Cousin IT

[Mike McCarthy]

Cousin It from the Adamas Family showed up at the Venice landfill looking for eagles. Rumor has it the character under the ghillie suit is....well ... ME. :eek::D:p

Snap of me in the newly tied ghillie suit. Thought I'd try a different approach this season to land some decent eagle shots. Was as close to them as I had ever been...when the "dump Gastapo" drove up to yell at me and scared them off and told me I couldn't be in the grass and had to stay on the roads permitted on the outskirts of the dump. Gheeezzzz. What a bunch of ninnies. :p:p:p:p:p

[Alfred Forns]

.....are those things itchy:D Man you talk about being dressed up :):):)

[Fabs Forns]

ROLF, what a sight!!!
I'm sure you managed to spook the Eagles... :)

[James Shadle]

Sweet Ghillie.
However, I prefer to wear them in the summer.
James

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

That sure is some desguise Mike !! I am sure the police had lots of questions ?????

[Maxis Gamez]

Awesome, that's something I would wear. The question is... did it work?

[Jim Caldwell]

I had to check this out - the thumbnail looked like some kind of bizarre two-legged Yak!!!!

[Mike McCarthy]

Thanks for taking a look & commenting folks. YOU ALL CAN STOP LAUGHING NOW!!!! *-) The ghillie suit turned out quite nice if I don't say so myself. Took a lot of time and effort...but I think it will turn out to be a good long term investment. I did get a lot closer to the eagles than ever before. If it wasn't for the "dump patrol" noticing the car and my partner...they would probably have never found me...and I'd have my eagle shots to post. Just have a shot of a BE on a stick for all the trouble. Just as the first (brave) BE landed on a telephone post just 20' away....it was scared off. Really pissed me off.

Despite this goofy suit looking very hot...it was surprisingly cool. It was about 80* and sunny here in Florida that day. I had the suit on for a good hour and didn't evenbreak a sweat. I was amazed. I'm not brave like James...and wearing this getup in the 110* heat index of the summer weather doesn't sound like anything I'll be doing very often. It's kind of heavy...but not too uncomfortable. doesn't itch...but does hide you in the right settings. You kind of stand out on the road...and NO... I didn't scare off anyone or any birds :-P

There were no "real" police involved ....just some silly little man who let a little authority go to his head. I will take a different approach next time I head out there. I'll be dropped off behind "enemy" lines with suit already on...and hit cover before they even know I'm there. Then I'll have a buddy drive away in the car and return later to fetch Cousin It after capturing gross quantities of pretty eagle pics :-)

Cheers.

[Vince Pack]

Ok, assuming you don't personally have specops training, where did you get the plans for tying one of these!?! I'd LOVE to make one!

[Mike McCarthy]

Ok, assuming you don't personally have specops training, where did you get the plans for tying one of these!?! I'd LOVE to make one!

Hi Vince. Specopwhat? lol. No such training. Not difficult to make one...just very very time consuming. I picked up the netting and jute string on Ebay. There are plans that come with many of the "ghillie kits". I winged it and made a more versatile (I hope) version of the "pancho" version. You can also find lots of info on making these suits on "google" or YouTube.

I made this one more like a netting or wrap. It's a jagged bottomed/edged 6' x 9' wrap/sheet. I DID NOT cut out arms or hood. I just left the net mainly intact....so Ican use it for a pancho as pictured, or as just a blind or covering depending on the situation and terrain. I took a camo boonie (floppy) hat and tied some fish netting onto the hat with the camo colored jute string...then strung up the netting with lots of colored jute string. My "suit" is a 2 parter...hat and cape/pancho/sheet. I also have a pair of camo pants with the "ghillie flaps" that I can wear underneath.

The suit is pretty heavy...about 6-7 lbs I believe. It is surprisingly cool considering it looks like a wookie. :D Lots of open holes in the netting to let air pass. Still not something I'd like to wear on the desert. Most of the kits you can choose the color of jute string to suit your needs. I put a lot of tan in the suit to keep it cooler in the Florida sun. Not to mention we have a lot of dead folage during the dry winter months...which is breeding season for most of the birds.

Good luck making one. It's boring tedius work...and took too many hours, but I'm hoping it pays high profits with some good shots of difficult birds.

Even just the hat/hood is a handy thing to have. You never know when a costume party will break out and you need an 80's Tina Turner costume. :-)

[Judd Patterson]

Sorry, Mike, I'm still laughing on this one. Awesome suit!! :) With this outfit I'm sure you'll have birds landing on your head in no time. Great pic.

[Mike McCarthy]

Sorry, Mike, I'm still laughing on this one. Awesome suit!! :) With this outfit I'm sure you'll have birds landing on your head in no time. Great pic.

Glad you got a chuckle Judd. I hope I'm the one laughing in the end with some full frame filling eagle attacking prey shots. :D

[Maxis Gamez]

Mike,

I work 2 minutes from the Celery Fields. When are we going to hang out?

[Vince Pack]

Mike, sorry. I have a very close friend who spent years in various military special operations - ie, the stuff we don't really want to know about. This looks like suits he's described to me that they used to use to basically scare the bejeebus out of new recruits at night :-)
One can only assume they were used in more nefarious pursuits, as well. I can only imagine this would be a wonderfully effective way to approach a duck filled impoundment causing negligible stress on its inhabitants. I'll look up the plans and make an attempt! Thanks.

Hi Vince. Specopwhat? lol. No such training. Not difficult to make one...just very very time consuming. I picked up the netting and jute string on Ebay. There are plans that come with many of the "ghillie kits". I winged it and made a more versatile (I hope) version of the "pancho" version. You can also find lots of info on making these suits on "google" or YouTube.

I made this one more like a netting or wrap. It's a jagged bottomed/edged 6' x 9' wrap/sheet. I DID NOT cut out arms or hood. I just left the net mainly intact....so Ican use it for a pancho as pictured, or as just a blind or covering depending on the situation and terrain. I took a camo boonie (floppy) hat and tied some fish netting onto the hat with the camo colored jute string...then strung up the netting with lots of colored jute string. My "suit" is a 2 parter...hat and cape/pancho/sheet. I also have a pair of camo pants with the "ghillie flaps" that I can wear underneath.

The suit is pretty heavy...about 6-7 lbs I believe. It is surprisingly cool considering it looks like a wookie. :D Lots of open holes in the netting to let air pass. Still not something I'd like to wear on the desert. Most of the kits you can choose the color of jute string to suit your needs. I put a lot of tan in the suit to keep it cooler in the Florida sun. Not to mention we have a lot of dead folage during the dry winter months...which is breeding season for most of the birds.

Good luck making one. It's boring tedius work...and took too many hours, but I'm hoping it pays high profits with some good shots of difficult birds.

Even just the hat/hood is a handy thing to have. You never know when a costume party will break out and you need an 80's Tina Turner costume. :-)