BCR 202: Lauren McGough, Falconer

Dr. Lauren McGough is a licensed and practicing falconer since age 14. Lauren has been particularly enamored with golden eagles as hunting partners – a unique branch of falconry that has only a handful of practitioners in the United States. After spending two years as an exchange student in the United Kingdom and learning the strong European tradition of eagle falconry, she graduated from the University of Oklahoma with dual degrees in Zoology and International Studies. In 2009, she was a Fulbright Scholar to Mongolia, where she apprenticed herself to local eagle masters and trained eagles for hunting foxes off of horseback. She loved Kazakh eagle culture so much, that she earned a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of St Andrews in Scotland on the subject. 

Show Notes:

• Early days, what was the spark for an interest in falconry?
• You became a licensed and practicing falconer when you were 14.
• Expand on the notion, that falconers in the United States hunt with falcons and hawks, almost nobody hunted with eagles.
• Fulbright Scholar in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia a reality.
• Studying the traditional cultural practices and folkways of Kazakh eagle hunters. apprenticed to local eagle masters, trained eagles for hunting foxes off of horseback lived with a family of nomadic herders.
• Mastery of hunting with eagles with the Kazakh Berkutchi means you had to catch an eagle.
• Partnerships & Understanding Between Kazakh Pastoralists and Golden Eagles of the Altai Mountains
• Using techniques also to rehabilitate African Crowned Eagles in South Africa.
• Tell us about the eagle you are currently flying.

NOTE: Thank you to Dr. Lauren McGough, Falconer for the use of the photographs are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio™ Podcast & Article/Post for BCR 202: Lauren McGough, Falconer. Courtesy of Lauren McGough, Ph.D., Falconer. Photo by selected photographers. Photographs & Audio Courtesy of Dr. Lauren McGough, Falconer. All Rights Reserved. Audio and Photographs may not be used in any form without written permission from Dr. Lauren McGough and the photographers. Please respect the wishes of the copyright holders.

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