the bird of prey is a humane hunter.

J
I guess we as human would consider it to be humane but I think its natures way of equipping them with hunting and taking their prey quickly without getting hurt. The whole point is to kill something. Many times their prey is at least the same size or larger than they are, and if there is a struggle, they could get hurt.

KMS
So when I see a bird of prey carrying a rabbit or something away, they’ve killed it before they carry it away.

J
Usually. But the only bird that could really fly away with a rabbit is an Eagle. A very large Red Tail might be able to carry a rabbit a short distance, because a rabbit weighs at least a couple of pounds. Something that size they will usually eat on the ground.

KMS
How long do birds of prey live ?

J
They can live a long time. There is a famous Eagle in captivity, who is still alive that is about 80 years old. Red Tails are known to live up to 40 years in captivity. In the wild, approx 20 years.

KMS
You mentioned some words before, such as feaking?

J
Yes Feaking is when they are done eating they wipe their beak off.
There are many falconry related words, such as Cadger.The old Hag. Hag refers to the term haggard, which is an adult raptor with adult plume. Cadger…is the person who carried the falconry ‘cadge’. A crate in medieval times that held many falcons at one time. The Cadge would carry the crate with the birds for the kings and the knights to the hunting grounds. So …the term come on you old cadger, came from that.

KMS
I’ve watched you with Amelia since you’ve been here in NY for a visit and you fly her every day.

J
Yes…and its still not as much as I fly her at home. That’s why yesterday she was a little bit excitable and did not come as quick as she usually does when I asked her to come in. She’s use to more fly time. Can’t blame her, she’s a bird, she loves to fly.
Some guys get so involved and because falconry is so time consuming, they loose their jobs, get divorced, all because of the time it takes. But you need to spend this time to make sure your bird is in tip top shape and in good health. In the wild they hunt and kill something every day, so not only do you need to take the time to train them but you have to take the time to hunt with them. You have to find places where they can actually hunt. So that means if you live in the city, you have to take them somewhere they can hunt.

KMS
As you with Amelia. She is not old enough to hunt on her own, so you have to do her hunting for her while she is in training and make sure she gets all the proper nutrients she would get out in the wild, correct.

J
Yep exactly, I am her parents. I need to take care of her as they would. They have to eat wild game; they can’t just eat bird foods. There are certain nutrients and fats they only get in wild game that they need. If and when you capture a raptor to train, you also have to go through a legal process, put up facilities that have to be inspected and follow certain codes. Its not just catch a raptor, and then treat it like a parakeet you buy at the store.

KMS
What would you tell someone wanting to become a falconer?

J
We come across that a lot during falconry shows. People watch us, think they like it and want to do it. But we always tell them…it takes a LOT of time. I can’t stress that enough, the time it takes. You have to have a lot of spare time or make sure you MAKE the time. You can’t capture a bird, put it in a cage then expect it to perform. Falconry is not pet keeping. If you want a bird for a pet, I tell people get a parrot. Again, raptors are not pets. Make sure its what you want to do. Go spend some time with a falconer and see the time it takes before you go and catch a raptor. Spend time with some one who bands birds, anything to get to know the raptor better.
Its important you understand the commitment it takes. You have to be fair to the birds. Its a must you take the time and know what you will be getting in to when you become a falconer.
My wife and I will be having a baby in Dec. and I’m not sure what I will do. Though I would love to be a falconer full time, having a family, a home and taking care of them will not allow that. Like I said…it is VERY time consuming. And it’s time you have to spend, not always time you want to spend. So just make sure you are willing to commit all you have to it before you enter in to it.
These birds, (birds of prey) truly are amazing and they deserve nothing but respect.
It is not something anyone should take lightly.



A Note of Thanks to Jonathan and Amelia for letting me get up close and personal.
I learned a lot and having Amelia fly so close to me that I could feel the silent air from her wings on my legs, was a dream come true.
To you Amelia, I say thank you, may your wings take you to new heights.
Jonathan, Thank-you for giving me an experience of a life time.
May you both fly with wings of Freedom
Kellie

Post Note;
December 12th I found out that Jonathan and Amelia competed in a tournament and kicked, butt, or maybe better said in falcon terms…they kicked tail feathers.
Yeahhhhh Amelia….Great things come in small packages! Amelia is living proof of that.




