I’ve always loved flashlights. Yes FLASHLIGHTS with an A!!! Anyway, apparently not many people share my rather niche interest.

So I ask you, fellow Lemmites, what are your hobbies and weird obsessions that you can ramble on about for hours?

Please feel free to ramble on about your passions here. Maybe you’ll find some likeminded individuals!

  • IMongoose@lemmy.worldEnglish
    821·
    11 months ago

    Falconry. It’s really more of a lifestyle than a hobby now though. I’ve been doing it for a little over 10 years now and am currently flying a cast (group of birds flown together) of 3 Harris’s Hawks.

    Quick faqs:

    • I use the glove and everything
    • It’s a hunting sport, we catch rabbits 3-5 times a week
    • We all go out together, I flush they catch
    • No, they do not bring what they catch back to me, I go to them
    • They don’t eat the whole rabbit, I trade them a small reward
    • They are completely free flighted when doing this
    • I’ve trained them just enough to get them back and work with me, they know how to do bird things naturally
    • They don’t really go for your eyes, and getting bit hurts 50x less than getting footed
    • They are not rescues and are perfectly healthy
    • Mine are captive bred, but some are wild trapped
    • Wild trapping has 0 effect on native populations, 50-90% of raptors don’t make it through their first year
    • Even though mine are captive bred they are still wild animals, they are just tamed.
    • This is the most regulated sport in the US

    Birbs:

      • IMongoose@lemmy.worldEnglish
        151·
        11 months ago

        Technically the US government owns the birds, but two of these are mine and one is my wife’s who is also a licensed falconer. We purchased them from licensed breeders. They are from, left to right, Nevada, Washington, Louisiana. They were shipped to us on an airplane and we picked them up at the airport.

        Most of the rabbit goes back into feeding them over the summer when they are molting their feathers. I do make 2-3 rabbit dishes a year though. Last year I made sausage which was pretty good.

          • IMongoose@lemmy.worldEnglish
            6·
            11 months ago

            Idk if own is the correct term but the US regulates most native birds through the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Falconry has a special exclusion from that act. But it’s along the same lines as just because a deer is in your yard it doesn’t mean you own that deer. You need permission from the government to take it.

    • Hikermick@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      11 months ago

      Looked into this for a hobby. Was amazed at how well regulated it is and such a big commitment.