Have you ever heard of falconry or wondered what’s it like to train falcons and other birds for a living?
Falconry is the ancient art of training birds to hunt wild animals such as rabbits. Many would be surprised to hear that falconry still exists today, although in a slightly changed form. Falcons are now trained to scare off pests such as pigeons, crows, and gulls and to reduce the negative impact they have on the environment.
Adam Baz is a professional falconer and one of those people who train birds such as falcons, owls, and hawks as natural pest control.
“The first time a hawk dropped out of the sky, folded back its 4-foot wings and torpedoed straight onto my fist, I knew I was addicted,” Baz said in an interview with This Is Range.
“It was a rush unlike anything I had felt before, and it completely overtook me. If it weren’t for the tremendous, frightening creature now perched on my glove staring at me, I might have lingered in that suspended disbelief forever.”
Training these wild creatures is not an easy job, but sharing the special bond with them, as well as with nature is a unique feeling.