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Co-hunting with Hawks and Beagles, Part #2
Last week’s installment #1 on this topic can be found here.
This past weekend, I joined Ray, with his 5 beagles, and Kim, with her hawk named Cedar, on a hunting expedition. Cedar wears a bell so they can keep track of her whereabouts as she flies or perches in the trees. She also wears a transmitter so she can be located when silently on prey on the ground.
The beagles work as a group, silent while searching for a scent trail, and then barking nonstop when they’re on a scent. (You can find a video in the comments below that shares their excited barking.) It wouldn’t be unusual for them not to see the rabbit while following the scent trail, but their movements and noise eventually flush out prey which Cedar will then spot from her position high above.
Ray can tell the difference in their barks, knowing whether the scent trail is fresh or cold, and apparently the hawk has learned to discern this too, following more closely from above if they’re on a fresh scent. Ray says the dogs also learn to read the hawk’s behavior when she is active, based on the sound of the bell, her wing beat, and the speed of her flight. Those are all clues that she may be in hot pursuit of a rabbit, for instance. Generally, once she catches the prey and the dogs determine she has it, they leave her alone and then move on in search of another scent trail. If, early on, the dog makes the mistake of trying to interact too closely with the hawk when she has prey, she will punish that behavior quickly.
All creatures in this post – humans, dogs, and hawk – have the ability to read the sounds and behaviors of each other. We and our own dogs do this all the time. Can you describe, for instance, the different barks your dog emits and what they mean? What behaviors do you emit that your dog purposefully focuses on and reacts to?
The pics below are from when we first released the hawk and beagles from the cars.
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2 Replies
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Here’s a video clip — just to depict the sound — of the beagles’ non-stop barking as they follow a fresh scent trail.
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Wow! This is all so fascinating. Thanks for sharing the video/audio clip! I imagine everything in the woods gets fair warning they are coming. And the duct tape sounds like a simple solution for preventing injury. It’s another testament to the beagles’ drive that having tape on their tail tips don’t bother them… it would cause some dogs to “spin out” instead of hunt, I’m sure.
At least as a breed, they get to keep their tails, regardless.
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