"What does a sub-adult individual an? How can you tell, strear?"
"These feathers, so white, so beautiful."
"So raptors, just like humans, claim territory if they can and suffer in hunger if they can’t?"
Lin Yang said, "A sub-adult is an individual that has already fledged from the nest, but has not yet reached sexual maturity. My judgnt is based on its plumage, especially the feathers above the tail where it wraps around the waist."
Everyone can look here, the feathers in this area are slightly different from those beside it, probably because they haven’t completely molted from the nestling down, which is the down they had while still in the nest."
Upon a close-up through the cara, indeed, right above the tail, at the wrapping waist position, the color of adjacent feathers has a clear difference, so being darker and duller, not as high-quality as the feathers in other parts.
"What’s next? Are we going to ’stew the falcon’? Old folks say that if the falcon doesn’t obey, you ’stew’ it into submission."
"I’ve also heard about ’stewing’ falcons. Are you going to do that, strear?"
"I’ve heard that ’stewing’ a falcon is sowhat cruel, breaking its will so it can be used by us."
Lin Yang once again smiled and shook his head: "Regarding ’stewing’ falcons, it’s not entirely wrong, but as the saying has been passed down, it has strayed far from the original aning. Birds of prey from the genus Aquila, like hawks, do have strong temperants and indeed may need a bit of ’stewing,’ but our Spear Falcon here, belonging to the genus Falco of the Falconidae family, is quite bold and doesn’t require ’stewing.’
Having just been caught, the falcon should not lack water. Let’s go back to the shelter to tidy up briefly, and we’ll proceed with the training slowly."
After greeting the audience, Lin Yang, with the falcon on one hand and his equipnt in the other, strode toward the wooden hut shelter.
Back in the cabin, he didn’t let go of the falcon. He took a terracotta basin, normally used for clean water, and splashed a bit of water on the Spear Falcon.
It was strange. At first, the terrified Spear Falcon, upon feeling the trickle of cool water, had a noticeable relaxation in its panicked eyes, and its drooping wings gradually pulled in.
Seeing the Spear Falcon’s reduced reactivity, Lin Yang tried to splash water again with his hand.
This ti his purpose was different than before, drying its breast feathers. He deliberately let drops of water fall right above the falcon’s beak so that so of it would land on the serrated beak.
The Spear Falcon felt the coolness of the water droplets on its beak and subconsciously clacked it. After getting used to it, Lin Yang sped up his splashing motion, and amazingly, the falcon started drinking the water.
After drinking several sips in succession, the Spear Falcon shook its feathers all over its body and changed from a standing to a squatting position on his hand, much calr than before.
Seeing this, the live chat exploded.
"???"
"What sorcery is this? The falcon that was just caught, subdued with just a bit of water?"
"What’s the principle here? It was just looking fierce with drooping wings and glaring eyes, and now it’s tad?"
"Co clean, strear; do you have superpowers or sothing? This is too mystical, isn’t it?"
Lin Yang grinned, wiped his hand on his butt, and with a gentle movent, stroked the falcon’s tail.
Then he explained, "As I ntioned before, species from the genus Falco are much bolder than those from the genus Aquila, and this is the best proof. In fact, the sa actions done by anyone else would produce the sa result."
"I don’t believe it. It was so fierce just a mont ago, resisting violently, and now suddenly it’s obedient?"
"I don’t buy it either, there’s got to be a trick to it."
"Wilderness strear, on-the-spot coaching to train top-tier falcons, bring on the solid content next."
Lin Yang continued, "Inside the hut, the lighting is much dimr than outside, which naturally makes falcons quiet down a lot.
The just-caught falcon, because of the intense struggle, would typically be dehydrated. Giving it a bit of water not only helps cool its body but also replenishes its fluids. That’s why the falcon was so compliant when we splashed water and even began to drink willingly.
However, this is just an illusion. There’s still a long way to go to establish a preliminary level of trust. If we were to leave the cabin now, this guy would definitely struggle desperately to escape."
"Huh? Aren’t falcons supposed to have incredible vision? Can’t they see clearly indoors?"
"The eyes of an eagle, the strength of a bear, the speed of a leopard."
"Upstairs, you’re showing your age!"
Lin Yang: "In good lighting, the vision of birds of prey is indeed very good. The cone cells on their retina are more robust and nurous compared to humans, giving them a vision that is 8-10 tis stronger. However, their vision decreases quite a bit as the light dims. Inside our cabin, the lighting is about the sa as dusk."
"Got it, eagle-eyed in the dayti, blind as a bat at night, adding another quirky fact to the list."
"Now that the water’s been given, what’s next? When do we take the falcon hunting?"
" 1 to the question upstairs, I want to know too."
Lin Yang: "A just-netted falcon can’t be taken hunting right away; it needs to go through a series of training first. Conservatively speaking, the cycle is at least 7-10 days, and if it’s a particularly difficult individual, it’ll take even longer.
Now that we’ve brought the falcon back, we need to replenish our missing equipnt. Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin adaptive training. Right now, I need to make a cap for the little guy to cover its eyes."
While he was talking, Lin Yang placed the falcon on a section of log about the thickness of a bowl’s mouth, tying it down at the lower end.
The moderately adapted Spear Falcon squatted on the log without moving, its curious eyes looking around, but the door to the shelter was already closed, and the light inside was limited.
After temporarily settling the Spear Falcon, Lin Yang turned and took a tanned rabbit skin from under his sleeping bag.
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