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Peeper was taken as a nestling before his eyes turned yellow (7-12 days old). He was raised in the house and never restrained until fully flighted. He was a sheer joy to be with. Peeper enjoyed being with us all the time; in fact, he sought us out. He was an extremely intelligent and friendly being. Peeper was not what one would call a red hot falconry bird, however. He refused to catch rabbits when young. (Maybe we introduce them to him too early?) When brought out to Wyoming for hawking, Peeper tried to fly down and catch sage grouse but seemed to let them all go at the last moment. He was used for educational lectures to school children, the general public and at a congressional awards ceremony for science teachers. Peeper appeared on national television with Willard Scott for Migratory Bird Day several years ago. We "tame hacked" Peeper in our backyard in Virginia. He was driven off a few times by the local barred owl and the last time he didn't return and we unable to recover him. We found out that Peeper had hit a picture window and killed himself six months after his disappearance from our yard. We miss him very much; he was a good companion a and very entertaining one too. |
Dr. Jill Morrow, Ph.D. and her husband Lance are biologist now residing in Wyoming
