I hawk rabbits with a Harris Hawk and miniature longhair dachshunds. I hawk small woodlots and waste fields behind industrial parks, housing developments, etc. I need a small flushing dog with a good nose, lots of line sense yet enough obedience to be called up to a fresh line, and the ability to go to ground. Without the dachshunds the hawking would be much less successful and the number of slips or opportunities for the hawk would be much diminished. The hawk is an opportunist and will use the dachshunds to provide those chances at rabbits. The hawk will follow the dachshunds from tree to tree as they search the briars for rabbits. When the rabbit flees from the dogs the hawk goes after it. If the rabbit goes into a hole, the dachshunds run it out again. We are an inter-species team. Rabbits are abundant, easy to find but not always easy to catch. There are days we catch one out of six rabbits and there are days we catch every rabbit we put up. If I were to hawk without a dachshund I would have to do a lot more brush beating myself. I would not see as many of the flights as I do now and my hawk would have to constantly chase fresh rabbits, rather than staying on one rabbit and making it count, with the help of the dachshunds.
I hawk where there are no gun hunters so I am not taking game from other hunters. I am licensed both by the Federal and State government to own and use the hawk. The team either brings a rabbit to bag or the rabbit escapes cleanly; there are no cripples left in the field. The rabbits are used for hawk, dog and people food. And even if I take a number of rabbits out of one small area, the remaining population will now reproduce to fill that void.
Today Teddy wrote about an outing with her dogs, and I found her pack's dynamics very interesting:
Had a good day's hawking today. There was a crust on the snow so the dogs and rabbits could run instead of flounder. We saw three rabbits and got three rabbits. Two for the hawk, one for the dogs.
The photos are of Garmin, a Navarre pup I got from Connie LaRosa out in Long Island. Garmin is six months old. Today she got to learn about dead rabbits in holes. My smallest dachshund, Fitz, is happy to slay rabbits who don't bolt, but it is beneath her dignity to pull them out. If Navarre can reach the rabbit he'll pull it, but he's a good bit bigger in the chest and can't always get to the rabbit. When Fitz came out of the hole with fur in her mouth I knew she'd had her way with the rabbit. Navarre tried but couldn't get past some roots. I asked Garmin to go in but she was hesitant because both Navarre and Fitz are dominant over her. She would look in the hole, then come out and wriggle in Navarre's face and lick his mouth. I held Fitz and she just glared at Garmin, which was enough to keep Garmin away from the hole.
However, by clamping my hand over Fitz's face, Garmin eventually slid down into the hole. She could certainly smell the rabbit although it was a good six feet away from her in the tunnel. She disappeared a few times, then came out and went back in. Then she began barking, which is not unusual for a pup when it first encounters an animal in a hole. After a bit she got up her courage and disappeared completely into the den. I waited and held the other two back. After a few moments she backed out, pulling the dead rabbit with her. Good learning experience for her, and game in the bag.
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| Good girl Garmin! |
1 comment:
Wow what an interesting team. I realy enjoyed this read. Justin
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