Redtail picture

[MtnMan]

Went out chaSIng bunnies today, and my wife came along so she could try to get some pictures. This rabbit ran right at her. She didn't know whether to try for a shot or dodge the bird that she knew was coming over her shoulder. Fortunately her finger was faster than her feet, hehe. This picture is right at the moment the bird and rabbit met. It wasn't snowing, that was tossed up by the two of them!

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m309/Mtnman_03/DSC_0080.jpg

[Falcon Boy]

Great photo! The pics of the prairie were great too!

[Bryant Tarr]

Great shot! Nice big fat bunny too :)

[Roper]

great px. I wish my redtail could keep her tail looking like your bird's.
she is totally a crash and burn type hawk..
thats why I called her Catrina in her first year, she was a disaster.. now I just call her "Cat".
nice job...!!!!;)

[everetkhorton]

Phil:
Great Picture. You can see the effort it takes to get a foot on one of these hoppers.

[MtnMan]

great px. I wish my redtail could keep her tail looking like your bird's.
she is totally a crash and burn type hawk..
thats why I called her Catrina in her first year, she was a disaster.. now I just call her "Cat".
nice job...!!!!;)

Speaking of "crash and burn"- last season she was driving after a rabbit, and the rabbit zigged around a maple tree. Belle (my redtail) didn't. At first I wasn't worried, she hits stuff pretty hard sometimes. Then I saw her roll onto her side and watched her limp wing flop over. I ran over, and she was out- completely out. I thought (as did my wife and kids, who were with me) that she was dead. I picked her up, and she was like a shotgunned pheasant, completely gone, head and wings hanging limp...

I live on a farm, and was hawking alongside our house in a brushline, so I started carrying her into my garage, when I thought I felt her breathing. I rushed in, layed her on a carpet piece, and called my sponsor. While doing so, she started to wake up after about 7-8 minutes of being unconscious! I discussed things with my sponsor- meanwhile my wife picked her up as she started a confused, dazed thrashing, and Belle stood up on her glove. She just stood there stiff, confused, dazed, and staring at her feet for about 15 minutes, and then started to perk up. Both wings hung normally, and she seemed basically sound. It was late on a Sunday evening, and I live almost 2 hours from my vet. While on the phone Belle actually seemed to be regaining "normalness", so I cut her ration into small tidbits, wet it down good, and let her eat. By the time she was done, she seemd to be doing very well. I felt OK waiting until morning to see if a trip to the vet was in order.

Apart from what I visually interpreted as a sore, stiff bird, she was fine. I gave her an easy vacation, eventually with progressively more repetitions of jump-ups, etc, just to keep her loose, and in two weeks she was back to catching squirrels and rabbits, none the worse for wear!

This is her third season with me. I plan to release her in the spring.

[Roper]

I can relate.. this last year at Nafa we went out with a bunch of locals that were letting us fly on jacks at their place, and the last flight for me of course my hawk has to fly directly into (the BARB Peice) of the barb wire fence.. Absolutely flung her right into the ground. fortunately the puncture was not deep because of the feathers I quess, the end result i brought her to the raptor center at the U of M) when I got home and all seems ok. The vet did mention the ding on her cear (sp?) and the dings on her toes, and the two broken tail feathers ,and the tips broken on the primaries . and and and. needless to say she is killing stuff pretty regular.

I believe the redtails often times are the most unappreciated hawks

Your px gives a whole new meaning to " Comming to a sliding stop, Errrrrrrr

[everetkhorton]

I can relate.. this last year at Nafa we went out with a bunch of locals that were letting us fly on jacks at their place, and the last flight for me of course my hawk has to fly directly into (the BARB Peice) of the barb wire fence.. Absolutely flung her right into the ground. fortunately the puncture was not deep because of the feathers I quess, the end result i brought her to the raptor center at the U of M) when I got home and all seems ok. The vet did mention the ding on her cear (sp?) and the dings on her toes, and the two broken tail feathers ,and the tips broken on the primaries . and and and. needless to say she is killing stuff pretty regular.

I believe the redtails often times are the most unappreciated hawks

Your px gives a whole new meaning to " Comming to a sliding stop, Errrrrrrr

David:
Many years ago I was talking with Walter Crawford from the Tyson Research Center in MO. He was flying a Rt at the time. Walter could be flying any bird in the world, I believe there were breed birds at the time.
I ask him at that time why he was flyilng a Rt. His reply was simple, "They are the most reliable birds at catching game there is". I said how about a HH, his reply, how about the cold. I then said how about a Goshawk, they are killing machines. He said yes they are, when they have there heads screw on right, and that is not 100 % of the time. We ended out talk by him say, you can go out and trap a bird quite easily and train it and catch most game with it every day, well most days. This has alway stuck in my mine and this was over 30 years ago. I am with you, don't ever sell a Rt. short. JMO

[conorhawk]

wow!

[Todd Brown]

tha fact thay RT are the most wide spread raptor in North America speaks volumes

______________
Todd