- [Lauren] Every time I take my eagle out
I get butterflies in my stomach.
It's this dichotomy between a heavy bird on your fist
that just instantly becomes lighter than air.
You get to cultivate a really unique relationship.
There are very few people flying eagles in the United States
and of that only a handful of women.
But my very good friend Jamaica
is beginning her journey into eagle falconry.
- [Jamaica] The ability to be mentored by a woman,
I thought that that was something unique,
that I shouldn't pass up that opportunity.
- [Lauren] Falconry is the ancient art and tradition
of using a trained bird of prey
to hunt its natural quarry in the wild.
I spent a lot of time in Mongolia
apprenticing under Kazakh eagle hunters.
When I started I felt pretty out of place.
Because I didn't have that hunting experience,
and I was a girl,
it made me really fortify my passion and persevere.
Because it was hard in the beginning.
- [Jamaica] I've admired her from the very beginning.
Her journey into falconry was different than most.
The gumption she had as a teenager to go to Mongolia
and learn about eagle falconry,
that's a rare thing.
Here boy,
atta boy.
A little over a year ago I got a call from a friend
who had found an eagle standing in the road
about a mile from my house.
It was close to death.
So I took it to the vet that afternoon
and participated in rescuing that eagle.
Falconry is pretty much the only way at this point
that we know for sure allows that eagle
a reasonable chance at survival.
By helping them through that period
where they're learning how to catch things.
I made it my life's mission to get an eagle permit
and acquire an eagle though an established rehab program
that works with falconers.
There's a lot of knowledge involved in falconry.
There's also a lot of ways to do it wrong.
It's really not necessarily instinctive.
I would not want to get into eagle falconry
without a good mentor to contact.
Knowing that Lauren was available to be a mentor to me
was a huge part of being willing to make that decision.
- [Lauren] To get inside the mind of an eagle
the first time is,
it can be a difficult experience.
You just have to find your bearings
and understand where an eagle's coming from
in order to create a good, fit, confident hunting eagle.
So essentially that's what I'm helping Jamaica do.
When you find someone that has that passion
and is willing to share it with you,
it's really a special thing.
- [Jamaica] The bond that you develop
with someone who gives of you their time
the way that Lauren is giving to me,
it will be something I'll treasure forever.
And hopefully, someday, I'll pass that on to somebody else.