Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Kortoso wrote:Wish there was a "like" button for these posts.

I think that the two directions this can go have both been pretty well fleshed out by those who've already posted, so I'm not going to argue one side or the other; good thoughts all.

What I *will* say, in light of the angle we as mere mortals are able to pursue, is that spending large amounts of time in close proximity to a wild animal teaches you enormous amounts of detail about how they really live, how they react to sights, sounds, weather, etc., and, as a result, how you should react to the same circumstances. I don't mean the "watching the birds that live in your backyard" kind of close proximity...we tend to go indoors, busy ourselves, not be present all the time, etc. and miss an awful lot. I had hawked with my first bird for over six months before I really began to learn from her, because I was only with her 1-2 hours a day except for her first three days. The first three, she was stressed and not being herself, and then the rest of the time was training and hunting. Then Lori and I went on a three night camping trip for our anniversary and took the bird with us. She was perched in our campsite like she had her own chair in the circle, and was there, present, with us, for the entire time. We saw behaviors I had never seen before, reactions I'd never seen before, and watched her get into positions I didn't know were possible for birds. It was a wonderful experience; I've duplicated it as often as I'm able on family trips.

Now, watching birds in the wild, certain positions of their head or tail mean an awful lot more than just "keeping their balance", as I used to assume. There are ways they look at things that speak volumes. 70% of human communication is non-verbal...I daresay the same or more is likely true of birds and beasts. If we'd only sit still for a few and watch...

Greg wrote:I think that the two directions this can go have both been pretty well fleshed out by those who've already posted, so I'm not going to argue one side or the other; good thoughts all.

What I *will* say, in light of the angle we as mere mortals are able to pursue, is that spending large amounts of time in close proximity to a wild animal teaches you enormous amounts of detail about how they really live, how they react to sights, sounds, weather, etc., and, as a result, how you should react to the same circumstances. I don't mean the "watching the birds that live in your backyard" kind of close proximity...we tend to go indoors, busy ourselves, not be present all the time, etc. and miss an awful lot. I had hawked with my first bird for over six months before I really began to learn from her, because I was only with her 1-2 hours a day except for her first three days. The first three, she was stressed and not being herself, and then the rest of the time was training and hunting. Then Lori and I went on a three night camping trip for our anniversary and took the bird with us. She was perched in our campsite like she had her own chair in the circle, and was there, present, with us, for the entire time. We saw behaviors I had never seen before, reactions I'd never seen before, and watched her get into positions I didn't know were possible for birds. It was a wonderful experience; I've duplicated it as often as I'm able on family trips.

Now, watching birds in the wild, certain positions of their head or tail mean an awful lot more than just "keeping their balance", as I used to assume. There are ways they look at things that speak volumes. 70% of human communication is non-verbal...I daresay the same or more is likely true of birds and beasts. If we'd only sit still for a few and watch...

Another important thing to remember, is that we are animals too, & other animals are much like us, some are smarter than others.
Keith.