By Julian White-Davis, Photo and Publishing Editor
Three bald eagles circle overhead as VHS alumnus Onika Murphy prepares her red-tailed hawk for flight. With a neon-orange string trailing from his talon, Abe the hawk soars across her yard overlooking Quartermaster Harbor and comes to rest on his trainer’s outstretched hand.
These preliminary flights are the beginning of an arduous training for Abe to become more efficient in hunting and eventually be able to free-fly and help Murphy hunt rabbits.
Murphy graduated from VHS in 2015 and tried pursuing a higher education at both the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland and University of Puget Sound in Tacoma; however, after these two attempts at the mainstream education path left her wanting something else, she decided to find another direction for her life.
“When I decided to drop out of [college], my parents said, ‘We would like you to either go to school, get a job or do falconry,’” Murphy said. “[My friend was a falconer and it] is a combination of what I love — animals and wildlife — so I thought why not take a shot and see if I can do this?”
Murphy then began studying, networking and searching for a sponsor who could apprentice her for the two-year training.
After jumping through all of the legal hoops set by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) during her apprenticeship, Murphy was ready to get a license and a bird of her own.
Most falconers choose to trap their own birds in the wild instead of buying them from a breeder. This is the path Murphy decided to take.On her first try, Murphy trapped a young red-tailed hawk which she later named Abe. Murphy has asked that the details of the actual trapping process be omitted, as illegal poaching of birds of prey is common practice and she doesn’t want details of how to make a trap being spread around.
It may seem inhumane to trap birds of prey out of the wild; however, according to WDFW, about 70 percent of birds in the wild die within their first year. Falconers help fledglings through their first year and teach them how to hunt more efficiently so that when they are released back into the wild, they have a greater chance of survival.
After over a month of training, Abe and Murphy’s relationship is building to a point where he can free-fly with no leash.
“It definitely is building trust, because as a species and as a creature of the wild, they are not used to human interaction,” Murphy said. “Over time he has learned to trust me and to understand that I am beneficial to his survival.”
But the relationship isn’t about affection. Unlike a dog or a cat, Abe is a wild animal.
“For them it’s just about day to day surviving — what’s going to be their next meal,” Murphy said.
She plans on continuing his training to a point where he can work with Murphy’s new blue heeler to hunt together.
“Red-tails are really opportunistic hunters,” Murphy said. “They will sit in a tree and watch a field for hours waiting for their prey. About 80 percent of their diet is rodents, but they also eat rabbits and snakes.”
She plans on hunting in parks in Tacoma and Seattle as well as farther away, in places where her sponsor hunts with his falcon.
“I’ll probably have him for the rest of this season and then next season and then release him,” said Murphy.
After that she will need to trap another bird and begin the process again.
“It really is a privilege to just have him,” Murphy said. “I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do. [The conventional path of education wasn’t working out] so I thought, ‘Might as well do something unconventional to make me happy.’”