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From: rcb33483@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (ArchTeryx)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Falconry...
Message-ID: <1990Nov19.161320.24293@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 19 Nov 90 16:13:20 GMT
References: <1990Nov17.002351.25330@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <13985@crdgw1.crd.ge.com>
Sender: news@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (News)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Lines: 45

stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com (Dick St.Peters) writes:

>In article <1990Nov17.002351.25330@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> rcb33483@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (ArchTeryx) writes:
>>I consider, for small-to-medium sized game, falconry to be far, far more 
>>"sporting" than hunting with a shotgun.

>I too consider falconry preferable to hunting with a gun; however ...

>>And, if hawk makes its kill,
>>it will be quick and merciful

>... are you sure of this?  It's clearly not true of, say, eagles
>catching fish, and it's not true of predators in general.  Nature is
>rarely merciful.  I've heard that in the wild animals caught by hawks
>are often still very much alive when they arrive at the hawk's nest
>and the hawk begins shredding them.

Please note one very important fact.  I am not trying to anthopomorphise
raptors here at all.  In the case of a 'quick, merciful kill', the raptor
does this in order to quell struggling prey...less energy involved carrying/
shredding dead prey then when it is alive and struggling.  As for other
predators, I can't speak for them but I will say for example that herons
very often swallow their prey alive...that's about as unmerciful as one can
get.  And yet, herons are one of my favorite groups of birds...

However, I still maintain under my original point that under the situation
that a hawk will be in most often in a falconry situation (catching
relatively large prey), that in will instictually deliver a quick kill for
the sake of energy conservation.  And, more importantly, I still maintain
the point that falconry gives the prey an even chance opf survival, unlike
so-called 'sport hunting.'

And think of owls, too.  I have NEVER seen an owl swallow a live, stuggling
mouse or small bird.  They ALWAYS seem to break the neck before eating or
carrying off their prey, even when it is quite small.



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R. Cody Buchmann                             ^.^  
   "Kehaar"                 
                                       "He tell *me* the plan...I *know* the 
email: rcb33483@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu        plan!"  -Watership Down. 
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