Amelia says have a bit of fun


Try a few questions from the New York State Falconry Examination Manual! Passing the Falconry Exam is one of the requirements for obtaining a falconer's license to be able to hunt with a trained bird of prey. These questions are from the 2001 manual the Department of Environmental Conservation gives out as a study guide, but all of these answers are still correct.

Now don’t peak at the answers until you’ve read all the questions.

1. Which bird is most likely to require a plucking log or stump near its nesting site?
a. Red-tailed hawk
b. Goshawk
c. Kestrel
d. Harris' Hawk


2. True or false. Most Buteos make good hawking birds.


3. The term "gang hawking" is associated with
a. Goshawks
b. Merlins
c. Harris' Hawks
d. Red-tails


4. Indicate the species that is not a true eagle (Aquila)
a. Bald Eagle
b. Golden Eagle
c. Tawny Eagle
d. Walberg's Eagle

Bonus question:
True or false. There is no sexual dimorphism in the Red-tailed Hawk.



Answers and explanations from the manual.
1. b. The plucking log is characteristic of Goshawk nesting sites. It is very noticeable at some sites. It is usually a large, fallen tree on which the male stands while plucking prey. This plucking site is always present, but sometimes it is as much as a quarter mile from the nest. Goshawks also appear to require permanent water near the nest site, usually a lake or river with a sloping beach used for bathing.


2. False. Of the ten species of North American buteos or buzzards, most are noted for laziness and lack of spirit compared to other predatory birds of similar size. Most of the species live on insects and small rodents and so are of considerable value to agriculture, but of little use to falconers. The two largest members of the group, the highly spirited Ferruginous and Red-tailed Hawks, are the exceptions.


3. c. "Gang hawking" or "social hawking" involves a group of falconers or hawkers in the field all at the same time and flying collectively at the same quarry. Harris' hawks lend themselves to gang hawking because of their social nature. At some falconry meets it is possible to see up to 15 Harris' hawks in the field with dozens of hawkers and beaters at once.


4. a. There are 70 species of Aquilas or true eagles. The Bald Eagle is not one of them. The Bald Eagle is a sea eagle (Haliaeetus) of which there are many speices of world-wide distribution. All feed on fish to some extent, some species are strictly fish-eaters. The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) of North America is listed as an endangered species in most of the lower 48 states. Neither the Bald Eagle nor the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) may be used for falconry in New York.


Bonus: (Sexual dimorphism is the difference in form between male and female members of the same species.)
False. In addition to being much larger and heavier, the hens, generally, though not always, have larger more powerful thighs and feet, broader and larger heads, wide wings and a blockier overall build. As to behavior, the tiercels (males) are somewhat more spirited but also more temperamental. The hens more readily "crash" heavy cover in pursuit of quarry but they lack the quickness and aerial dexterity of the tiercel.

Go here for Glossary of falconry terms
http://www.americanfalconry.com/Glossary.html

Interview with a Falconer Part II

Welcome to Part II of my interview with, Falconer, Jonathan Clarkson.


KMS
Jonathan, I'm not sure if I want to know, but I have to ask, you mentioned previously about giving your falcon a bagged animal. Please explain what a bagged animal is?

J
Something you capture, like a Starling or Pigeon that you tie a drag weight on, with a line, so they can’t fly or run to far. The Falconer hangs on to the line to keep the game in a certain range where the young bird can see it. When the bagged animal tries to fly or run it entices the young bird to hunt it.


KMS
I never knew this was part of training raptors and to be honest, it sounds mean. I have a better understanding why you said its, ‘kind of a bloody sport'. As I said before, I’ve known you since you were a child and know your love of animals, so how can you willingly put a live animal out there to be killed by your bird in training or kill an animal to train your bird. How does this make you feel?


J
It’s hard. It’s a hard part of being a Falconer, but I realize in the wild their parents do the same thing, it’s part of the life cycle.

KMS
So what this means then, if you decide to catch a young Rapture you become its parent and the responsibilities that go along with it.

J
Yes…If you are serious about being a Falconer, teaching others about Raptures and making your bird a good hunter, you have to replicate how it would learn to hunt as close to nature as possible. As your bird improves its hunting skills, you can’t keep handing them bagged or dead animals or they will not learn to hunt. They will soon learn not go after game that is physically fit, because the bagged or dead animal is easier. You have to push your bird to the limit. They must be physically fit and in the best health to be able to hunt like they should, and the way to achieve this is you must duplicate how they learn in the wild. You have to feed them well with what they would eat in the wild too. They have to be an athlete, or in the wild, it would mean certain death. The responsibility of a Falconer, because we want to learn and then teach others about these great birds is to do what’s best for the bird. As I said, it’s our responsibility, they did not asked to be captured.

