From my young days as a falconer I was fascinated with the art of trapping wild hawks. My first introduction to this art was from an American falconer whom I met at a falconry meet in Austria in 1968.
He told me of the Indian ‘bal-chatri’ and the fun they had catching Red tail hawks and Prairie Falcons using this noose covered cage trap. I returned home and was soon catching wild Kestrels on our sand dunes and enjoying their good manners compared to eyas kestrels. Many years later my friend Bruce Haak re-educated me and invited me on a number of ridge trapping trips to catch migratory raptors for banding and release. |
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