I caught a wild hawk by using what he’s good at…… and using it against him.  Here’s how. [Note: Possession of any bird of prey requires a permit and falconry license.  They are not pets!!] 

A hawk survives by catching his food.  He has an unreal ability to see.  Their eyesight is phenomenal.  Put it this way.  They could read the print on this blog from four football fields away.  They use what they are good at (keen eyesight) to find and catch their prey.  I want to catch a wild hawk, so I will use what he is extremely good at …….. and use it against him.  Here’s how.

That’s the picture of the trap I use to catch a hawk (permit required remember?).  I place a hamster, or mouse into the cage. ( No harm comes to the bait animal on this adventure. )  The mouse will walk around in his cage.  This movement will catch the hawks attention.  What I usually do is drive the roads and highways looking for a hawk perched on a light pole or utility wire.  I’ll drop the trap out the car door and drive down the road for a ways.  Hawks instantly see the movement in the trap……. and begin their descent from above to attack their potential meal.  I’ve seen hawks try to literally tear the cage apart to get to their prey!

Notice the picture again.  See the nooses on the top of the trap?  As the hawk dances around on the cage, they entangle their talons in these snares.  Such great eyesight, but the focus is on the prey not on the trap with snares.  I only need a toe and this wonderful creature that was soaring high in the sky is now caught in my trap.

Amazing how I used this magnificent creature’s outstanding ability (eyesight), but I used it to trap him.  That’s what got me to thinking.

What are you good at……… how are you successful?  Some folks are successful at making money, some are great around people,….. so many talents and abilities out there with you guys.  But what if the devil/ evil/ sinful human nature, (call it what you want, but you better call it cause it’s out there), what if the devil used what you are good at against you?

Here’s the trap.  Good at making money?….suddenly becomes greed.   Great interacting with people?….. suddenly becomes something inappropriate.   All the trapper needs is a toe.  Whatever is going on in your life that may be good can be used to trap you.  

Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me and from the snares of evildoers!  Psalm 141:9

So use your God-given talents and be what you are designed to be.  But remember, traps and snares are out there in this world.  Traps that will tie you down and keep you from flying high (spiritually).

In this case, the trap  caught a young red-tail hawk who is now my companion in the sport of falconry.  He already knows how to hunt, he will just have to get use to me being around him.  This is called manning.  There will be several blogs written over the next few days/weeks about my hobby of falconry.  How two very different creatures will bond together in a relationship that I’ve found so rewarding.  Hope you keep coming back to read, join in with me on  this adventure, and enjoy tagging along as we watch “Dakota” fly and be what God has created him to be!   

Stay tuned…….  See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher and falconer