Must have materials to imprint a Goshawk

[keitht]

Are you planning on keeping it in the house?

I threw out what I used in my current Journal article: I put them in a small nest box made out of cardboard that I move them around in. I soon put that in a soft sided pet crate commonly sold at any pet supply store. They are cheap. They have mesh sides that stop most of the mutes. From there, I go to an imprint tank / box that is fairly large. They can be made on the cheap like mine, or made very nice, like Harry's. From there, I tie them on a shelf perch in the living room. I keep cheap outdoor carpeting spread around for the "overspray."

There is no real containment proof system when it comes to goshawks in the house. It's something I put up with until cool weather comes. I find that you pay a little now, keeping them indoors, or, pay a lot later and possibly forever for not. The messy part will pass soon enough. In 3 or 4 years you will find and remove the last remnants of floating down. LOL

Having said that, I'm sure that some others deploy a system where the bird is kept in the house little or none at all. That used to be my system many years ago but I've come to prefer the house method.

[wayf]

I use a kids play pen with the fine mesh, sides fold down for easy access. I keep 2 playpens and switch out when one need to be washed down. The fine mesh will catch 99% of the mutes. I find mine at yard sales and have never paid more than $15.00 for one. I have used the play pens for 40 + years. I place them in the middle of the room that way I can walk all around them. Large bath pan as a nest box. once they start jumping up on the sides I lay out tarps to catch mutes. When they refuse to stay in the pen I tie them to a floor perch again with tarps. Tarps can be washed daily while the eyas is weathering.

Use lots of air freshener!

Wayne

[goshawkr]

Audrey,

Looking forward to hearing about your progress on this adventure.

The must have list for an imprint goshawk is:

1) goshawk.

Thats it!! Really.

To more seriously address your question though, here is how I handle raising a goshawk in the house.

I have a basket with low sides (about 2cm) that I stuff full of fresh evergreen needles about once a week. The gases from these needles seem to have antifungal properties, but whatever the reason this closely mimics what a young goshawk is being raised on out there in the wild, and nature usually knows best.

When I want the young goshawk to be able to get down and play (and its a ton of fun to play with them when they are young), I will place this basket directly on the floor and they will run off and explore. When I want them to just hang out, but dont want them running around, the basket goes up high, but on something very stable so that they dont knock it over when they step to the edge to mute.

Baby goshawks have an intense fear of heights. This shuts off instantly one day when they are about fledging age. I use this to my advantage. I have a small stool that I built for my nest basket to keep it very secure, and even thought it only holds the basket 22cm off the ground, this is enough to trigger the terror in a large down goshawk so they dont jump off to go play. It is important to remember this fear because you need to make sure they feel securely supported any time they are picked up. I have picked them up with my hands by forming a secure basket under them with my fingers, but usually when I need to carry them around they are herded into the basket I mentioned and I carry that around. If you just pick them up you can create a fear of your hands because they will associate your hand with the terror of not being supported. When the 22cm stool is not enough height to keep the baby hawk from going exploring, I can get a few more days of containment by using a much taller one, but this will only work for a short time. Once the fear is gone, they have the ability to glide and as soon as they realize this the only way to contain them is with walls or tieing them down.

I have a small collection of old blankets, and this is what I cover things with to contain the mess. They wash easy in the washing machine, and keep the couch and floor out of danger. Usually if I put the basket on the stool in the center of a large blanket, the mess wont get anywhere else.

I am currently using a very large clear plastic tub with a snap on lid as a way to keep them contained while I am asleep, for travel in the car, etc. I have two so that I always have a clean one to rotate in, and I cut a big hole in the lid and covered that with plastic coated hardware cloth so there is plenty of fresh air getting in.

Once they reach fledgling age, they are pretty easy to contain by tying them down. I put an indoor tail saver perch centered on one of those blankets I mentioned and the mess is nicely contained. As was mentioned, this goes best if you introduce the idea of tying them down when they are very young (about 4 weeks old) so that they are used to the idea that their leg movement is restricted.

I also start OC on day one, like you indicate you will do. My primary shaping project is lure training. Before they can walk well, I have them running to the lure and footing it with gusto (and with a lot of laughing on my part as they fall over while footing the lure). My current goshawk will usually come instantly to the lure at a range of over 800 meters, and she has never seen more than a few tidbits attached to the lure in her life.

If you sit and think of the things that you will train your hawk to do when out hunting, almost all of them can be accomplished while you are waiting for them to grow up so that when it is time to hit the hunting fields, they are all polished and ready to go. You have a good 6 weeks of time waiting for your baby hawk to grow up or so. Its time you can put to good use if you plan it out well.

Also remember, there are some core instincts that draw goshawks and other accipiters. For example, they are instinctively drawn to individual trees and even more so to stands of forest. But anything you expose your baby goshawk to as it is growing up will be considered "normal" without any fuss. Its good to look ahead to what you think you may want your goshawk to accept and bring that exposure when its very young.