My Bad

Longtime readers of this blog will remember that we always left a fortex feeder in the pasture for the wild things.  

Skunk, fox, possums, raccoons, and sometimes, coyotes. 

We had animals of our own at the time, we just liked to watch the wildings, and yes, this goes against everything that animal rehabbers will tell you to do. 

We always saw it as a supplement for winter feed. 

I think it was wrong, now. 

But I also think it kept some of the animals alive. 

There is a particularly beautiful fox in the pasture in 2014. 

That was a very hard winter, but that fox is in good flesh. 

Recently, I have been watching a feral cat in the pasture.  It is large, and I am guessing it is a male. 

The only male here is Bullseye, and everyone besides Bully is all spayed and Bully is neutered. 

This cat has been coming to a feeder in the pasture where I leave garbage and 

cheap cat food. 

You can barely see him in this picture eating in front of the camera in the pasture. 

He is in the middle.  He is very elusive, but I will tell you something... 

I believe he it was HE who ran out of my garage yesterday when I went to collect the feed bowl at chore time.  I put away all feed bowls in the evening. 

In this first picture, Molly has seen the coyotes coming, and quickly leaves the pasture. 

Bullseye freezes... I think this is from hubris, not fright. 

 

These were taken by the pasture cam. 

This is the view from the porch. 

Note where foolish Bullseye is at this point. 

I went down there thirty seconds later, shooed the coyote off, 

and dumped what was left in the pan.  I am putting only cat food in it now, 

and I can tell you that a coyote came last night, ate for a minute, and then left most of the bowl. 

Any chicken carcasses (rotisserie) or other garbage is being put over the north fence line into the tree line of the now-empty pasture to my north.  

Saturday morning, I woke to find one of my three pasture gates standing open... I am sure I had not hooked it tightly and I am guessing a possum or raccoon came under it and pushed it open, but it worried me.  Coyotes can easily jump the fence, though... but an open gate would be so much easier. 

I lock all chickens up tightly at night, and the cats can get away. 

It's my dogs I worry about. 

Zoey never goes out without a leash on, even at 4 PM. 

Jester and Buddy are watched like hawks. 

If you make that big, you will see a coyote standing beyond the pasture gate, with Buddy oblivious to him.  I will say that it would never have happened with Lilly Ann, who made it her to business to never allow anything like that to happen here.  Zoey is also one to run at a predator like that. 

So...

no more feeding in the pasture, to protect those here. 

I will continue to put some cat food out for the feral for a few weeks, until I can be sure he has found the food here in the outbuildings and can get enough to eat there. 

I took this last night. 

He was just waiting for me to finish chores so he could come up and get some cat food. 

He didn't much like it! 

One last thing... no foxes come now.  Our area is too built up, I think.  I have seen skunks (after not seeing them for a long time), possums, raccoons, and the same three coyotes.  Crows come during the day.  I am putting a camera back out in the yard tonight to make sure nothing is jumping the fence! 

Have a peaceful Thanksgiving, everyone! 

Some More Cool Pictures!

I took them, but I still think they are cool. 

I also have a bunch of videos taken at the Ag. 

This is my dining room, today.  Do you see it?  One of the 

volunteer tomato plants from last summer is blooming!  

In fact, I am going to support it this afternoon. 

I can't believe it! 

The geranium is blooming, too. 

49 days or so from spring, I think. 

Wow! 

Hope this is the sweet one from last summer, I can't remember. 

Two days ago, I had to run something to Leavenworth, and took the dogs. 

We stopped here on the way back, it was 60 degrees. 

This trail is hidden behind St. Francis de Sales church in Lansing, 

Kansas.... it happened to be the feast day of St. Francis when we walked. 

It was good to visit the creek again. 

Though a little hot on the pavement. 

We are standing on the bridge here. 

Even though we have not had a lot of snow this summer, the creek is flowing well. 

Turn the sound up so you can hear the water falling. 

Elk cows, on our way home from the park the next day. 

She and the bunny are not afraid of the camera any more. 

I often see her going back and forth. 

And the other little creatures. 

Still seeing lots of geese on all the farm ponds. 

Look at the buds swelling on the Bartlett pear! 

I.Love.Crows. 

Okay, I love just about any bird. 

The night of the 31st.  The next video actually showed two more does coming from the west side of the pond. 

There is our friend again. 

I have no clue why, but my camera has a rose cast to the pictures during the day, I have never had that

happen with a Moultrie before. 

I wrote them, they told me to ship it to them. 

Haven't done it yet.  Probably will. 

I have started spring house cleaning early, and I am in "getting rid of " and "donating" mode... I'm thinking lots of things are going to start moving out of here soon! 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! 

Interesting Pictures

First, I need to make an announcement about my 

right wrist/hand. 

You all know I broke the wrist on December 9, in a fall. 

Not on ice... clumsy. 

My brothers called me "Grace" while I was growing up. 

Anyway.... tomorrow I go for my first therapy 

assessment.  I have had the cast off a week, but a brace on, 

except for a bit four times a day.  I sleep in it, it feels better

with support.  I was stunned to know that the hand was very weak, and 

the wrist even weaker, and I still have some swelling. 

So, therapy next week and the following two, it appears.  

All of this is by way of explanation for the lack of 

posts and the lack of pictures.  I can't hold the big camera up 

for any length of time.  That will come back with time. 

