Wednesday, March 05, 2008

New Goshawk Game

1. Scrunch up a piece of softish paper into a ball the size of a cherry.
2. Toss it gently towards goshawk's head (she sits there with her foot up)
3. Goshawk catches it in her mouth.
4. Goshawk throws it over her back and watches where it lands. Or chucks it across the room with a flick of her head.
5. I pick it up.
6. I throw it to her again.
7. She catches it in her beak....etc. etc.

Sometimes she misses, and cranes her head right round to see where it's gone. Sometimes she throws it straight away; sometimes she holds it in her beak for ages before dropping it. Sometimes she holds it in her beak and makes tiny scrunching preening movements before dropping it. Sometimes she squeaks. After seven or eight throws, she gets so excited by this game she stands on both feet and leans forward to catch her paper ball.

No, I don't think she's a cat. Or a baby. Really I don't.

3 comments:

mscriver said...

We used to play a game something like this with our golden eagle. We'd throw a ball, she'd hit it with her foot made into a fist. If you didn't throw it again, she rock and scream. Predator practice.

Prairie Mary

Heidi the Hick said...

Of course not.


She's a puppy!

With a beak, and talons, of course.

Matt Mullenix said...

My friend Brian's Harris has a fun game for summer: fetch! She chases a wooden block in her flight pen and brings it back to the fist. You take it and throw it and she repeats until YOU get bored.