"Gunner" wrote in message
...
snip-----
As I recall, they didnt have much of a sense of humor either. Unlike
crows who delight in messing with you and being messed with.

Gunner

Don't think for one moment that doesn't extend to other birds. Believe it
or not, Susan and I had a wonderful little canary that trained us to tease
it. It would eagerly initiate finger tag and other fun games. Smartest
bird I ever met, that canary was. Certainly smarter than we were. (Not
that that would be all that difficult!)

Harold

A city wide blackout at Sat, 24 Jan 2004 20:42:04 GMT did not prevent Gunner
from posting to rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
On 24 Jan 2004 06:59:58 -0800, jim rozen
wrote:

In article , Gunner says...

It was a complete thrill to have a kestrel or red tail, or other type
of hawk on your glove, and think back the thousands of years that
others have done the same.

One can actually hold a full grown red-tail on an outstreatched arm?

I think I would be totally unable to avoid flinching (hell,
avoid diving under the porch!) in a situation like that.

Jim

Yup. They are actually lighter than they look, what with hollow bones
etc. A big one is not something you want to hold are arms length for
too long though....

They do have a piercing gaze that can be a bit interesting to meet, if
you are insecure G, though they can be cuddly and nuzzle you.
However..they are not like puppies or kittens... while happy to see
you..they are still one tracked carnivores.

Friend tells of a working peregrine she knew, who had two spaniels for
"beaters". (Actually, the hawker had the spaniels, and sent them in to flush
game for the peregrine.)
Anyway, one day, things on the ground are slow, and the peregrine is
getting a wee tad "testy" - so hard to get competent help, you know - and spies
a spaniel slacking off "over there". And swoops down on the spaniel and
begins pummeling it. Only it wasn't one of the hunting dogs, but a woman's
pet, and she is trying to protect her spaniel from this "wild bird" as the
hawker and my friend race over to intervene. For starters, he's wearing the
heavy gloves ..
In the melee she takes a "wicked" slash to the back of her hand, and
afterwards he is apologetic and offers to pay for medical treatment, and she
waves him off "Oh no, this will be worth it at any number of faculty wives
meetings!"


As I recall, they didnt have much of a sense of humor either. Unlike
crows who delight in messing with you and being messed with.

I've head crows described as a cross between California surf bums and
regular teenage delinquents. :-)


tschus


--
pyotr filipivich.
as an explaination for the decline in the US's tech edge, James
Niccol wrote "It used to be that the USA was pretty good at
producing stuff teenaged boys could lose a finger or two playing with."

Gunner scribed in
:

In the late 60s -1971ish..I was involved in a raptor breeding
program. The folks who raise raptors for hunting are often
credited for saving many species of raptors during the worst DDT
years. The eggs were paper thin and in the wild, they often were
broken, while in captivity they were handled much better.

on our 130km trip yesterday we saw at least 5 kestrels and 1 lanner
falcon. all hunting over or sitting on the phone lines along the
road.
my wife is nuts over raptors, so they all get counted....

It was a complete thrill to have a kestrel or red tail, or other
type of hawk on your glove, and think back the thousands of years
that others have done the same. When your bird comes back (they

I've had an owl on a glove, but it wasn't allowed to fly. just a
quick demo. owls are awesome in the way they can move their heads,
and the feather coating makes them look 'fat' but you can stick a
finger 2nd knuckle deap without finding the owl in there.... esp in
the neck area.

swarf, steam and wind

--
David Forsyth -:- the email address is real /"\
http://terrapin.ru.ac.za/~iwdf/welcome.html \ /
ASCII Ribbon campaign against HTML E-Mail - - - - - - - X
If you receive email saying "Send this to everyone you know," / \
PLEASE pretend you don't know me.