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The Mongolian steppe is a vast semiarid grass-covered plain, but when I usually visited western Mongolia in winter it often looked like this. It is incredible that so many grazing animals are reared and survive the winter in terrain such as this.
Hawking also takes on a different slant compared to the rich and plentiful lands of the west. The traditional quarry of the Kazakh’s and their eagles is the red fox. This is a very wily character and well use to being the target of the many wild eagles as well as the trained ones.
Finding our quarry in this vast terrain is a skill that can be likened to the North American Indian trackers and is universal to many indigenous people who earn their living from the land.
A dusting of snow helps a great deal in following tracks from the saddle and many a flight is played out as the fox dodges the eagle in the rocks and ravines. |
