Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Falconry man
A backyard falconry project in Garfield is now underway after the city granted permission under its fowl policy.
An exception was made to a city ordinance – which only allows for three fowl in certain zones – for new resident Landon Moore, who trains falcons for abatement, the practice of using the predator birds to reduce crop damage by pest birds.
Moore and his wife, Marcie Logsdon, appeared before the city council in August to ask permission.
“We didn’t want to start off stepping on toes,” Moore said.
The couple moved to the house earlier this month at 408 North Fourth Street, where Moore will be training four Aplomado falcons.
Essentially, the animals are for hunting.
“That’s what falconry is,” Moore said.
Abatement includes flying falcons over fields in pursuit of pest birds, essentially installing an active predator in the landscape.
“The first use of this was for airports,” Moore said. “The idea is to scare the birds away.”
The training gets intricate in that the falcons’ goal is not to catch the target birds.
“You have to get to know each individual bird very well,” Moore said. “The idea that I don’t want them to catch them usually doesn’t get across.”
In order to pull this off, the trainer adjusts factors such as the distance away from launching point of the falcons to the visible pest birds, and hunger level of the hunters during an operation.
“It’s a complicated and an adaptable technique,” said Moore.
A graduate of the University of Idaho, Moore met his wife in the WSU Raptor Club.
Once Moore and his falcons are ready, he hopes to be contracted by an abatement operator in areas of the northwest where crop damage by pest birds is a problem. The operators contract with farmers.
“You do follow the work,” Moore said. “It starts with cherries in May and then ends with grapes in northern California in August and September.”
Small and sugar-rich crops are most affected.
The crops grown in Whitman County aren’t as threatened as elsewhere.
“I don’t know of anyone doing this on the Palouse,” he said of abatement. “Wheat and garbanzo beans are in relatively less danger.”
Moore was born in Quito, Ecuador, the son of a falconer, and began practicing with the birds when he was 14.
He came to the United States when he was 7, settling with his mother and brothers in Weslaco, Texas, before going to University of Idaho for a degree in wildlife resources.
Since then, Moore has worked for Idaho Fish and Game as well as spent a winter in Wyoming on a 3.5 million-acre sheep and cattle ranch.
“You sleep close to the work, wherever that may be,” he said.
Moore’s birds are kept in an outfitted piece of his garage. He and his wife are building a weathering yard in the backyard, complete with chain-link fencing and netting.
Moore bought the falcons from a breeder in Central Washington who imports the birds from Peru.
In the United States, falcons are a protected species, along with other raptors such as hawks, owls and eagles.
Because of their status, activity with falcons is monitored closely.
“Falconry is the most regulated hunting activity in North America,” Moore said. “Some call it a sport, some call it an art.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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