KMS
I don’t think most people think about a ‘bird’ being physically fit or an athlete. I know I never did.

J
They have to be to survive in the wild. That’s why when they are young, their parents make them work for their food. It teaches them to use their instinctive skills. They MUST learn how to hunt for themselves and their families. In the wild, the ones that are not the athletes cannot survive.
KMS How long does it take to train a bird and at what age are they best to capture?

J
About a month as a rule of thumb for training. Some are fast learners some are slower. The Prairie Falcon I have, as soon as she was flying she was pretty much trained. I captured her from the nest. She was all full of down, a little fluff ball. She became tame very quick.
To answer the second part of your question…at what age is best for them to be captured? The decision to catch a wild one or chose to take a baby from the nest, depends on what someone wants. If they want a really good hunting bird, they would want to capture a passage bird, because it’s already been living on its own for a couple months catching game. Many times though it will take them a little longer to become tame, called ‘manning’, (getting them use to humans).

KMS
What happens to these birds once you turn them back in the wild?

J.
Imprints…birds captured from the nest, typically are not returned to the wild. They don’t think of themselves as a bird. So it is harder to return them. It can be done, but it is unusual. That’s why an apprentice can only capture a Kestrel or Red Tail from the wild (a passage bird), in case they loose it. It can return to the wild very quickly and it doesn’t take them very long to revert back. Imprints are use to man, use to dogs, which normally would be predators to them, so it would not be very fair to them to release them back in to the wild. They don’t have the natural fear to keep them safe. That’s why I stress the importance, that being a Falconer is a serious endeavor. You can’t take a bird from the wild, imprint it, get tired of doing it and just put it back.

KMS
Which raptor is your favorite and why. Is one breed smarter or bolder than another?

J
Yep, they are different, even raptors from the same families. For instance the Prairie Falcon I have, Amelia, my friend has her sister and they are two different personalities. Amelia, is quiet and friendly. My friends falcon squawks and bites his glove. A more aggressive one might make a better hunter, but I’ve also seen the quiet more docile ones have the most game kills. Sometimes the docile ones are just taking things in slower, thinking about them more. As far as my favorite bird, it depends on what you want to hunt. If you want to hunt up-game quarry, like Pheasants, or Grouse, Falcons are the best. I haven’t had one yet but probably my favorite is going to be the Goshawk. It belongs to a group called the accipiter, with short rounded wings and long tails. Their habitat is in thick woods. They catch birds, squirrels, rabbits, all kinds of rodents. They are very fast. In Europe, they were called Pot Hawks, because you could come back with all kinds of game for the dinner pot, geese, birds and game . I’ve always liked them so I would say they are my favorite, and I hope someday I will be able to fly one.

KMS
Amelia is smaller then some of the other raptors you have mentioned. How with her smaller size does she hunt successfully and how are her hunting skills different than let’s say the Red Tail Hawk. Why did you choose her.


J
I was impressed with the great hunting skills they (the falcons) have for a small rapture. Their successful kill rate is better than a Red Tail. If they go after game, they are 30-40% more likely to capture it on the first try. The Prairie Falcon is built different than the Red Tail. They are more streamlined and what’s considered a Long Wing. But her body is stocky and built rugged for hunting. She kills her prey with speed—hitting it at speeds of 200 MPH. If the impact does not kill her prey, then she severs its spine with a notch she has on her beak. Even though she is smaller, her wings are longer than the Red Tail and when she is full-grown she will probably weigh more. The Red Tail hunts with its talons. It could not hunt with impact like the falcon, because their bones are hollow. They look bigger because their feathers are fluffy.

KMS
I noticed yesterday when I was up close to Amelia, her beak and legs are a bluish color. Is that a falcons coloring?

J
Yes and no. The blue is normal for an immature falcon, and will stay that color until she is about a year old. When she matures her coloring will change.



KMS
Oh and yesterday, you cued Amelia to fly between the two of us. As she flew by she was so fast, I couldn't catch her in my camera lens, and I could feel the rush of air as she swooped by. She was going 200 MPH?

