Gary Render Shares Love of Falconry with Ursuline Sisters September 21, 2016

Gary Render, a master falconer and the husband of Ursuline Associate Stephanie Render, brought his red-tailed hawk Angelica to Maple Mount on Sept. 21 to share his love of falconry with the Ursuline Sisters.

Render said after seeing the movie “My Side of the Mountain,” which came out in 1969, he decided he had to learn how to train wild birds of prey, even though he was only a teenager. He’s been falconing for 46 years and has three red-tailed hawks. Pocahontas is a female like Angelica, and Ernest is the male who he found starving on his property one day and nursed back to health.

Render showed a video about falconry, then answered questions from the sisters in the Rainbow Room of Saint Joseph Villa. Religious communities in Europe were heavily involved in falconry in centuries past, and Saint Albert the Great was a noted falconer, Render said.

“When guns were invented, it became easier to shoot something than train a bird to catch it,” Render said.

Here are some pictures from his visit:

Every so often, Angelica would get a little anxious and flap her wings, as shown here. Sister Alfreda Malone looks on as Gary Render keeps hold of the bird. Gary starts the hunting season with his birds in early October, as they begin tracking rabbits and squirrels. This was the first time Angelica had been around people this year, so she was a little nervous at times.
Associate Stephanie Render, in the pink top, listens to her husband along with Sister Sheila Anne Smith, seated, and Sister Diane Marie Payne. When Gary Render said he lets Angelica eat any prey she catches, Stephany responded, “it’s like getting an ice cream cone after being on a diet.”
Gary Render answers a question from Sister Eva Boone, center with her hand up, as he holds Angelica, his red-tailed hawk. Angelica is 8 years old.
A leather strap wrapped around Angelica’s feet is held between Gary Render’s gloved fingers so she cannot fly off. Birds with sharp talons that kill their prey with their feet are classified as raptors.

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