Chapter 5: The Iron Eurasian Eurasian Sparrowhawk Weighing Seven and a Half Liang
This Eurasian Eurasian Sparrowhawk is a dark-colored subspecies, very large in size. After carefully removing it from the net and holding it, it weighed close to seven and a half liang.
Its head profile somewhat resembled an eagle's. Its chest was broad, wing feathers thin and held tight, and its four talons formed a cross shape, providing a good grip. At first glance, the thickness of its talons was almost comparable to that of a Little Chicken Hawk (male Northern Goshawk).
What Yue Feng cherished most was that this Eurasian Eurasian Sparrowhawk not only had the appearance of a Great Eagle, but its entire body of feathers also had significance.
The feathers on its back lacked the golden edge of a subadult Eurasian Sparrowhawk; the back feathers were pitch black. Its chest had the bluish-gray horizontal markings that only appear after a two-year-old hawk molts.
From a professional Falconry perspective, this Da Qing Yao had a very solid build, smooth feathers, excellent bone structure, and combined with a physique of around seven and a half liang, once trained, it could easily hunt prey ranging from Sparrows and Eurasian Turtle Doves to Sand Grouses and Gray Dogs.
Using the terminology from the hawk manual to describe this hawk, it was a genuine Iron Eurasian Eurasian Sparrowhawk.
Carefully removing the entanglement, Yue Feng took a sock with a hole from his pocket and immediately wrapped up the Da Qing Yao. Its head poked out from the hole, and the entire hawk looked as if it were wrapped in a cloak.
This sock had some elasticity and was just right for temporarily restraining a hawk fresh from the net. Its wings were tucked close to its body, and its talons extended along its tail feathers. Yue Feng took out a strip of cotton cloth and simply wrapped it around its legs and tail twice to tie it up, completely subduing the little hawk.
Having caught the Eurasian Eurasian Sparrowhawk he wanted, Yue Feng quickly tidied up the trap net and rolling cage, and holding the little hawk flat in his hand, he hurried towards home.
A hawk just caught in a net is normally in a state of extreme fear and stress. The slightest disturbance would cause it to scream frantically to release its panic. However, this Da Qing Yao behaved quite well on the way home.
It only shrieked a few times when first picked up. For the latter half of the journey, held flat in Yue Feng's hand, it remained silent, its eyes darting around everywhere.
By the time he got home, it was only nine forty. Yue Feng called his mother for help, and the two of them worked together to put the pre-prepared three-piece hawk tethering set on the hawk. After a brief physical stretch, the Da Qing Yao was once again wrapped up in the sock with a hole and held flat in Yue Feng's hand.
The old saying goes, Great Eagles fear being kept awake, little hawks fear being held flat. What does "held flat" mean? It's very simple to explain, it means gently holding it clenched in your hand.
When the little hawk gradually adapts to this state of physical restraint and is no longer afraid, it means that the level of familiarity between the person and the hawk has increased by a notch.
Releasing a Eurasian Eurasian Sparrowhawk is always done by "holding flat" and throwing. That is, after spotting prey, you hold the hawk flat in your hand, use your arm to exert force, and throw it out. The hawk will use the Hawk Keeper's assistance to quickly fly out and capture the locked-on prey.
With this method of "holding flat" and throwing, because there is an added action of being manually thrown out, the Hunting Eagle's initial speed when attacking is very fast, which greatly increases the success rate of the hunt.
After attaching the Two-Opening and Toad Five-Foot accessories, Yue Feng gave the little hawk some water for a slight adjustment, and then he began walking around the house, holding the hawk flat in his left hand.
This hawk was caught in the net just dozens of meters in front of Yue Feng. From being caught to being secured, the entire process took no more than five minutes, so the damage from the net was minimal. After Yue Feng gave the hawk some water, he didn't need to worry about anything else for the short term.
When a wild hawk is caught, its fat reserves are full. This Da Qing Yao's chest felt very thick. As long as it wasn't dehydrated, it wasn't afraid of starving in the short term.