J.
No…she was probably only doing about 100, just cruising.




NEXT in Part III
The Last installment of my Interview with a Falconer

Is there any breed bolder than others?
Do you form a bond with your bird and she with you?
How long do they live?
What would you tell anyone wanting to become a Falconer.

Interview with a Falconer …Part I

In August, I had the privilege of doing an Interview with, a Falconer and meeting Amelia his 3-month-old Prairie falcon.
I have always been in awe of raptors, the Hawk being one of my favorite, so being up close to one and feeling the rush of air on my legs as she swooped by me at a speed of 100 MPH or more, was like a dream come true.

Her handler Jonathan Clarkson, was young man in my 4-H group, back in the early 90’s. He was an energetic child, always hiking, fishing, being one with nature and usually doing things his own way, catching his first Hawk when he was around 13. Often I would see him, no saddle and bare feet, with his horse Smokey running up the fields behind my house, free like the birds he loves.

Since then he has grown into a fine young man. He lives in Utah with his wife Wendy and soon will becoming a parent.
So it is with great admiration and pride for the man that he has become.
I introduce to you Jonathan and his Prairie falcon Amelia.




KMS:
What is a falconer?

J.
Someone who trains birds of prey for hunting

KMS
Jonathan, You told me yesterday you do exhibitions, what is one important fact you want people to know about Falconry?

J
I tell them it’s important they understand falconry is not keeping a raptor as a pet. The purpose of doing this is to train them to fly free and catch game. This was the original purpose of falconry, an easy way for people to get food.

KMS
When did you know you wanted to be a falconer?

J.
I've always been interested with birds, actually, since I could read I use to read about them. When I was in elementary school, I met a man that did bird banding, so I helped him with that. I’ve always liked birds of prey. When I was real little kid, there was a movie called Lady Hawk. A movie set in medieval times, that had a Hawk in it and that’s when I knew I really wanted to work with hawks and birds of prey.

KMS
I know exactly what movie you are speaking of, it’s one of my favorites too. Please continue.

J.
After watching that movie, I knew I wanted to do that (be close) with a bird of prey.

KMS.
What does it take to become a falconer?

J
Lot of hard work and patience. Legally you have to get a state and federal permit. The laws vary from state to state but they are trying to keep them close to being the same.

KMS.
Do you have to go through any kind of training?

J.
Yes, you have to go through an apprenticeship and serve under someone for two years. There are three different classes of falconry, an apprentice class, general and master’s class and with a bird for four months, in two different 12 month periods. An apprentice in NY can only have kestrel (sparrow hawk) or a Red Tail hawk. They have to be captured from the wild as a passage bird.

KMS.
What is a passage bird.

J.
A passage bird is a bird that’s in its hatching year on its first migration. In NY the trapping season is from Sept to January

KMS
What class are you

J
Its been a battle to upgrade, but, I’ve been trying to upgrade to general.

KMS
Why did you choose working with Raptors?

J. Again since I was a kid, I was always interested and intrigued by them. Now that I am working and training Raptor, I get to see from their level how they hunt. Plus to be with them when they reach the next level, and right there when they are hunting, as a companion, lets you see how they hunt in the wild up close—is fascinating.

KMS
How does one go about catching a raptor and at what age is best?

J
That depends on what kind of prey you want to hunt. What kind of bird you want. You can capture them from the nest. There are all kinds of trapping methods. There are nets and box traps.


KMS
How long does it take to catch a Raptor?

J.
Sometimes it takes a long time. I’ve gone a couple of seasons without any luck.

KMS:
I watched you work Amelia yesterday and you mentioned that training a young raptor is a bloody task. How so and what do you to do train a young bird.

J
You can use bait, like starlings, gerbil mice, nets, traps, etc. Songbirds are protected. There are special traps we use where the bait used in the traps are not harmed. When the rapture is young you have to try and mimic as close as you can to what their parents would do.

KMS
HOW do you mimic its parents?

J.
When a raptor is still in the nest, as they get older the parents fly by and drop food in, making the youngsters work for their food.
Then when they are fledglings, the parents drop food from above and have them catch it.We use lures to mimic this. They come in all shapes and sizes and you tie tidbits of meat and swing and drag the lure around, coaxing them to fly towards it. You give them a bagged animal, that’s alive for them to hunt.

