Trust
To fix Carson’s overgrown beak, we pulled on leather welding gloves last week and restrained the Red-tailed Hawk for a trim. These...
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Haley Selen
Mar 22, 20181 min read
Aldo and Mollie
Over the past few weeks, Aldo has quickly made friends with the Museum’s Curator Naturalist, Mollie Kreb. We had a bit of a time-crunch...
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Haley Selen
Mar 14, 20182 min read
IAATE Conference
In late February, I checked into the hotel in Redding, California and tracked down the registration table. I received a warm welcome to...
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Haley Selen
Aug 25, 20171 min read
Water
With her confidence growing, Carson has been taking each new step of our training like water off a duck’s back. Like ducks, all birds...
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Haley Selen
Jul 7, 20171 min read
Rouse
It is officially one year since I rolled into Cable and presented a raptor program with Aldo and Carson on my first day of work at the...
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Haley Selen
Mar 17, 20171 min read
Basking
Animal training is never a linear line; there are always ups and downs. One day Carson runs to greet me, ready to train. The next day she...
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Haley Selen
Feb 3, 20171 min read
Steps Toward Flight
To prepare for a training session, I closed the blinds in the classroom and set out a step stool – just in case. I brought Aldo into the...
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Haley Selen
Jan 13, 20171 min read
A Big Step for Carson
I have taken Carson’s training nice and slow. I go at her pace and let her tell me what she is comfortable with. But sometimes I have to...
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Haley Selen
Dec 2, 20161 min read
Inside a Training Session: Not Interested
Sometimes training sessions go really well with big breakthroughs like the session I described with Theo last week. But sometimes we just...
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Haley Selen
Nov 25, 20162 min read
Inside a training session: Theo learns the rules of the game
Theo’s training log helps me keep track of his progress. I wait patiently just outside Theo’s open door. To avoid a direct gaze that...
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Haley Selen
Nov 18, 20162 min read
The Mouse Went Down the Hole
Imagine a hawk sitting on a fence post along the edge of a cornfield. Scanning the ground beneath her, she suddenly spots a mouse and...
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Haley Selen
Oct 28, 20162 min read
The Bridge
The bridge, usually a sound like a click or whistle, is an important part of training with positive reinforcement. You may already be...
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Haley Selen
Oct 21, 20162 min read
Reading body language
Examples of stress, comfort, and ultimate relaxation in great horned owls. Body language is everything. It tells me when Theo is...
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Haley Selen
Oct 7, 20161 min read
Inside a training session: Carson’s “Ah ha!” moment
I hold the target stick about one foot away from Carson. She steps over to stand next to it. In our previous training sessions, I would...
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Haley Selen
Sep 16, 20161 min read
Positive Reinforcement
Aldo inspects a bite-size quail tidbit offered on the tip of my finger. There are many ways to teach an animal to do a single behavior,...
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Haley Selen
Sep 9, 20161 min read
New training ideas
Dan (naturalist at The Raptor Center) practices targeting in a training session with “Strix” the Barred Owl. At The Raptor Center two...
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Haley Selen
Aug 5, 20162 min read
Two-way Communication
Carson quickly learned where her training station is and will often wait there for the next training session! When I first met Carson...
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