There was a kid, two horses, three dogs, four falcons, two falconers and a quest. When a quail was cornered all were part of the spectacle. The Harris hawks lifted together each taking a perch on top of the cactus. Harry on horse followed on trot the fights that lasted a hundred yards until his hawk shot across the open space. His trot became gallop and kept going for a quarter mile until the Harris lit. Somehow Harry knew the flight was after quail. Jamaica's Harris followed behind Harry's passage and before I arrived both falconers had hoes out standing in then middle of a kangaroo nest surrounded by cactus excavating the rat hole. Harry took one side of the nest while Jamaica began digging furiously hoping to force the trapped quail to reflush
Both Hawks were perched 5 paces away on top of the cactus waiting. They had been here before and were waiting for the quail to scatter. The dogs were on point. One had a cholla embedded in his snot but he didn't care. Harry dug at least a foot then the quail flushed in a buzz and a second later the Harris had the quail impaled in its talons.
Harry told in me in his subtle way that healthy habitat was excessive desert rats nest. I mentioned some of my colleagues were working the deadly hantavirus carried in the kangaroo's rat feces. Harry laughed saying, "Not as deadly as the rattlers that live down these holes."
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