Animal Training 2/2

Haley Selen

Jul 21, 20181 min read

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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Inside a Training Session: Not Interested

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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Inside a training session: Theo learns the rules of the game

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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