This is Chase. The newest member of our unique animal family. Chase was given to use by a friend of a friend of a friend. His owner's work schedule changed and he was no longer able to give Chase the time and attention an English Pointer needs everyday. Now he is happily chasing seagulls at work with Tom right now! What a life for a birding dog! He gets up at 4am and heads to work with Tom to help chase away all those trash eating seagulls. One more step toward keeping our city and San Fransisco Bay trash free.
What blows me away the most about Chaser is that his previous owner trained him to hunt with hawks and falcons. While the hawk is flying high above, Chase and the falconer are "flushing" birds for the hawk to catch. Chase will search a field for birds then when he finds one he will freeze and he will "point" at them with his whole body. When the falconer gives the signal he will run at the birds, making them fly up. That is when the hawk gets his opportunity for a meal. When I snap a photo of him pointing I will post it. It is amazing that both these animals can be trained to do this. And they love it! This breed of dog LOVES to have something interesting and fun to do. They are smart and energetic dogs that need to be stimulated and praised.
However, a falconer can not do this with all types of hawks and falcons. It is a lot of fun with a Harris Hawk, which works really well with dogs. We have one named Vinny, who is new to our family as well.
I LOVE Vinny. He is my favorite raptor so far. Harris Hawks are the Labrador Retrievers of the raptor world and Vinny is a charmer. Don't let his frighteningly good looks scare you, he is really a sweetheart and incredibly gentle... unless you are anything that moves that is smaller then a Cocker Spaniel. Then your time on this earth is probably up.
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Very pretty new family members! That's so cool that they can be trained to work as a hunting team. I never knew that was possible. And how wonderful that Chase was able to find a new home with such a perfect family for him. :)
Posted by: Shannon | February 26, 2010 at 07:00 PM
Congrats on the new members of the family.
Chase is cool but Vinnie mesmerizes me with his coloring and his eyes. Wow! Its like he something we can't comprehend - if that makes sense.
Posted by: Karen | February 27, 2010 at 07:50 PM
What amazing animal friends you have. They are so luck to have found a home with you. Congrats!
Posted by: Tricia | March 01, 2010 at 04:37 PM