One thing I did was attend a Sulberon, a Kyrgyz hunting festival, with only a vague idea of what to expect. Something about eagles hunting a wolf? But could that really be true? Perhaps it was just a fox?
This Sulberon went down outside the village of Bokenbayevo, in a red valley. The weather was good: blue skies and crisp breezes. Vodka may have been slipped slyly to keep warm.
When I arrived I quickly learn what an eagle sounds like. Or rather, lots of eagles. Here is what they sound like, cawing at one another:
We then followed the crowd down to the main stage, where a lady dressed in silky white robes introduced the event and the competitors filed out in a single line: men with eagles, followed by men with falcons, followed by archers (mostly younger kids), and finally, men with dogs. Most of the dogs looked Afghan-houndish, but there were a few scarier looking ones. There was one lady falconer from America, and one young lady archer.
The men seem sweet with their birds, supporting their weight by cupping their chests gently and giving them a nudge on the chin to calm them while they wait their turn. They wear little leather hats to cover their eyes.
For the eagles, a Dead Thing (or hunk of something) was tied to a horse and drug behind it. Then the eagle was launched by its trainer and had to hunt the Dead Thing down. The sooner it “caught” it, the more points, I think. The falcons had much the same task except their bait was alive, usually a bunny or a pidgeon. The unfortunate pidgeon was rather weakened by the end of a few falcon runs.
The interesting thing to me was that these birds were obviously really well trained but they often lost interest in their prey before getting to it. They’d lunge after the prey for a bit and then seem to get bored, fly off toward the crowd or back to their master. So it really was a feat when they caught the chunk/bunny/pidgeon.
Archery was pretty standard. A bit boring actually on this day.
But the wolf was not boring, and he was definitely a wolf, not a fox. First he was allowed to run free while eagles were sent to grab at his back. Then he was tied to a post and teams of dogs went in pairs and try to nip him. I watched this rather open mouthed and squeamish. The wolf was fine, but very scared and angry.
Thankfully, most dogs exhibited about the propensity for wolf-fighting that my parents’ airedale terriers would. None got close to nipping the wolf.
By the way, our guide (from the inimitable tuk.kg ) cajoled an eagle master into answering our questions. The eagle’s name is Algrer. The eagles have to be trained from when they are babies. Trainers get the eagles by taking them from their nest while mama eagle is away. Like a small child, I ask politely to pat Algrer. I expect him to feel as tough as he is, but despite the fact Algrer just sunk his claws into a chained wolf, he’s soft as feathers.
Though all the birds are well trained, one falcon just flew off, went over the mountain and never came back.
