The Top Fishing
Chapter 668 - 285: Starting Food Training

Chapter 668: Chapter 285: Starting Food Training

Having slept for less than five hours, Lin Yang got up early and set up the falcon stand.

Falcon training doesn’t wait for late risers, as every morning is when raptors are most alert. He stood with it in the house for over half an hour, and as daylight brightened outside, the falcon’s state of alert, with glaring eyes and drooping wings, gradually diminished.

Lin Yang didn’t rush to feed it but supplied it with plenty of fresh water instead.

After the little guy perched itself and passed a fully watery "water strip" droppings, Lin Yang then opened the cabin door and took the falcon outside with its stand.

Thanks to the efforts made early in the morning, the falcon’s behavior had improved a lot compared to the day before. It still perched on his arm, but although its eyes still observed its surroundings, after one failed attempt at escaping, it behaved without any further fuss.

Lin Yang also didn’t rush to start live broadcasting in the morning; instead, he carried the falcon with him as he nonchalantly went to check the traps.

This was also a key step in falcon training. Spending long periods with the falcon can quickly reduce its alertness and get it accustomed to the presence of humans. Once its weight was slightly reduced, food could be used to enhance the relationship, gradually establishing a positive conditioned reflex.

Luck wasn’t on his side that day; having carried the falcon around the hunting ground for a good while, he only managed to catch one wild rabbit.

Lin Yang didn’t mind, simply picked it up and walked back. Once back at the camp, he supplied it with plenty of water again.

For the next two days, he almost constantly repeated this action—only offering water, not food.

The Spear Falcon grew increasingly intimate with humans, and its craving for food grew more intense. After it made a move to snatch a cooked rabbit leg from Lin Yang during a meal, he felt it was almost the right time.

So, he cut off a skinned raw rabbit head and began the second step of falcon training.

Time to feed!

In front of the camera, when Lin Yang held up a red, glossy rabbit head, the audience (water friends) were all puzzled.

"What are you using that for, host? The rabbit’s head looks so ugly without its skin."

"We like eating that around here, braised rabbit head is my favorite."

Lin Yang chuckled, "Haven’t you guys always asked why I don’t feed the falcon? Today, its fat and condition have been reduced almost enough, so it’s time for its official feeding.

Using the rabbit head has its reasons. It has meat, but not too much; it can extend the feeding time, creating conditions for us to foster rapport."

As he said this, he carefully pinched the rabbit head and removed the falcon’s hood.

The Spear Falcon, which had not eaten and only had water for two days, was already starving. Seeing the red flesh of the rabbit head suddenly appear in its vision, it immediately struggled.

Lin Yang blew a whistle at the right moment, then cautiously brought the rabbit head within reach of the falcon’s talons.

With a puff, the Spear Falcon’s right talon shot out like lightning, its four dagger-like claws firmly gripping the rabbit head beneath its feet.

"Wow, so fast."

"Is this the Eagle Claw Skill? That’s so exaggerated."

"Are your hands okay, host? If it grabbed your hand, just thinking about it..."

Lin Yang showed his hand, which was unharmed, "It is indeed dangerous. The falcon’s beak and talons are very perilous lethal weapons; I’m on guard."

While speaking, he continued to whistle as the falcon, which had seized the rabbit head, ducked its head and began to gnaw fiercely.

Its beak, armed with a hook and serration, was very powerful, and the cracking sound could be heard from time to time.

TThere wasn’t much meat on the rabbit head to begin with, mostly fine bones, and the falcon’s beak could easily break and crush these thin bony structures, tearing off the flesh and swallowing it.

In about half an hour, the large rabbit head was gnawed beyond recognition, leaving only stark white bones.

Only when not a single shred of meat was left did the Spear Falcon reluctantly release its grip, allowing the bone to fall to the ground.

Lin Yang glanced over and noticed the little guy’s crop at the neck was only slightly bulging, barely looking a third full.

"True to being a raptor, even gnawing on a rabbit head seems so formidable, cleaner than how I do it."

"Now that it’s eaten meat, does that mean it can be kept alive? What’s next?"

"Bare bones are too scary."

Lin Yang replied, "With this, the initial feeding has been accomplished. Little White has established a basic affinity with humans and can eat in front of people on the gauntlet. For its first feeding, it shouldn’t eat too much. We’ll wait until the afternoon and feed it some meat prepared in advance to solidify the training results."

By the afternoon, Lin Yang had whittled two pine branches into simple chopstick shapes and prepared some fresh small pieces of rabbit meat.

The meat sufficient for a third full had already been digested in half a day. Using the chopsticks to hold a slice of meat and blowing a whistle, Little White quickly responded.

Blew the whistle, provided meat, blew the whistle, provided meat.

After just a few repetitions, the little guy had already associated the two completely unrelated actions, establishing a preliminary conditioned response to whistle feeding.

Actually, falcon training and dog training share many similar principles. The core is using food to build stable conditioned reflexes after establishing basic affinity, gradually progressing towards the desired effect of effective interaction.

Lin Yang, noticing that the conditioned reflex of whistle feeding was initially formed, felt a great sense of relief; the first hurdle had been crossed.

Little White was not only brave but also quite clever.

In total, he had prepared about two ounces of rabbit meat in advance, soaking it in water to remove the blood. He fed it half on the spot, and the remaining half, feeding a couple of slices every once in a while to reinforce the effect, until it was all eaten.