assuming you can't use a shotgun, that is. good grief what a skunk rodeo !
So on the day we ran into all the creepy invertebrates
Dora managed to catch a long-tailed weasel (one of these hell demons)
which brings up three problems, really (four if you count having two $50 gauntlets essentially ruined on account of not being able to get the smell out of them -- and skunk is ode-to-joy compared to weasel, I'm just sayin')
1.) how do you kill the undead?
2.) Unintentional take procedures and reporting
3.) bite wounds to the foot - one of the most dangerous falconry injuries
With #1 rabbits and birds are pretty easy - cervical dislocation or chest compression will do the trick quickly. With a more tenacious critter it gets harder.
We've trained the birds that they've just got to hang on 'cause help is on the way and with something that's fighting back you're pretty much obligated to jump into the fray and help them kill it before any more damage is done.
Obviously a firearm isn't going to cut it, but (maybe less obviously) a blade can't be used either. Even if you could manage to get one into action without cutting or stabbing a bird, the birds will instinctively grab for a blood-covered blade and slice it's own toe tendon(s) -- a career ending injury, that.
no blades on a kill, ever.
Instead, most of us carry a spike or pair of scissors -- you can stab into the chest with
closed scissors so that even if they do grab it, hopefully damage will be minimal. The general consensus is
pin the prey to the ground and leave the instrument in place.
**special note in case you ever try this yourself -- even pinning a weasel to the ground through both the heart and spine won't kill it.
On to number 2: unintentional take.
This will happen from time to time as most hawks don't read the fine print in the regs.
The "leave it lay" rule applies here. See, the birds expects to be able to feed now that it's killed and attempting to steal food from a hawk will ruin your relationship. Literally, that bird might
never hunt for you again.
So .gov has allowed a compromise -- the bird can feed at the site of the kill, but the prey cannot be picked up or taken into possession.
Any incidental take also has to be reported state within 48 hours (Used to be only "species of special concern" but now it's any non-target or non-game species). Any endangered species has to be reported to the fed office in Denver as well as to the state. GPS coordinates and all that.
On to #3 - the aftermath.
Dora got bit up pretty good on her right foot but she was super-smart about it all, not panicking,sitting still and letting me do the work. Could have been much worse if she'd not have kept her head.
Tonks on the other hand, stood off. She took one look at the rodeo and thought "Uh-uh, that looks like one big cup of NOPE!"
The bites on the top aren't too bad, but she had two canine punctures right into the main pad on the bottom of her foot.
The worry here is the potential for an infection to progress into tendonitis or even osteomyelitis (aka bumblefoot). Bumblefoot is similar to laminitis in horses - once it starts, it often quickly becomes a death spiral. Additionally, birds have very poor circulation in their legs and feet and even minor injuries take forever to heal.
We cleaned the wounds right away, started both topical and oral antibiotics, bumped her weight up 20 grams, and sat on pins and needles for a few days.
By yesterday she still looked pretty good - no pain or swelling - and the longer she is heavy and not flying the more likely bumblefoot becomes. So we bit our collective lips and out we went:
[img]http://i183.photobucket.com/al...ry/20131003_105056_zps24f812eb.jpg[/img][img]http://i183.photobucket.com/al...ry/20131003_110400_zpsdfa548b1.jpg[/img][img]http://i183.photobucket.com/al...ry/20131003_105442_zps45a89d02.jpg[/img][img]http://i183.photobucket.com/al...ry/20131003_110459_zpsec192fa6.jpg[/img]don't know if we're totally out of the woods yet, but all we can do is to keep on keeping on!