In this Episode, my guest is former NAFA President, Ralph Rogers. Ralph argues that the practice of falconry hinges of three prerequisites (i.e., the legs of his metaphorical stool); legal access to the raptors with which we hunt, a fair regulatory framework, and access to abundant quarry. Ralph points out that both "access" and "regulations" are now historical challenges that a unified falconry community worked to overcome. He says we need to do that again to solve the much bigger problem associated with the widespread declines in quarry that have affected populations of game species in the United States and elsewhere.

After introducing himself Ralph begins describing some of the historical aspects that affected access to raptors, and he points to times when the regulatory framework for legalized falconry was absent, as well as a period of time that the framework was considered to be overbearing. He argues that things have never been better from the standpoint of both access the regulatory framework 

Ralph then describes the way in which he sees contemporary falconry, and to use his words, says it has been “redefined, drastically altered, or has disappeared.  He then provides some international examples for why he believes this to be the case. 

I then ask Ralph about his experiences, and those of his North American colleagues, including how the decline in quarry has manifested itself when it comes to practicing the sport.

Ralph then provides what he believes are concrete actions that falconers should take to reduce the current rate of declines in game species. We conclude the episode looking back to an occasion when Ralph was most worried for the future of falconry, and counter that with an occasion that he believed that North American falconers had never been more unified.

 Kent Carnie, Curator Emeritus of the Archives of Falconry, joins me for Part two of his two-part series to discuss an account he has written which he refers to as an “eventful period during which American falconry evolved” and our sport “came of age”. That period spanned the years from 1965 until 1976, and is what Kent calls “The Twelve Turbulent Years”.  

We begin Episode 2 recalling 1971 which saw efforts by falconers to draft formal falconry regulations. Kent describes the main objects of three meetings that took place, the first at his home in El Paso, Texas, the Portland Meeting in March, and the Salt Lake City Meeting in September.  

Historically, 1972 was a year arguably as pivotal as 1970, and could perhaps be considered the turning point for the framework that was to become the basis for falconry regulations in the United States.  Kent tells us about the effect of the North American Migratory Bird Treaty Act on falconry, and highlights the instrumental work of Jim Ruos. 

There were three major developments in 1973; a notice pertaining to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), followed by the Fish and Wildlife Service posting of the proposed falconry regulations for public comment, and the passing of the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Kent highlights some of the  implications to falconry of each of these developments.

1974 was a busy year for NAFA, in particular, navigating the anti-falconry positions that had arisen as a result of comments generated during the period that the proposed regulations were open for public feedback.  At issue were 13 main concerns – but of special significance was prohibition of use on an endangered species (i.e., the peregrine falcon) in falconry.  Kent recounts the way in which falconers responded. 

Kent describes 1975 as a year of waiting and outlines some of the events that precipitated delays in completion of the final regulations.

Kent describes the “Momentous Year” (1976).

With the “Twelve Turbulent Years” now almost six decades behind us, we conclude the episode with Kent's message to the cohort of falconers currently practicing falconry in United States and Canada.

In this episode Kent Carnie, Curator Emeritus of the Archives of Falconry, joins me  to discuss an account he has written which he refers to as an “eventful period during which American falconry evolved”, and our sport “came of age”. That period spans the years from 1965 until 1976, and is what Kent refers to as “The Twelve Turbulent Years”.  The objective of this episode is to detail highlights that transpired during that time frame. 

Kent provides a nice description of the background that gave rise to North American Falconry, and highlights the landmark event responsible for describing the magnitude of the decline of the peregrine falcon at the 1965 conference in Madison, Wisconsin, organized by Joseph Hickey. 

Kent tells us that by 1966 the preservation lobby was looking to lay the blame for declining peregrine populations somewhere; falconers and falconry were easily identifiable as the de facto cause. Kent Tell us about NAFA’s  response and in particular, Fran Hamerstom’s warning that American falconry was tied closely to the fate of the peregrine falcon.

1967 saw the National Audubon Society become involved, also raising concern that falconry posed a threat to the well-being of raptors. Kent details how NAFA responded to the concerns expressed by the Audubon Society, an in particular, the communications that occurred in the fall of 1968 between Roland Clement of the Audubon Society and NAFA representatives.

1969 looked grim for peregrine falcon populations, and again falconers were front and center of the efforts to assess and reverse the apparent declines. Kent steps us through the events that occurred at the Audubon-sponsored "Meeting Concerning the Conservation of North America Falcons" in March of 1969, and then explains decisions that were made at the November symposium that focused of the status of peregrine falcon populations and availability of birds to falconers.

1970 was a pivotal year in the efforts to avoid over-reach due to the Endangered Species Act, and vilification of falconry and falconers due to a self-inflicted  misstep that literally left the existence of falconry in jeopardy. Kent leads us through the circumstances that unfolded and explains what NAFA did to mitigate the fallout for falconry.

Arnaud Van Wettere, falconer and veterinarian, joins me to talk about avian influenza.  After introducing himself, Arnaud reminds us of the definitions of some basic terms associated with immunology, and describes the manner in which different strains of avian influenza are named. 

Arnaud outlines the historical timeline for most recent and on-going outbreak of the H5N1 strain.  He then outlines which bird species are most susceptible, describes routes of infection and transmission, and provides details with regard to survival of the virus under varying environmental conditions.

We continue our discussion regarding the clinical signs of infection, including the duration between infection, onset of clinical signs, and death. Arnaud then tells us what how  diagnosis is confirmed, and what to expect from veterinary- and public-health professionals if your birds are infected.

Given that the prevalence of the disease and that it typically runs its course is very quickly, we discuss the temptation for falconers to forgo necropsy and simply assume that the cause of death can be attributed to avian influenza, including the likelihood and implications of misdiagnosis.

