But this is where the fun begins! At this point, you’ll be able to enter the mews (which is to falcons what a stable is to horses) and meet your bird. You’ll need to kit it out — a common image of falconry includes a bird wearing a hood, but you’ll also need to fit your bird with straps on its legs, called jesses, and a bell on its tail so that it can be more easily tracked.
Then you’re ready to get going on the business of training your bird to hunt. A considerable amount of this is the process of manning, or familiarizing your bird with human contact. In the middle ages, falconers used to man their birdsby keeping them on the glove until the bird fell asleep, a process that could take days! Nowadays, many falconers motivate their bird with food. Continuously placing a piece of raw meat on the glove while you wear it is a great way to get them accustomed to you and the glove they will be landing on. Your bird will also need to be trained to take off from and land on your arm, and to come when you whistle. When you’re confident the bird won’t run off, you can finally remove the bird’s leash.
To train a bird to hunt, you’ll need a lure. Lures are made to look like the type of prey you’ll want the bird to hunt — for example, a dummy rabbit. The lure is then fitted with a piece of meat to make it enticing. Lures can be thrown or dragged along the ground to simulate movement, and over time, the bird’s natural instincts will become honed enough that it’s ready to get out there and catch some real quarry!
TAKE FLIGHT!
Because of the cost and time commitment involved, falconry can feel like a pipe dream for most people. Still, if you’re lucky enough to have the resources, or if you can find a good sponsor, becoming a falconer is absolutely possible with enough determination. For the rest of us, though, it’s simply a fascinating, foreign world to catch a glimpse of—and maybe fantasize about, just a little!
