Eagle Journal

Hello everyone,

Widow:

I arrived at the ranch to find a good wind blowing. Having wired Widow up I jumped her to the ground out away from the truck and gathered all the things together that I wanted to take along, beef jerky, water, cell/camera phone, food for Widow, and off I went. Widow was sitting on the ground unusually quiet, staring at the sky, and right above us was a first-year female golden eagle just hanging in the air. Widow took off across the dry valley floor and powered her way up to the post. Instead of following her up the hill I went to the right and headed off towards another hill that overlooks a lake at the edge of the ranch. Widow remained on the post a good quarter mile back. I stopped and flashed my glove, hoping she would follow. Off the post she came, climbing in the air and flying strong along the hill. I turned and walked out to the point facing the lake and a strong headwind. Widow came in and landed and we both looked down on the lake and the hundreds of ducks and geese that were feeding in the shallow water.

Some movement caught my eye off to the left; a coyote running under a fence with its tail up? Strange behavior I have never seen a coyote acting this way, and now it was coming up the hill straight at us. I picked Widow up, thinking, well actually I don’t know what I was thinking, if this coyote was going to attack us I wanted her to get away clean. On the other hand, Widow might see the coyote as a meal. Either way, I wanted to be ready. Widow instantly spotted the coyote and showed a lot of interest. She rolled off my arm and went down the hill going in on the coyote which was still coming our way!? As Widow came in on the coyote it was clear that the coyote’s interest was in Widow and not me; tail raised up, hair standing up on its back, this coyote was looking for a fight! Widow did not know how to handle this situation. She’d never had something she wanted to chase run at her and want to fight! Widow circled over the coyote which yipped, growled and jumped at her, and that was enough for Widow. She banked off downwind and left ..real nice!

The coyote then started in on me in a slow, stalking manner, figuring that I was somehow connected with that female eagle! Right in the middle of being stalked by, for all I knew, a rabid coyote or some mutant killer wolf hybrid, I still had the presence of mind to take a picture with my cell phone for the eagle journal. Shows you how close the coyote was that I could get a shot of it with a cell camera — I could have died! I made a strong move at the coyote, more bluff than anything else really, and it came to its senses and moved off down the hill. I sat down and watched the coyote go over the next hill and it suddenly hit me — years ago I watched a pair of golden eagles stoop at a family of coyotes they had pinned under a small bush on the top of a hill. The eagles took turns coming in at great speed and trying to hook a young coyote and all the while the parents were running around, tails raised, yipping at the eagles, trying to protect their young. This coyote must have been trying to drive Widow out of her den area. Coyotes are smart animals, smart enough to not want a female golden eagle hanging around the hills overlooking their den. The den must have been close, close enough for the mother coyote to risk being eaten herself to chase off the one predator that is a real threat to her family. I glassed the entire area looking for the most likely place for the den and settled on a small area on the side of the next hill where some of the hillside had fallen away and I could see six or seven ground squirrel holes. One hole was very much enlarged. Not more than 10 minutes went by and there came mother coyote trotting across the valley floor heading straight for the spot I figured was her den. She didn’t stay long, just long enough to make it obvious why she was there. Just so you know, I like coyotes. I think they are cool and her secret is safe with me.

I walked back towards Widow who was back on the fence post way across the valley. I called her and she came bombing over and landed on my arm, ate her reward and as I cast her off she tried to take my arm with her. She landed on the ground and charged after me. Gees, first the coyote, now Widow. Running in on my legs Widow was striking at my feet. I was fending her off with my glove. I backed away and she came at me again, and again I fended her off. She was serious and pissed that I wouldn’t give her more food. I backed away and she stopped. Moving downwind and in back of her I gave her little choice but to fly in order to reach me once more. Widow jumped in the air and began to circle out over the pond in what seemed to be a strong thermal. Up and up she went, staying with the circling air as it rose over the rolling hills. I started to walk in the general direction she was soaring in an effort to give her a reference point. Within mere moments Widow was out over the ranch at a height that was difficult to see with binoculars. When a bird with a six foot wing span is so high up in the air that she is a mere fly speck in the binoculars, take a pen or pencil and make the smallest dot you can on a piece of paper, that’s what she looked like in my  binoculars. She was way the heck up there. I kept moving, acting, in a sense, as a lure but more just to let her know where I was, hoping she would not drift too far. I had a transmitter on her but that was still no guarantee that I’d find her, so I kept moving. I had stupidly left my fake rabbit-looking lure back in my truck which was now ½ mile or more back behind me. I could barely see Widow now. In fact, each time I stopped walking to check on her position it was taking longer and longer to find her. I made the decision to go back to the truck and get my lure, also thinking that the act of going to the truck might bring her in. Remember, I always walk down the hill and call her in to the truck where she gets her big meal. As I went over the last hill it seemed that Widow was coming over me, not coming in, but over me at a great height .still a fly speck!

In all the years I’ve flown eagles I’ve learned some things: never turn your back and walk away from a hungry eagle, and I mean NEVER loose eye contact with an eagle that knows you’re going to give it food, especially one that is 1000’s of feet up in the air and has already gone after you! I have gone down to the bottom of many a hill figuring I’d call the eagle down, save myself the work of carrying her down the hill, and I get down to the bottom, turn around, and get a face full of hungry eagle! They will come after you, and from the height that Widow was she could do some real damage to me. Keep your eye on them!

I got out the lure and started running out over the grass, dragging the lure behind me. Widow was straight up. She folded up her wings, then checked herself, folded up again, and was committed. I started to run and for an old guy I can still run. I had zero chance! Widow was on me so fast that I felt like looking for a hole to hide in. Fortunately I kept moving, which kept the lure moving, and therefore kept Widow’s attention and focus. She slammed it and was back on the ground.   Wow that was cool!!!

JH:

JH caught a ground squirrel ..I’m tired.

Hope all is well,

Joe