Yue Feng's plan was simple: the three Sparrows in the rolling cage were the food reserve for this hawk before it started hunting. If all went well, it should develop the instinct to recognize prey in three or four days. After the first successful hunt, the hawk could become self-sufficient and fill its belly with the prey it caught itself.
For the rest of the day, Yue Feng spent it holding the hawk flat. His Dad, Yue Lei, was quite interested in the Da Qing Yao that Yue Feng had caught. After lunch, he helped Yue Feng hold it flat for a while. After Yue Feng took over again in the afternoon, he continued to hold it flat, wrapped in the sock, until evening.
After the sky gradually darkened, Yue Feng ate dinner and unbound the Eurasian Eurasian Sparrowhawk that had been wrapped up all day.
Yue Feng was wearing a thickened work glove on his right hand. The Five-Foot was wrapped several times around his fingers, holding tightly to the Two-Opening tied to the little hawk's leg, and he opened his palm flat.
The Da Qing Yao, which had originally been lying motionless in his hand, slowly straightened its body and then stood up steadily as Yue Feng gently shook his palm.
In the professional terminology of Falconry, this is called "getting on the hand"!
As long as the hawk can get on the hand, it means the affinity has reached the initial level, representing that the hawk has initially gotten used to the presence of humans and is no longer in a state of extreme panic and struggle.
Of course, Yue Feng also used a trick to get the hawk to stand steadily on his hand here. As the sky darkened and the only light in the room was from an oil lamp, the hawk couldn't see its surroundings clearly, so it was naturally a bit bolder.
Yue Feng adjusted the angle of his arm holding the hawk, and the Eurasian Eurasian Sparrowhawk successfully perched on the spot above Yue Feng's thumb. The thickened work glove had a relatively thick patch at this position, so if the Eurasian Eurasian Sparrowhawk's talons suddenly exerted force, the injury to the person would be less severe.
Soon, the Da Qing Yao stood steady on his hand. Its whole body of feathers quickly puffed up and then immediately flattened tightly again.
Yue Feng quickly and deftly turned slightly to the side, and saw the little hawk arch its rear end and, with a whoosh, a powerful stream of white liquid shot backwards.
The hawk made a dropping!
Because it had been given water several times during the day, this hawk dropping was in very good condition.
Actually, Yue Feng's main purpose in unbinding the hawk was to let it make a dropping. Holding the hawk flat in his hand was fine, but a hawk that had just been caught that day definitely hadn't cleared its gut yet, and holding in droppings for too long could cause minor problems.
After making a dropping, the Da Qing Yao was in slightly better condition than before. Its two long legs stood straight on Yue Feng's hand, its tail was gathered into a stick, pressing tightly against the back of his hand. The hawk's stance on his hand was very imposing.
"Heh heh! This Da Qing Yao you tethered today looks pretty good!" Dad Yue Lei tilted his head, glanced at the Hunting Eagle in his son's hand, and remarked as he smoked his pipe.
"It really is good. It's big, has thin wings, and a large grip. Look at this hawk's large ring, it's almost as big as a Little Chicken Hawk's!" Yue Feng felt very pleased with his Dad's evaluation and showed off a bit in front of his Dad.
Yue Lei was not as proficient in Falconry as Yue Feng. When his Grandpa was still alive, he told him to learn, but he always felt that hunting with hawks in small areas wasn't as exciting as hunting in large areas with dogs and a gun. However, even though he wasn't proficient, he had picked up some basic knowledge from being around it daily.
Yue Lei nodded and asked, "How many days until you plan to hunt? Do you want me to take over for a few hours in the middle of the night? I remember the older generation saying that you have to keep a hawk awake at midnight when training it, right?"
Yue Feng shook his head, "You don't need to keep a little hawk awake. Just keep it tight and held flat in the sock. I'll hold it flat all day tomorrow at home. The day after tomorrow is the Wangzhuang Village Market, I'll take it there for a day to get used to people. When we get back, I'll feed it and let it cast a feather shaft, and then I'll hold it flat again for half the night."
If all goes well, after it casts the shaft the morning after next, it should be getting close to being ready! At that time, I'll put on the leash and try it out with live Sparrows to see if it's ready! I'll try to release it after these three Sparrows are used up!"