Sunday, March 27, 2011

Aren't The Wolves Going to Be Suspicious?

Many years ago in Russia, I learned from a Kirghizi man that the national sport was hunting wolves with eagles. Years later I saw in news reports that this was done on horseback. The participants going into the mountains with their eagles and using them in teams to dispatch wolves. Now wolves are the hereditary enemies of all pastoral peoples among which are the Khirgizi, and the Mongolians. An eagle , as you might expect, just doesn't work for anybody. In order to have it return to you and go hunting-particularly against wolves-it nees to be raised by hand. The eagles, as I understand it, can not be transferred to a new owner. That means that despite the flashy vehicle these guys had to raise their own eagles and could not have just bought them for an impromptu wolf hunt. Nonetheless, it strikes me that if you are healthy enough the whole thrill of hunting wolves with eagles from horseback is diminished in a giant, German, RV.

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