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Destroyed Backpack

The thing is, my homemade backpack wasn’t all that. The peregrine ruined it with minimal effort and left it lying next to a regurgitated pellet on the floor, discarded just as easily and with similar irreverance. Damn I wish I had inherited the arts and crafts gene from my mom.

That’s okay. After one failed attempted for this season and my first effort giving the installationa go with someone simply holding the falcon on the glove, I think I got the installation thing down. I was ready to give the Marshall plectrum another try.

Waiting for the epoxy to dry

I may not be good at arts and crafts, but I’m still female and fruity cocktails with the girls on the occasional Saturday night is good for the soul. Even better if it involves fashionably accessorizing our animals friends.

I was able to fit the backpack with its Teflon ribbon without any bates or discomfort. The peregrine fidgeted frequently, but that’s to be expected. And I imagine his greater ease with the process has much to do with his confidence in his ability to destroy any contraption I conspire to make him wear.

Epoxied Backpack

 He’ll be wrong this time. We did a great job. I had a little less booze than on Thanksgiving though, because I used epoxy this time… an epoxied peregrine is a bit of a quandary.

The plug for Ducks Unlimited business cards placed underneath the plectrum are protecting his feathers from where I epoxied the ribbon connection so that it was smooth and difficult to pull apart again. (As per the Marshall instructions, trust me, I’m no genius at these things.)

Backpack with the Powermax transmitter inserted

The transmitter fits neatly into the plectrum and keeps the equipment at the bird’s center of gravity and the antennae high and transmitting the best signal possible. More importantly, for a bird that is already permanently missing a deck feather, it’s a great alternative to a tailmount. (And after looking at the dents in his bell, I’m not a big fan of depending on a leg mount for this bird.)