First in the dark, then more and more light, first in the house then in the garden in the open air, we would spend hours together in the daytime, he on my fist with the tiring (a piece of bone with a little meat on it to keep him busy, a bit like a baby’s dummy) and we would walk in the woods. First in the woods, then in the company of a few friends, then a dozen people, then in the confusion he gradually got used to everything. At this point, after 4 to 5 days of taming, I began the training, which consisted of convincing the falcon. that it should not only eat from you but also fly to you, first from small distances of 10 to 20 cm, then more and more until it was released. Within a few days he immediately jumped on the glove as he saw the meat . In the total uncertainty of what was going to happen I decided to give him confidence and released him after only 8 days of training (crazy… it usually takes 2/3 weeks).

I gave him confidence and he gave me confidence. During that summer I was involved in falconry shows in castles in Trentino and in the high mountains. My show started at 10 o’clock and it was 9 o’clock. I looked at my friend Stefano, another falconer who was doing the show with me, and we both thought he was ready to fly. So I said: I’ll fly him before the show. And he told me: yes, he’s ready, don’t worry. As I took off at 2000 metres he took a turn above my head and left. Obviously I had to leave Stefano alone to fetch him. Luckily he still had no breath or muscles so he didn’t go that far but as you know in the mountains the slopes are very steep so it took me two hours to get him back. The grass, still wet from the morning dew, was almost up to my chest, so I came back at the end of the show soaking wet: things happen I exclaimed and all the people