Arnaud the outlines how falconers can assess prevalence in the areas where they typically hunt, how to manage the risk when hunting waterfowl, and steps that one can take controlling indirect exposure. He then outlines what can realistically be done treatment-wise, and outlines the challenges associated with implementing an immunization program. 

We conclude our conversation with Arnaud outlining what falconers should most likely expect for the 2024/25 hunting season.

In this episode I welcome Tim Williams to the show. Tim is the developer of the Falconry Journal App that he describes as a digital replacement for the pen and paper journals that many falconers use to maintain records associated with keeping falconry birds.

After introducing himself Tim describes the app and highlights some of the features that are built into it.  He also tells us what motivated him to develop the app. and provides some rationale for why a falconer may want to use the app.

Tim then outlines use of the app to track data on multiple birds, and we discuss a feature that I like in particular - the ability of the app to forecast when a hawk will be at hunting weight. He explains why he believes this feature to be inherently important to successfully hunting a particular hawk, and we discuss the accuracy of the forecasting algorithm.

We conclude the episode discussing the data export function, the ways in which users have applied their data to managing their birds, and before telling us how to contact him, Tim outlines what he sees a potential future development for the app.

After talking to me about trapping of passage peregrine in Arkansas (Episode 24), Heath Garner returns to the show to talk about snipe-hawking. To set the stage for the conversation,  Heath reminds us of his falconry background, the group of falconers that typically focus on snipe in Arkansas, and some similarities and differences of snipe hawking in Arkansas compared to the U.K. and Ireland.

We then turn our attention to the snipe themselves, and Heath tells us why the Mississippi Alluvial Valley is particularly good for overwintering snipe, plus he outlines a little natural history on the genus, provides a comparison with the American woodcock, and he give us some insight into shorebird conservation.

Turning to game-hawking of snipe, Heath describes how Arkansas long-wingers discovered that the local snipe population was huntable., including the way that they use their dogs. Heath describes where snipe are typically found, and compares snipe-hawking to dove-hawking. He then give us a sense of what he feels are among the best falcons for flying snipe, and details the way that a slip is typically orchestrated. We conclude this section of our conversation discussing opportunities for ringing flights.

We finish-up learning a little about the Arkansas Annual Snipe Hawking Invitational.

In this episode my guest is Tony Wasley, President of the Wildlife Management Institute (WMI).  We begin the episode talking about the Institute itself, what is does and when it was established. I am interested in the way that wildlife values are characterized, how they have changed, and how those changes in wildlife values potentially affect the future of hunting and hunters. Tony discusses the dichotomy between areas of focus for wildlife management agencies; the task of tag allocation and the broader responsibility for conversation.  Before turning our attention the "America's Wildlife Values Report" (what it is, what is it's purpose, and why hunters should care about the findings), Tony shares his views on what he sees are the main eras of the way that American society has impacted wildlife.  Tony tells us about the way American society can be broadly categorized by the way in which individuals relate to wildlife, and he outlines how people are distributed among the each of the categories. Tony then tells us how values have shifted over time, and he explains the underlying reasons for the shift in wildlife values. We talk about the main funding streams, and how people believe wildlife conservation programming should be funded. We spend some time discussing potential underlying causes for an apparent decline in hunting interest. We conclude the episode discussing those things that Tony believes are important factors driving support for hunting in the non-hunting population, and what he believes are the main threats to hunting today.

In this Episode I am joined by John Organ,  Chief Emeritus of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Program,  to discuss the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.  John begins by telling us about the people that were responsible for consolidating the model, He then describes the ecological and historical context that ultimately led to modern wildlife management.  We go back to the late Pleistocene to provide a sense of what the mega-faunal community looked like prior to the arrival of humans on the continent.  We then step forward in time to the wildlife fauna of the North American frontier, and outline the main species that were hunted, exploited, and those that were driven to extinction or near extinction. John tells us about the early advocates of wildlife conservation, and describes their major legislative and institutional milestones.  We then turn to detailing the seven tenets of the North American Model. We close-out the episode discussing what John sees as the three biggest threats to hunting, and given that hunters make up about 5% of the population in the NA, and that it would almost certainly be outlawed if the question of its legitimacy were put to a simple referendum,I ask John what he would advise hunters to do to encourage support for hunting in the non-hunting community.

 

In this final episode of my three-part series discussing passage merlins with Jeremy Bradshaw, author of "The Passage Merlin", Jeremy shares his views on having a merlin share the comings and goings of one’s home,  his views on weight management, and how he steps through the training sequence from hopping to fist to undertaking that first free flight, and ultimately to regular gamehawking. We also  talk about "carrying", and taking advantage of the natural tendency for merlins to cache their prey. And then before turning to my rapid fire questions Jeremy tells us how Al Ross shaped his ideas about flying merlins and influenced his life in general.

In this episode Jeremy Bradshaw author of the "The Passage Merlin" returns to me to talk about his love affair with the passage merlin. We begin this episode with Jeremy recollecting the events surrounding the first Merlin he trapped with, and for, fellow falconer and friend, Jeremy Roselle . He then tells us about trapping merlins in urban versus agricultural settings, including the various trap types, and his go-to favorite. He tells us about some hard-earned tips that have improved his trapping success, and some way to distinguish a passage bird from a haggard. We conclude the episode discussing Jeremy's preferred approach to the first attempt at un-hooding, feeding, and then, more importantly, that first attempt to re-hood a newly trapped passage merlin. Thanks for tuning into the Fat Bird, Ugly Dog Podcast. I hope you enjoy this episode.