December 28

I observed Okie's actions in the mews my remote camera, and, I suspect she is a bit soar in the thigh area, but, beyond that she seems to be okay. She was one lucky bird, and, of course, so was I. The lesson to be learned here is always plan for the unexpected.

December 27

Yesterday I couldn't get in to one of my hawking fields because of the snow, so I had to park near the road and use a fairly hard-packed snow bank to step over the fence. I had to help both dogs over because it was the type of fence that they could not get through.

After our hawking experience we returned to the same spot. I had fed Okie up and hooded her. She has tried to bate hooded from the fist a couple of times, so I have made it a point to hang on to my one field jess. But, I was a bit distracted lifting Chase over the fence and not concentrating, and at that point, Okie bated and her jess slipped out of my grasp. She flew about 30 yards at a 45 degree angle before coming down. Normally, they fly a much shorter distance than this, but, a fate would have it, she caught some wind.

I could not see exactly where she came down because of some bushes in the way,
but, it appeared that she may have landed in the road. And, as I was clearing the fence to get to her, a car drove by. When I got to where I could see her, it was obvious she had been run over. She was flat on the ground. And when I got to her, I could see that her hood had been knocked off. She could not get up and she was breathing heavily. I picked her up, hooded her and carried her to the car. I placed her in the back and watched her for awhile. She eventually sat up on her
hocks, but it seemed like she could not move one foot. I felt she had a spinal cord injury, so I headed home to call a vet for some steroids to reduce the inflamation.

As I was driving home, feeling pretty awful, I hear her bells behind me. I looked back and she was walking around. I put my glove on at a red light and got her on the fist, where she stayed until I got home. She was able to stand on both feet. Her wings were symmetrical, and she demonstrated no signs of internal injury. Without making it sound too "mushy"-when she got on my fist, it was obvious (to me) that she relaxed. I guess the feeling of the glove under her feet made her feel better. She roused and seemed content there.

December 26

I took Chase out with me yesterday, and she struggled a bit in the snow,
when it got too deep. She would follow me and hop from one footprint to the
other. She's no dummy :-)

December 20

Okie caught another rabbit in the field where she caught the last one. There is really no cover in this field, so it was a slam dunk; in fact, it is so easy for her to catch rabbits in this field that I doubt I'll hawk it that much.

December 18

I took Okie back to the field that I found with Kate during the summer. It is a large field (acres) with lots of rabbit sign. The problem was that there were no stands, so the hawk would have to soar the entire time. We tried it a few times this season, but, we got only a couple of rabbits up and it was difficult hawking, since Okie would eventually go to ground. We worked an area that we had not been in which was loaded with sign. There is a subdivision way off in the distance and Okie landed on one of the houses. She was quite a ways away, but in a position to see any rabbits, as the cover is not dense. Pretty soon, she came off the roof and I could tell by the way she was flying that she was on to a rabbit; it was great to see her fly a considerable distance. She was too far away for me to hear the rabbit if she caught it, but, I watched Chase, and sure enough when Okie hit the ground her ears picked up, so I figured she had caught it and she had. This makes #9, which isn't many, but, with the exception of this one, they have all been well-earned because of the cover.

December 12

Belinda went with me for the first time. While we got some slips, the wind was too strong and blowing Okie all around.

December 11

I found a new field with rabbits, and Okie caught one. She was at 39 ½ ounces, and still responsive.