Here are some pictures from the game camera.  I have always enjoyed using a game 

camera, whether in our pasture, or now, at the Ag. 

These were taken two nights ago, and last night. 

I had just had a conversation with the education director 

yesterday, and told him I never saw deer, even when I came early or late. 

Cracks me up, because I found this on the camera when I got 

home that day.  What I do is leave the camera there, and change 

out cards.  Then I reset the camera, moving it around from day to day. 

I had seen their tracks, but had never actually seen one. 

The beautiful fox came soon on her tail. 

Then a raccoon. 

A possum, running fast somewhere. 

A skunk. 

And then the fox again. 

This was early this morning. 

He checked out the woodchuck's holes very carefully, 

and I could tell this morning that he had dug at those holes, there 

was fresh earth outside.  Maybe it's a vixen, looking for a den. 

PLEASE DON'T PICK THERE. 

This bunny is EVERYWHERE.  I see it almost every night. 

It's no longer afraid of the camera eye going off. 

We have had clouds for days, I am thoroughly tired of them. 

This juvenile eagle was at Wyandotte County Lake 

yesterday.  I could not get a good picture of him, but he 

was dive-bombing the ducks bobbing on the choppy water. 

This little flock of coots was rocking and rolling. 

You know I love my geese. 

The Return of Winter

As Keith calls it, it "snained" today... a snow/rain mixture. 

Yes, the official last day of winter, plus, they are telling us another storm is behind it and we can expect an inch or two on Thursday into Friday.  I am not complaining (much) because we can use every last bit of moisture... but it is getting tiresome. 

I don't want 86 degree days, either, right now... just normal spring days so I can get the garden in and work on tidying up the yard. 

Here's Abby with me this afternoon, watching HLN. 

She likes to sleep with her head hanging off the couch. 

I am still dithering about the turkeys, so am going to stop by my friend's tomorrow and check to see how they are doing.  I don't want them back, I just want to make sure they settled in. 

Crazy, I know. 

We didn't get much done outside today because of the snow and rain, so not much to report on the gardening front, but I have got all three of the tomatoes up now, and had to remove the plastic cover, because two of the seedlings were actually pressing on it.  

I'll take a picture of them tomorrow. 

Abu Rawan from Baker Creek was the first up, followed by Gypsy, and SuperSauce.  I am keeping close records of each variety this year. 

None of my perennial seeds has stuck it's head up yet, but they are 7 to 21 days to germination on that side. We are going to bring in my old crafting table and set it up in the office, so I can start four more trays of seedlings. 

Oops.  Abs got stuck on the coop side of the old henhouse... the feed room side is where Butch lives, and his friends come back and forth through the hole in the door that you see here. 

That's it for gardening news today at Calamity Acres. 

Here's a couple of pictures from last night... and Ian and Cheyenne, if you read this, feeding is about to cease until next winter, and we aren't letting the chickens out in the pasture.  However, I think two little goat wethers are about to come into our lives, so we need to deter the predators at this point. 

They get the eggs we can't give away anymore. 

We have seen that there is a lot of living and let living amongst the wildings. 

Let the Gardening Begin!

I had my helpers with me this morning. 

About that compost heap... the green you see on it is grass I had just hoed out of the perennial bed. Abby was chasing them for me.  

That heap is cleanings from the big henhouse.  About six years ago, I made a big heap of cleanings from the henhouse over in another area of the yard.  A year later, Keith took the most beautiful black loam from that area to put in our garden beds.  I'm trying to replicate it here, and not touch this pile for another year.  

I checked it the other day, and it is cooking nicely inside. 

We were being watched.  Tomorrow morning, the shadecloth goes back up over the henyard.  I was going to try to do it myself yesterday, but there is NO WAY.  Keith will delay going in an hour and help me in the morning, and we'll get it tied down, as we hope the snow is finished for the year, at least heavy snow. 

I have it pulled over to the side you see, so that the birds have quite a bit of yard to ramble in, as well as under the henhouse. 

Here is what I was attacking.. the grass you see in the bed.  I also pruned all the dead growth out, and now have a long line of stuff to rake up this afternoon.  

Looking behind me.  We are going to go pick up a load of dirt, manure, and peat moss this weekend and bring it back and drop it so I can start filling in the beds.  The weeds were NOT that hard to hoe up because we lasagned this beds last year. 

That's one of the buddleias I trimmed down.  Boy, I hope I haven't killed it. 

We stopped to make a little side trip down to the pasture. 

Where this guy was sitting amongst the buds and singing to us. 

I was overjoyed to see this... because I thought I had killed this peony last year. 

Yee ha! 

I love peonies. 

This bed that I cleaned this morning suffered huge losses amongst it's perennials, and I think that this year, I am going to start lots of annual seeds and we'll plant them in the bed instead.  I do want to order some irises, though, and maybe some daylillies.  (here we go again). 

Abby helped by carrying some wood out of the bed to chew on. 

Around our fence line there were birdhouses placed before we came here ... in fact, I think they were put up many years ago, and most have fallen now.  I hope to replace them all... but, as Keith says... this is on the C List.  I can always dream, and I'm going to start accumulating some this year.  

That's it early today from Calamity Acres! 

Hmmmm... I loaded this as an afterthought, never thinking it would really LOAD.  Why does it come out with green on it?  It doesn't in the original????