What Is the Leather Strap Tied to the Ankle for Falconing?
Terminology The straps that attach to the ankle of the falcon are called jesses (the singular term is jess). The strap is there to keep the bird tethered to the glove. This isn’t to keep the bird from flying away and not returning, but to keep it from going after small game when the owner doesn’t want it to. In some ways, the jess is analogous to the breakaway leash on a hunting dog or a retriever, save that a falcon won’t see the human as the alpha of the pack and doesn’t respond to verbal commands or tone of voice nearly as readily as a dog. Types Long lead jesses–long tethers–are designed to keep a large bird of prey tethered to its perch in an aviary or mews. Aviaries and mews are the houses that birds are kept in, and “mews” is the particular term for an enclosure for a hunting bird. Shorter jesses are used to tether the falcon to the falconer. Traditional Jesses The traditional jess is a strip of thin leather that has periodic slits through it. The jess is looped around the ank
