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Post by Eddie on Mar 6, 2008 18:49:21 GMT -5
Well, tomorrow, March 7, 2008, I am going to take Sugar and Jasper (Prairie Falcon and Harris' Hawk) in to have them both fitted with the TrackPack telemetry system. It takes between 20 and 30 minutes to have them fitted with this system. Instead of using a bewit and leg mount the transmitter or using a tail mount, these are fitted to the birds in a figure-8 configuration, are 99% invisible once the bird preens them into the feathers and the transmitter is placed on the back of the bird like a back pack. On many birds even the transmitter disappears into the feathers making them much more streamlined when flying, especially the falcons when stooping onto quarry. This system is great for birds that don't like having their tails touched or the legs messed around with and even the transmitter can be left on for the year, turning it on and off if you have one of the newer transmitters that tap on and off with the use of a strong magnet. I'll take some pics and post them later.
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Post by Eddie on Mar 8, 2008 2:06:05 GMT -5
Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any pics. Jasper's went smoothly but Sugar was a bloody nightmare! Here's what happened:
After leaving today Jasper, the HH done great. He preened himself into his normal gorgous feathering and that is where it ended so that worked out great. You cannot see the TrackPack at all! The sedative worked on him within 5 minutes and the med to reverse it worked just as quickly. As for Sugar, the Prairie, what a nightmare! After giving the sedative we waited, and waited and waited and it didn't work on her. Finally we just started doing it and about 5 minutes before we were done, she crashed right onto my arm and chest. We got it finished and gave the reversal agent and that didn't work either. Typically both drug work within 5 to 7 minutes. After I left with Todd Balentyne and Rich Vernon I stayed in the parking lot for another good 30-40 minutes as Sugar was still groggy and wobbling and kept trying to fall over. (I guess now is a good time to mention that both birds were given Domitor" (medetomidine hydrochloride) as the sedative and the reversal agent Antisedan). Finally she stayed standing so I left after putting her up near the front seat so I could keep a close eye on her. The Antisedan took nearly 1 hour and 40 minutes to bring her out. About 30 minutes after that she began to preen it in and was doing fine and all of a sudden I heard a tearing sound. I quickly looked to my side and she was literally ripping out her own feathers around her crop area. She was close enough that when she done that I could touch her back so she would stop. After that she started reaching into her plumage, grabbing the nylon straps and pulling them out of her feathers. Once I got into Kaysville and stopped to see Ian van Natter, my apprentice friend, she stopped pulling on the straps. While out on the fist I blew on her body and feathers blew everywhere that she had pulled out. Once I got back on the freeway she stopped all the bad behavior and it looks like she preened the straps in and has left them alone. Then once I got almost home I had an accident......I hit a heard of deer about 6 miles from my home. Damaged the front of the blazer (thank goodness for insurance). The truck behind me swerved to my left towards the guardrail in the meridian and another truck was on my right so I had to hit them head on. Hitting my breaks made Sugar's perch slide into the front seat. When the police arrived we checked both birds out and they were fine but my nerves were shot. I was shaking like a leaf from the adrenaline. All-in-all, everything turned out ok though.
I asked Todd to get me a copy of the video he took of us putting the TrackPack on Sugar so once I get it I'll have it edited and I'll put it up for anyone that wants to see it.
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Post by clivew on Mar 8, 2008 16:45:20 GMT -5
Is there any reason why in the States you have your birds anethetised to fit a backpack? I've fitted 3 of my birds in the past with my homemade ones and my birds are hooded and stood on the back of my chair!!! OK, it takes about 15 minutes and the Perlin was a bit of a bugger and fidgeted but it was all done with no real hassles.
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Post by Falco on Mar 8, 2008 18:40:58 GMT -5
Well you were fairly lucky. We have started to shy away from the meds now but some birds will flat out rip you apart, like im Sugar would have.
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Post by Eddie on Mar 8, 2008 21:30:55 GMT -5
I personally opted for drug induced because Sugar, the prairie, is wickedly evil and is not full manned or trained because of all of her medical problems. She footed 1 friend of mine and she was a bloody nightmare. I opted for it with Jasper, the HH, because he is moulting and didn't want any bating at all which could damage his feathers. We we not hood trained; instead the guy who gave him to me only uses the giant hood on his birds so I didn't want to risk anything with either bird.
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Matt
Licensed Falconer
Posts: 14
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Post by Matt on Mar 24, 2008 11:12:28 GMT -5
I have a trackpack on my Female RT 'Kit' I'll gladely show pictures of it when i can access my home computer next. I love the system. I have a Scout on her and its so streamline that when she preens, its all under the feathers and you cant see it. it really keeps it out of the way when shes footing or crashing brush. I HIGHLY dislike leg transmitters and i will never use one. I even dislike bells on the legs! I would have done a tail mount, but the scout is just too heavy.
I kept the Scout on her backpack, with the magnetic On/Off for the entire season, and took it off the day i put her up for moult. when she preens she would preen the antenna like it was one of her own feathers.
Putting the BackPack on her was easy, my sponsor has done it on many birds and highly dislikes the medication. Far too many things can go wrong when drugging birds. The only complication we had with her back pack was that when we put it on, she had a partial crop, and it threw it off. We fixed it by just cutting it, and pulling it tighter after fixing the stitch for the X.
I HIGHLY recommend the backpack!
-Matt
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Post by Eddie on Mar 24, 2008 13:33:51 GMT -5
Yeah, my TrackPacs are completely preened in and you have to dig through the feathers to find it. The birds have preened them in and no longer bother with them. Jasper could have cared less to start with but Sugar tried to eat hers off for 2 days straight. I opted for the meds on both birds for good reason. When I got Jasper he was never hood trained by the guy I got him from....he only uses giant hoods. As for Sugar, with her medical problems she is super, super fat and wild as all hell and it was an absolute triumph getting it on her. It took much longer to work on her but with out it I doubt we could have done it and even with it she footed one of my friends there through one finger and in the joint of another. I wanted it on her so she could moult with it on to lessen any feather damage in case her condition doesn't clear up with this upcoming moult!
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