A traggic story about FM, my eyass Prairie Falcon It's official! It's a girl! I would like everyone to meet FM, my new Prairie Falcon. I got her this May, 2000 from an eyrie that can be reached with an extention ladder from the base of the mountain. Her parents were interesting also. Her father was an extremely small light phase, almost white with only a few dark spots. And her mother ...... whow ......a HUGE dark morph female. She is so dark she almost looks solid black. FM's training was also exceptional. From completely wild and hissing and bating to flying completely free took only 13 days! Right now we are still lure flying to build heavy muscle. I want her as strong as possible to take large male pheasants, ducks and possibly even larger grouse or maybe even geese. You never know until you try!!!
AAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!! Hold that thought! It is a good thing I can type while I am basically blind! I've been crying really hard tonight. It is August 5, 2000 and I have horrible news. I was out flying FM on August 3rd and she was doing really well. She was stooping to the lure and then for some reason she flew off over a ridge. It was getting dark so I decided to let her stay out during the night. I went back to track her with the telemetry and she was flying around making about 5 to 8 mile long circles around me. I decided to wait until dusk so she would settle down to make it easier. It was about 8:15 p.m. tonight when I got back out there. Threw up the five element yagi antena and began tracking her. It seemed as though she was only .5 to 1 mile away. I headed off on foot to go get her. I was getting a stong signal and then a week one while within a small group of trees. I was able to pin-point a single tree and the meter on the receiver was pegging hard to the right. It was basically dark and I just happend to look down at my feet and I began to scream and bawl and cry my brains out. I had a nervous breakdown on the spot. There her leg lie on the ground with bell and transmitter attached. She was gone! A half hour or so went by and I gained enough composure to pick up her lifeless leg. I seen a few more feathers and was able to see her left wing lying under the still branches of the small tree. I broke down again. I just screamed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it is all my fault". I've never felt so horrible and I still feel horrible 4 hours later. I walked about a .5 mile back to my truck, still crying. I called my mother and told her the news. She also is still crying. I drove home with tears in my eyes still crying. I could hardly see the road and all the headlights blurred into one large bright object. I gathered my composure again and washed my face, dried my eyes and found some flashlights. I had to go back! I had to find the rest of her precious body...or the remains. My brother Lance went with me as he had done so the last two days trying to help me find her. We went back to the tree and Lance found her right wing and right leg with the other bell attached. Only a few other feathers remain. There were at least three golden eagles in the area at any given time during the day. There were no paw prints on the soft dirt of the flying field so I can only speculate that it was most likely an eagle that took her life in order to survive itself. It still makes me bitter but nature is a powerful force that has survived for thousands of years longer than mankind. This just happens to be a price we as falconers must cope with in order to enjoy this sport. FM will be dearly missed!
Eddie B. Horvath, Director of CCWC/CCH
Copyright 1996 Eddie B. Horvath, Director, CCWC/CCH
Last Update: 11 July 2001