Bird Hunting

Today I took the kids out with some friends and we went bird hunting. We weren’t trying to kill birds though. We were trying to catch them. Specifically, we were trying to catch a red-tailed hawk. My friend John just got his falconers license and would like to have a hawk.

The day was pretty good even though we didn’t catch a bird. The kids enjoyed themselves and we were able to see a lot of birds. We also learned that juvenile mice can fit out of the holes in the bird trap. Surprisingly though, they don’t tend to wander far from the trap and are relatively easy to catch again. We also learned that hawks are scared by dogs, joggers, and cars. Hopefully we’ll have better luck next week when we go out again.

FYI: Once I’m out of school, I’m gonna go catch me a bird too. I like hawks but I may start with an American kestrel. Ultimately though, I’d like to have an owl. I love the idea of having a bird that eats other birds. Once I get my bird, I’ll be able to say things like “Oh, you say you have a parakeet? My bird eats those for dinner.” It’ll be sweet.