Talons on a red tail are bigger and sharper than (most) dog's or cat's teeth. The force behind them is stronger than you'd expect as well. These birds' feet are designed to not only pierce but to compress so they have surprising gripping power for their size. I've only been using my glove for a couple months, but it already has a hole in the seam on one of the fingers and a hole by the wrist where her talons have punched through the leather without her even trying. Part of that is that the glove wasn't made with thick enough leather, but part of it is that she's just that powerful even when she doesn't intend to be.
It used to be white.
Isa lets me do pretty much anything I want without putting up a fuss. She's very tolerant. I can touch her feet and pick them up with my bare hands without an issue and she's never even tried to foot me. I made a mistake and assumed that "hasn't" meant "wouldn't" and she very quickly corrected me on that! She had her fourth kill on the ground and I reached in to secure her jesses to the leash. I got overconfident and reached past the shield of my glove. That foot came out like lightning and she sunk those talons into my bare hand and turned into a raging ball of wild fury. When that happens, you can't tense or pull back because it'll just make them fight harder. You have to relax and just let them have it and they'll generally let go (there are other things you can do if they don't or if it's an emergency situation, but usually if you just relax they'll let go on their own). I had thought that there would be no way that I could actually follow that advice, though, once it happened! How do you relax when you've got those talons in you? As long as you stay calm, it's not as hard as you'd think. It is, however, humbling to get dragged along by the hand by a three pound bird! I finally looked at her and said, "Isa, quit being a drama queen and give me my hand back. I don't want your squirrel," and she cocked her head and gave me her baby bird look, let go, and hopped back to the squirrel. She had jerked my hand a couple of feet away from it, but because I went with her and didn't try to pull away, I got out of it with only small puncture wounds. They're deep, but don't look anywhere near as bad as I was expecting and weren't anywhere near as bad as they could be. All things considered, she was fairly gentle about it.
That isn't a freckle on the back of my hand.
It was a stark reminder, though, that no matter how "tame" she may seem, she isn't a pet. She's a wild animal and always will be. I accept that and that is what allows us to work together.
And all is forgiven.
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