KMS
So both parents are involved in raising their young raptors?

J
Yes, Raptors are a family.


KMS
Knowing you since you were a young child, I know you love animals. So how then can you willingly put a live animal out there to be killed by your bird in training or kill an animal to train your bird.
How does this make you feel?



Part II
How Jonathan feels putting live animals out there for Amelia, knowing they will be killed.
Are birds of prey captured treated like athletes?
Also how Birds of Prey do their hunting and what kind of training the birds need.

Animals see the truth through the windows of the soul

After putting KoKo to sleep, the unpleasant task of burying him or having him removed needed addressing, quickly. I called to see about removal. The nearest facility is 150 miles away. It would have been a day or two before they could come. I couldn’t have KoKo laying around for that length of time. It sounds a bit gory but it’s a fact, that I do live in the country, and though I understand nature’s way, the vision of what would happen is not pretty.

So I made a phone call to a friend I grew up with. A man who my dad introduced to the excavation world when he was eight years old, and now like my dad is one with a piece of equipment. Anything he runs is not just a piece of metal but an extension of him.
His name is Jason.

Knowing he’d be busy, (he always is even when work is slow, using that time to repair and maintain his equipment) I called Jason.
He answered. I asked (sarcastically) if he was busy, his answer was what I expected. “Yeah kind of, but what do you need Hun?”

I told him I needed a boarders horse buried and his reply was, “I need to get the truck and excavator started, they’ve been sitting a few days, because of the snow storm and you know how diesels are. Let me go see if I can get it all started. Call me back as soon as the vet gets there and I will come up and bury that horse for you.”

Jason dropped everything he was doing, to come and do this for me. He was my savior of the day. A knight riding on a yellow excavator, rescuing Pat and me from the horrible things that could happen from a dead horse left unattended, to long in the country.

As he dug, as we watched, as he smoothed the bottom of KoKo’s final resting place, and as he laid KoKo gently in the ground, I could feel the feeling in my soul that comes about whenever I see or talk to Jason. I don’t know what the feeling is. Its not a feeling of love as in a woman loves a man nor a feeling of how a patient feels towards a doctor. The best explanation I have—is— it’s a feeling of reverence.

The nice weather had turned colder and we were all chilled. When Jason was done, I offered him some lunch and a cup of coffee. He accepted the cup of coffee. I have two dogs, Jenna and Maddie that I got from shelters a year ago. Jenna is friendly and loves everyone. Maddie is a little tenacious and barks at everyone. She does not like anyone near me, in the house or actually anywhere on the property, until and if she warms up to them.

Jason stepped in the house with Pat and me. I expected Maddie to do her normal run into the kitchen, and start barking at this intruder of her domain. Convincing us with her explanation of why he should not be in the house. Instead, she calmly walks into the kitchen, looks at Jason, looks into his eyes, and does nothing. Not one peep.

He sits at the table, I’m pouring our coffee’s, and I look to see where Maddie is, still a little worried about what she might do. She is standing next to Jason and he’s petting her. She never lets anyone new pet her either. Then the three of us are sitting at the table talking and drinking our coffee. Again, I look for Maddie, only to find her under the table curled up at Jason’s feet.

Did Maddie, a dog that was abuse as a puppy, look into his eyes and immediately know what I have felt about Jason for so many years? That inside this abuse as child man is the soul of one of the kindest human beings I have ever known. Did Maddie understand in one glance, my feelings I was trying to understand?
This episode got me thinking about Jason’s name. The abuse he suffered as a child and the, I’ll call, damaged, sometimes angry person he has become.
Led by what I feel towards Jason and Maddie’s reaction, I decided to look up the biblical name for Jason and this is what I found.

Middle English salvacion, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin salvation-, salvatio, from salvare to save —
Deliverance from danger or difficulty
Healer; To Heal
To preserve or guard from injury, destruction, or loss

This biblical explanation of his name, tells me Jason is the person I see inside the protective shield he puts around himself.
It also explains the sadness I get, that because Jason, “The Healer” a man who will do anything for most anyone and me and is so many people’s healer and deliverer from injury or loss, cannot heal or find himself and that as much as I wish I could, I cannot heal him either.

But what I can do, though I cannot heal the abused child I see behind the mans face, is thank God, that Jason is my friend, be his friend, and be thank-full that my dad let a lost eight year old little boy run his bulldozer.