Originally Posted By: Black_Wolf
How you raise em after you snatch from a nest?
What happens to the others you dont take from the nest?
Does the mom abandon them because of human scent on the nest?
Never really put hard thought about where people get the raptors?
Kinda assumed they were orphans or captive bred, I guess?
Just like you raise them anyhow. You feed 'em and then start training them. I worked for The Peregrine Fund for a summer and spent more time hanging around and I remember looking at 6 Mauritius Kestrel chicks at the time when there were only about 8 birds left in the world. Feeding and caring for chicks is something we've got down. Besides, I get mine when they're almost ready to leave the nest and they're 100% capable of ripping their own food up, believe me!
Nothing. The parents come back and feed them, sometimes as soon as you leave. It should be noted that around 70% of raptor die in their first year- starvation, other predators, shot, collision, etc. By taking one, feeding it, and hunting with it, you almost guarantee its survival for that critical 1st year.
The "human scent" thing is a myth. Hawks and falcons aren't scent-oriented animals (vultures are, but the only thing human scent does there is make them lick their chops). What you DO have to watch for is that raccoons or etc don't follow your scent to a nest tree. Some guys put sheet metal around a tree or use mothballs. But in the case of a prairie falcon, I'm rappelling over a cliff. If a coon follows me, he's bringing his own rope.
There are 3 main ways to get a raptor: captive bred, chick, or a 1st year bird that has left the nest. They all have their pros/cons. If you get the chick (captive or wild) young, they will imprint on humans. This results in a very tame bird that can be really molded, training-wise, but also one that be aggressive toward humans (territorial defense). The 1st year bird already has experience hunting and will usually maintain a good degree of "wildness". If you take a wild bird, it's very common to fly them for a year or two or three and then let them go. I've had two of my released birds trapped by biologists (which I used to be) YEARS after their release. One was a Harris Hawk that was documented as raising 3 broods of young.
The reason I'm getting a late chick is because I can have it flying and killing by late July. When duck season starts up in September, I can be ready to go. If I trap a bird, I can't do that UNTIL Sept and won't have it flying until Oct. I have a short, highly weather-dependent duck season here (ponds freeze, ducks move on) and it's critical to get rolling. I'll fly this one over the winter and cut it loose in the spring.
And, of course, all of the above requires permits and licenses galore.
