Robert Bellefontaine, a falconer from Port Felix, has been interested in birds of prey since he was sixteen years old. Now over 20 years later he is introducing his Harris hawk to two of his apprentices.
Falconers use a language and vocabulary all their own:
- Bate (verb) The action of the bird attempting to fly from a perch or the fist while attached by a leash.
- Cope (verb) The action of the falconer to re-shape the bird’s beak into its optimal form; to trim the growth and shape it up.
- Imp (verb) The action of the falconer to cut a broken or damaged feather and to replace it with an undamaged feather.
Produced by: Lise de Villiers