Log Day 48

Yesterday around noon, she was in the the lower 1040 gram range, so off we went to do a little car hawking. Apparently squirrels like to be foraging on the ground around lunch time, so we decided it was a great day to see what Dee Dee thought about them. We found our first squirrel within about 20 seconds of getting into the car, but it wasn't just one...it was two!!!! I slipped her out the window with fingers crossed, and she, well...."sorta" went after it....she did a few wing pumps in that general direction, but then landed on the ground. She still doesn't like flying back into the car, so I step out to call her up, when she notices the other squirrel (that I had completely forgotten about) sittin next to a truck wheel. Well, she decided the best course of action was to chase it down on foot, so she starts running at it going underneithe the truck. Of course, she didn't get it, but I guess that sorta made it "click" in her mind, b/c as soon as she got on the other side, she flew straight up the tree at it, but really didn't have a chance of nabbing it. Drove for another minute maybe, and then we see another one. Drop the window, and she is out pumping HARD toward the squirrel immediately. Obviously, this guy had played this game before, and just sat there and waited for her to get in striking range, and then slipped to the other side of the tree, leaving her empty footed on the ground. He then scampered up to the first branch, and turned around and started yelling at her. She just sorta looked at it for a minute, flew up into the tree, and watched for a minute, and then decided to come to the glove for a tid bit. You could almost see the wheels turning in her head, and the light bulb must have started to flicker or something. Next squirrel we see, she comes pumping out the window, but instead of heading straight for it, she goes to the first level of branchs (which is above the squirrel), and starts stairing straight down the trunk. The squirrel is flattened on the trunk, stuck between killer bird, and crazy haired hippie that's running up toward the tree, so it just sorta freezes up trying to dissappear. I run to the side the squirrel is on, and it just looks at me, so I jump in the air, and try to smack it with my hand, which causes it to scoot to the other side of the tree. This pleased Dee Dee, cause she shot straight down the trunk, stuck a foot out, and just barely missed nabbing it off the side of the tree. I'm getting all geeked around this point, cause I realize I'm having one hell of a great time, so we head off for another one. Drove for another minute or so, and we see another one....this one was a little too close to the tree, and blew her away by a mile. Called her down, and we went heading for another. Found a REALLY nice slip on a squirrel that was in a corner lot, and she lunged out the window really hard for it. She initially tried to nab this one off the ground (b/c it was pretty far from the tree), but at the last moment before it got to the trunk, shot straight up into the lower branchs of the tree (SEE!!!!!! She is learning!!!!!!). Same sorta thing goes down, except for on a much bigger scale. I go to move the squirrel, and Dee comes off the branch (which is much higher than the first one she took) and starts cork screwing down the trunk. She makes maybe three twists around, and then shoots her foot out and I swear, I thought she had it..........but she missed. Had one more slip that was alright, and then we had to head back to work. Total, we drove around for about fifteen minutes tops, and I was pleased with how quickly she was catching on. Got back to work, and I was pretty darn psyched to say the least, and couldn't really focus the rest of the day! Ducked out early, and met up with my good buddy Jeff, and we headed out to "Ahava" to see if we could kick up some squirrels. Not really sure if it was time of day or what, but we didn't kick up ANYTHING for most of the session. There where a bunch of squirrel nests through out the trees, but nothing was moving. If she did see some, then she ignored them....but no flights where had. Managed to kick up a couple rabbits (which happened to head right toward Jeff both times, so he got to see a couple nice flights on those), but she didn't manage to connect. Ended the session on the lure, and I only fed her up to 1080 grams last night. Gonna try again for squirrels at lunch, and if she doesn't score, then I'm going to introduce her to ducks this afternoon. Though the hawkin day was sorta a bummer with no scores, my best friend in the world Brian flew into town for the night, and we got to sit down and do some chillen. It was good times getting to see him, and I stayed up WAY too late last night talkin. Oh, and if your wondering if that is Bob Marley in the back of the second picture.....it is......that is where Dee Dee draws all of her inspiration from!