THE IMPRINT ACCIPITER II: INCLUDING TAME HACKING. By Michael McDermott.

2008 1st edition. 8vo (158 x 235mm). Ppxxiii,249. Colour photographs throughout. Brown boards, upper board and spine titled in gilt with gilt hawk motif.

This is Michael McDermott's new version of his sought-after and highly regarded The Imprint Accipiter, with the addition of ten years' extra experience and experiment, new material and many colour photographs. Chapters include: Considerations before choosing a species - species comparisons, goshawks, Sharpshinned hawks, Cooper's hawks; Preparation before getting an eyass - mind set, facilities and equipment, ethics, bagged quarry, multiple catches; Six key elements - no fear, socialise, keep inside, handling techniques, no glove-food association, good scale work; Raising the eyas - twig-feeding to self-feeding, carcass feeding, early baggies, lure training, advanced baggies, brancher - weight control, a comparison with wild hawks; The tame-hacked imprint; Metabolism and weight control - taking control, prediction and measuring metabolic rate, the problem zone; Problems - aggression, yarak and aggression, territoriality, screaming, carrying, possession, low numbers; Night hawking - training, advantages, pest control application, problems; The viszla and quail hawking - the Hungarian viszlas, some hawking stories. Five appendices: A time-line for raising imprint accipiters; Journal notes on raising goshawks, a male and a female; Journal notes on raising sharpshins, a male and a female; Journal notes on raising the Cooper's, a male and a female; Nest hunting for the three species in twelve different US states. As with all three of McDermott's books, essential reading. Though the copyright date is 2009 this book was actually published in late 2008.