Squirrel . . . . It's What's for Dinner!

On Tuesday evening, squirrel was what was for dinner.  I hereby pronounce the meal . . . good!  Of course, probably just about anything would taste good if you fry it in bacon and bacon grease.  That is how I prepared my squirrel.  After frying to make a crisp cover, it was popped into the oven to broil for awhile.  Next to it was a pan of butternut squash and baking apples, seasoned with a little brown sugar and spices.  It's good with pork, and went great with the fried squirrel.

Biscuits and a little mead finished off the meal.  Now that I look at it, this meal could have used something green.  Ah well . . . too late now.  I'll have to steal a squirrel again from the girls and cook it up for our dinner.

A Quick Spring Grove Squirrel

It was a pretty quick hunt on Monday with Hit Girl at the park in Spring Grove.  We had come to the farm to do laundry . . . still need to connect my own machines at home (after we sand and repaint the walls . . . which is why we are delayed).  Hit Girl was at a very good weight, and it shows.  She doesn't play around when properly motivated to hunt.  She worked hard and quick for her squirrel.  I decided to also put this one away, clean it good, and we are going to have it as our dinner on Tuesday night.  I've never tried squirrel.  Maybe it will taste better than rabbit.

 

A short while later we flew Sassy at the farm.  We kicked up several squirrels that were foraging in their back lot.  This lot is very brushy and overgrown, with way too many piles of old rusting farm equipment.  Bunnies there are to be had here . . . but they are impossible to kick out, so well protected by all the junk.  However, the squirrels ran for the trees.  Sassy got some good exercise trying to catch them.  She too was at a very good weight for hunting today . . . motivated.  Her first squirrel was lost when it ducked into the ventilation hood of one of the old tractor tops.  While poking around where it had hidden, we found a huge stash of nuts.  The tree rat was tucked in good and safe . . . we could not move it out.  It whistled and called in alarm, but was unreachable. 

A second squirrel was isolated in a set of two trees, and was almost caught two times as it rushed down the tree, right over my head, with Sassy in hot pursuit.  My being there, with my raised stick, I think impeded her progress and caused her to miss.  Finally the squirrel threw all caution to the wind and raced down the tree to duck under the row of old rusty cars.  Sassy followed into the cab, and then below the cars, but I know the squirrel had made good it's escape.  We finished up her hunt, giving her a chance to chase the pigeons in the barn.  She is very interested in them, but just not fast enough to catch them.  Maybe next year, with the help of a speedy little tiercel Harris Hawk.

Hawking at Brandons

On Saturday Greg and I went hawking on the property of Brandon.  He has a friend who is a photographer.  All these pictures were taken by Jessi Kinserdahl-Hill.  Thank you Jessi for letting me post some of your pictures on my blog.

She arrived after we had already been flying Hit Girl for about an hour, so we were headed up towards the house to call it a day.  Hit Girl did have a couple squirrels to chase, but her weight was not exactly on, being just a little high, so she didn't chase as hard as she could have if she had been about 20 grams lighter.  Still, she made a pretty good effort at the bunnies near the house.  However, we had already moved them around a bit for Sassy, so they were on guard.



In the end I just brough Hit Girl down to the lure.



These were some nice pictures of that, catching her in flight.

She's a big girl, and has been a GREAT game hawk.  I am, however, decided that I will be releasing her at the end of the season.  Once the hunting is closed, I'll fatten her up for about a month or so, and then give her freedom back to her, probably in late April to early May, when the snow should all be gone, and young critters easier to find.

She is hard on her feathers in the mews.  Last year she had a couple of broken primaries.  This year they are just tipped at the end.  I'm not sure why this is happening . . . but it is either way.  I think she bounces around her mews quite a bit during the daytime.  Next year I will be training Greg, so I think it would be good to train a new bird myself while mentoring him through the process . . . to make sure I don't forget anything.  It's easier to remember when you go through it again yourself.

Sassy was also along for the day, but she had already been hunted, prior to both Brandon and Jessi arriving, catching the 40th critter of the season, not including mice, of which both girls have caught multiple of.  This is the best I've done in a season, and there is still time to add a few more to the game freezer.

Pretty Bench

I have a wonderful husband!

Upstairs, in one of our rooms, I've established my primping corner.  I used to primp in my bathroom, prior to coming to live on the farm, and way before we bought our home, but the space in the bathroom at the farm did not make this possible.  At the farm there was an open guest room, with a vanity, and so the habit was started to do my hair . . . and vary rarely make-up . . . at a vanity.  It has become a comfortable habit!  When we moved to our new home, I set about to find a vanity to continue the practice.  Rich found me a nice old vanity with a mirror on an auction, which he won fairly inexpensively, but it did not come with a chair.  I've been using one of our dining room chairs, but really wanted a bench.  When I mentioned this recently, as I was looking over a different auction to see if anything available would do, Rich went looking for a bench for me.  This is what he found on Craigs List.

Isn't it Pretty!  I think it might be an old piano bench, or something like that.  The lady selling it said she found it herself at an antique store some time ago, and that she was selling it for a heck of a lot less than what she bought it for, but that she needed to clear some space in her home.  We purchased it for $30.  It is exactly what I was looking for.  It's really solid and sturdy.

Anyway, the reason I mention this is that when we went to pick it up, it required a drive up to to a little town near the Twin Cities.  I packed up the hawks as I hoped to find some place to try to fly them.  After the bench transaction, I had Rich stop at a place that had a brushy spot that looked really good.  Oh . . . Was It!  I really love it when I find a little gem like this.  Unfortunately, it is a fair distance from my home, so most likely will not get visited again unless I make an effort to do so.  There was rabbit sign all over the place as we entered the field with Sassy.  Here is a clip with a quick catch of her first bunny right at the beginning.  It happened so quickly, I traded her off, and we kept hunting.  Rich then spliced together a clip near the end of our hunt, probably about 45 minutes later.  If you watch the whole clip, you'll also see a good example of the hazards of bunny hunting in late winter.  Rich trips on unseen snow covered branches, falling, and sending the GoPro flying.  He regains his footing in time for the second catch.



It was a pretty good day for hawking for Sassy!

Hunting with the Other Justin

This morning, Thursday February 7th, Rich and I accepted the invite of his co-worker to fly on his land.  I know a Justin . . . he's my apprentice.  Rich always qualifies his comments when "his" Justin has told him something, for he works with someone named Justin as well.  Justin has access to a nice patch of woods which does have bunnies and squirrels.  The snow is getting deep, so it was a bit of work to push the critters around, but at the far end of the field (of course), under a thick patch of brush, we managed to push out a bunny, and in a spectacular flight and a strong whack against the log it was diving under, Hit Girl caught her bunny. 

Here I am with Justin.  You can see how deep the snow is all around.

Because someone else was along to get our picture together, here is Rich and I.  After this picture we began the long slog back to Justin's house.  Each one of all three of us took our turn carrying Hit Girl, because I was getting tired of carrying her.

Later in the day we flew Sassy in the Rochester area.  We did meet up with a young man who contacted me through Couchsurfing.  Only after we parted ways did I realize we hadn't taken a picture.  Sorry Michael!  It was nice to meet you, and I'm glad you got to see a hawk fly.  Wish she had caught more than a mouse, but she did try several times.  I hope the rest of your trip here in Minnesota is good.