I've never trained an eagle. The place we live in is in the south, where eagles and birds of prey are already rare animals. With the government's protection, it's difficult to even catch a glimpse of them in the wild.
The largest bird of prey I've ever seen in my area is a hawk weighing only two or three pounds. We've never even seen a bird of prey like a harpy eagle, let alone caught one.
Although I don't know much about eagle training, I do know that the best way to tame wild animals in the mountains where I live is to first suppress their wildness.
The best way to extinguish wildness is through hunger, as an old man in the village once told me.
When he was young, he enjoyed keeping wild animals as pets.
At that time, almost every family in the village lived in a wooden house, and the granary was usually located in the attic on the second floor.
At that time, wooden houses were the favorite places for pests like rats, and the granaries were always destroyed by rats who would steal the grain inside.
As a result, almost every household would keep cats and dogs to catch mice. Back then, cats were not as timid as cats are now; catching mice was basically an instinct.
Domestic cats only need a place to sleep; they're not nearly as lucky as modern cats that get to eat cat food.
Back then, cats in the countryside caught and ate mice and sparrows on their own, so they basically didn't need to be fed.
However, an increase in rats also brings another problem. Rats have many natural enemies, the most prominent of which, and the one that causes the most headaches for rural people, is the weasel.
Weasels are very good at catching mice, even more so than domestic cats. However, they also have a bad habit: they like to suck the blood of poultry, sometimes wiping out an entire nest in one go.
Back then, poultry in rural areas were generally not slaughtered for food except during festivals. Almost every family kept them to lay eggs, so that they could get a couple of eggs to nourish their children during difficult times.
This behavior of the weasel undoubtedly overshadowed all its advantages, and people began to try every means to deal with this small mustelid.
Initially, the plan was to use domestic cats to hunt and kill it, but as a weasel, it is not something that domestic cats can easily deal with.
Not only are they agile enough to navigate through all sorts of narrow spaces, but they also have scent glands in their tails, which they release when they are cornered.
This chemical gas is highly irritating and can cause eye tearing, stinging, dizziness, and nausea.
So even domestic cats, or even the hunting dogs that go into the mountains, can't handle these small animals.
The reason why weasels come to human settlements is not because they are invincible, but because there are more ferocious wild animals that prey on them in the wild.
Among these, the Asian leopard cat poses the greatest threat to it.
In the same wild environment, Asian leopard cats have a much stronger immune function to the gas from the tail of weasels than domestic animals. Before the weasel can even knock the leopard cat unconscious, it will lose its life.
So in our village, only that old man's leopard cat could keep the rats and weasels in check.
The wild animals he raises are all adults, raised from cubs without adult cats leading the hunt, and they have no murderous intent.
He told me, "Don't be fooled by the fact that these wild animals are usually unruly. Just give them water and let them go hungry for three days."
When it's too tired to run around, feed it some of its favorite food.
Never feed it too much at once; just feed it until it's about 40% full, enough to keep it alive. This way, the hunger will prevent it from developing any will to resist and will only make it more and more dependent on you.
Using this method, you can train even the wildest animals to be more obedient and docile than a house cat in less than a week.
I tried poking the harpy eagle with my hand, and it just let out a low, threatening growl, warning me not to touch it.
It's in a bad mood right now, so it probably can't do anything to me. It can only angrily turn its head away and ignore me.
Well, today is only the first day. It seems I should do as the old man said and let it starve for a day or two first.
I've heard that the hardest part of eagle training is "taming" the eagle. This requires the person and the eagle to stay together without sleeping, day or night, until one of them falls asleep.
If an eagle is kept awake until it falls asleep, it will completely submit to its master and be ready for the next stage of training.
But if I fall asleep, it will all be for nothing. The eagle will not recognize me as its master, and I will have to start all over again.
It seems I have a task planned for tomorrow. After much hesitation, I've decided to add this harpy eagle to my family.
Although training it is troublesome and time-consuming, I lack everything right now except for having too much time.
The next morning, Top and I took our gear and prepared to go hunting. But before we left, I had to make myself a new set of suitable clothes.
The current temperature is truly unbearable in this humid jungle. Fur coats are meant for keeping warm, so wearing one now is really inappropriate.
As for the material for making the clothes, I've already decided. When I hunted that Titanoboa, I kept its skin and haven't been willing to use it until now.
Python skin is a very good material because it is thin enough. Therefore, it is often used in the making of the skin of the erhu. An erhu made of a good piece of python skin can be quite valuable.
However, I have no intention of being stingy with the materials. I'm the local tyrant here, and these things are the last thing I lack.
I hadn't considered the cutting issue before, and I don't have any scissors on hand right now.
However, my skinning knife should be able to be used as a substitute for scissors, just like a leatherworker uses it to cut open snakeskin.
I took out the folded python skins. These dried python skins were somewhat stiff, but not as stiff as those of other wild animals.
Soaking the python skin should take only a short time.
I took some wood ash and brought it along with the python skin to a small puddle. This puddle was formed by rainwater during rain, and now it would be perfect to make use of it.
I put the wood ash into the puddle, stirred it well, and then threw the python skin in to soak.
Unlike other leathers, python skin cannot be soaked for too long. After about half an hour, I took the python skin out of the wood ash water.
The python skin had become soft after being soaked in alkaline water. I took the python skin to the stream and washed off the wood ash.
Back at my lodging, I cut off a cylindrical piece about one meter long from the thickest part of the python skin. This piece of fabric would be looser and cooler to wear.
Next, I used fine linen thread to sew the python skin along an arc on the left and right shoulders, and then removed the excess scraps, leaving only a hole for the neck to stick out.
Then I made a hole on each side of the cylinder so that the arms could extend out like a vest. I plan to leave the lower cylinder empty.
As for underwear, it's optional for me. I've never worn it in all this time, and in the current situation, it's actually cooler not to wear it.
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