Staci, my wife, soulmate, and today also my hunting companion, is yelling at a squirrel being chased by my red-tailed hawk, Tama. “Run, Chatterbox, run!”

This squirrel chatters well, hence his name. He is not good at escaping my hawk. My falconry bird, Tama, has caught Chatterbox five times. How is this possible, you ask?

Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. In my personal experience with falconry, it means I hunt squirrels and rabbits using a red-tailed hawk.

No gun, nothing but taking the hawk out into the woods and fields and letting her be who God created her to be. Raptors, like her, kill and eat prey. Sharp talons, and powerful beak, and keen eyesight are her tools used to spot the next meal from distances far away.

My thrill in hunting with a red-tailed hawk is watching the chase. It’s not necessarily the kill. Nature has a way of using life and death to keep things in balance. People who do not know about falconry might think it is cruel, as the prey frequently gets eaten. It reminds me of when we “civilized” humans view a National Geographic film showing the zebra being chased by the lion. Naturally, we all cheer for the Zebra hoping the mean lion will miss. We overlook that three young lions also require meat to survive.

Nature’s “survival of the fittest” often sees hawks capturing and consuming squirrels. But we caught silly Chatterbox 5 times! How?

When Tama grabs the squirrel, she doesn’t stab it with her sharp talons. She grabs and squeezes with all her strength. Picture a baseball player submerged beneath teammates in a dog pile, celebrating a victory strikeout. Better get him up so he can breathe. Or picture someone bear-hugging you so tight you can’t breathe. You will literally pass out in seconds.

Here is the trick. When Tama catches a squirrel, she “parachutes” down to the ground with her catch. She locks on and squeezes with all her strength. If I get there within, say, 15 seconds, I can save the squirrel from her grip.

Birds of prey have an uncanny ability with their eyesight. Also, if they don’t see something, then in their mind it doesn’t exist. Approaching the squirrel and hawk engaged in conflict, I rapidly covered the squirrel using a towel. Immediately, I show the hawk a fresh chicken leg. Tama instinctively grabs the chicken leg and in the same motion, I grab the squirrel with my gloved hand.

While she is feasting on her KFC chicken meal, I swing the squirrel around behind my back and release him. He’s free to go his merry way. Lord, have mercy!

This might make it clearer why Staci cheers for the squirrel and I for the hawk when we hunt together.

Staci and I have fished and hunted together practically all our lives. How many people get to say their dates involved frog gigging, snake hunting, and dove shoots? We also did the ordinary dates of eating out, going to the drive-in for movies, and church youth socials. All that was just ordinary (well, maybe not at the drive-in). Lord, have mercy.

We are both big hunters, but we are both tenderhearted and compassionate towards animals. Unnecessary harm and cruelty are not involved in true hunting. There is a standard of ethics involved in hunting. Maybe that’s a hard thought to understand unless you are a hunter with a big heart yourself.

Anyway, Staci has been supporting silly Chatterbox as he is being chased. “Run, run, run!” she says.

Chatterbox climbs the same tree and scampers up to the very top. At the very top he has come to the end of the branches, so now it’s jump or remain still. He jumps, but he hesitates. That’s when Tama swoops in and grabs Chatterbox with her talons/claws. She then floats down to the ground. We say the hawk is “parachuting”.

Instantly Staci says, “Lord have mercy!” She looks at me and yells, “Run, Dan, run!”

I’m already running, dodging vines and branches as I hastily make my way to Tama and her victim. The “Lord have mercy” routine, we call it, is quickly in play. I threw the blanket over the captured squirrel and showed Tama the delicious chicken leg. She goes for it, and all is well in the forest.

I’m delighted by the incredible bird’s performance. The hawk is happy as she is gorging on her chicken leg meal. Staci’s happy, which makes me happier than two teenagers at the drive-in. And Chatterbox,….. well, he’s happy, although I don’t think he realizes what just happened.

It’s difficult to know what a squirrel is thinking. Their brains are small. It seems they have trouble deciding whether to cross a road in front of your oncoming car. In Chatterbox’s situation, one would think he would learn from this. Lord have mercy, because he doesn’t.

Over the next few days, we would hunt this exact tree. Each visit yielded a squirrel close by. Either on the ground or climbing somewhere in the tree. You guessed it. It was the one and only Chatterbox!

So, that’s how Tama caught this squirrel 5 times.

The third time was sketchy. As nimbly and gracefully as a deer, I ran to the hawk and squirrel; I tripped and face-planted right into the leaves covering the ground. I lost precious seconds checking to see if any teeth had come loose or if there were any fractures or broken bones. Thankfully, I got to the scene of the hunting capture and freed Chatterbox once again. I had to voice aloud the phrase “Lord have mercy”, as this was now a ritual with this squirrel and his unwillingness to learn from his mistakes.

As Staci and I make our way back home, I comment about how stupid her “pet” squirrel is. Her reply got me thinking. “He’s not stupid; he just can’t help himself.”

I guess we humans (myself included) can’t help ourselves sometimes. You would think that we would learn from our mistakes. One would think that our people’s brains are much superior to a squirrel’s brain, but actions prove otherwise. A predator is out to get us. Divine intervention and God’s mercy have saved us from the consequences of our behavior many times over.

Lord have mercy. And He does.

We all know “that guy” that can’t help himself. You could be that person. When we do wrong or bring harm to someone or ourselves, it is easy to place the blame on others. Rather than play the blame game and all the negativity associated with it, I’m choosing to focus on the power of God’s mercy.

Rather than badmouthing someone (or myself) over constant failures and shortcomings, maybe I should give attention to God’s saving grace and mercy.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. John 3:17.

I witnessed Chatterbox receive several doses of mercy. Did he deserve it? Probably not. Will he ever learn from it? He hasn’t so far.

What about the survival of the fittest? In nature, only the best survive, whether a squirrel or me and you.

But in God’s universe, He loves each of us so much that He dishes out His mercy constantly. Thank goodness!

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5.

So God loves me so much that I can do whatever I want and be as stupid as I desire, and God’s going to show me mercy? Well, no. Let’s save that discussion for another campfire chat. For now, look at your situation like this.

Chatterbox is still around because of mercy. Looks like you are still around too. Learn from your mistakes and shortcomings. Be grateful for God’s mercy in your life. His desire is for you to grow closer to Him. Several doses of mercy should inspire you to turn your spiritual journey towards God and his mercy for you.

Tama was one of my best hawks. In one hunting season she harvested 48 squirrels. Because of Mercy, Chatterbox’s 5 times are not included in that list. Lord have mercy!

See Ya! DanAinsworth Wilderness Preacher and receiving mercy myself