Lotsa Pictures Today, Too

Thank you all for your wonderful comments about blogging and bloggers. 

I knew you would all understand. 

Lots of pictures today! 

Last night, the little goats would not go in their barn.  Usually, as soon as it is full dusk, they run one by one inside and we don't see them again until morning.  

I happened to go on the deck at 7, and they were outside in the dark.  

I called over "Go to bed, you guys".  

At 8, I looked out, and they were still outside, on the rocks. 

I went out with the spotlight and went in the barn, and looked carefully around... nothing. 

At 8:30, they were still out.  

I went out with Lilly this time and the spotlight, and Lil found nothing. 

Finally, at 9, I looked out the window, and did not see them. 

I just brought the game camera in... and found this: 

Look at the time on the time/date stamp... pretty darn early in the night! 

Did the little goats sense this guy and others in the pasture?  

I don't know, but they have NEVER done this before. 

If I have to, I can lock them in the barn, but Kelly bullies one of the little girls, and I hate to lock her in there with him.  I will, though, when it gets really cold.  We still have a lamp in there, and can use it this winter, if we need to. 

So this morning after doing chores, I left the goats in their pen, and came in the house to eat breakfast.  I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish today, and we are supposed to plunge tonight to literally a hard frost.  

Sometime after ten, I looked at the clock and thought... My gosh, where did time go? 

I put my jacket on and went out. 

I found the goats loose in the pasture, and the gate to the yard OPEN. 

It you look closely, at 9:13, you can just see the goats' backs in their pen, past the pasture pen. 

At 9:23, they were OUT!  See the two little derrieres on the left? 

I have actually been expecting this.  Beau, our pony, also used to let himself out of the pen, so we have carabinier clips on the gates.  I'll start using them today.  We don't want the goats to open their pen and invite the coyotes in. 

Here I come on the Duck Pond Express, ready to clean the little barn out. 

I have to explain something.  I lost a lot of weight in the last five years, but my clothes... well, they are still my old clothes that I wear for chores.  I flap in the wind.  (laugh)

You'll see in a later picture. 

As I started the goat barn, I realized that a lot of the bedding in it was okay.  It was hay that had fallen and would not now be eaten, but was fine as bedding, and dry and not smelly.  I pulled out a trailer load near the door and on the side, and then put down 3/4 of a bale of fresh straw.  The device on the right is a sleeping bed Keith made for the babies, which is used... and the thing is back is our old llama feeder, from which Keith removed two of the rungs on the side, and someone is sleeping in there.  However, there is a depression back in the corner between the two that is like a little nest, so I suspect the two little girls may be sleeping there.  

When I got finished, I came out to find the two little girls butting heads in the driveway. I rarely see them play like this. 

I took the cleanings and drove over and put them on two of the beds in the garden.  

Forgot to take a picture! 

I unhitched the trailer, and cut grass for what I hope is the LAST time this year, and put the mower away. 

It's just a glorious month to be alive, don't you agree? 

Especially when your helpers look like this! 

And this. 

Here I am going across at 1:20 when I did water in the goat barn. You see I flap in the wind (and I'm laughing as I type this).  I am always trying to remember to change clothes before I go do errands, but I told Keith last night that I am going to have to break down and buy some jeans that FIT and some jackets that I can wear to work in that fit.  This one is six years old and gets in the way, it's so loose, but I don't mind getting it dirty. It also has a hood, very useful. 

What I need is a Carhartt for Christmas! 

Here's little Speedy, this afternoon, the Brassy back Old English gamebird rooster. 

I wonder if he misses Boots, who was in the same hatch as he... I got them both from Heartland Hatchery three years ago.  They were raised together, and always lived together, and hung out together.  Nugget the cochin was their special little hen, until she disappeared. 

Out of curiosity, I looked to see what was on the gamecam a year ago at this time....

It was the tiny little Teeny Two, who disappeared last week.  

Friend Jill, sportswoman and vet tech, took a look at the pictures of the dead Boots that I took on Sunday and believes, as I do, that it was probably an opportunistic owl.  It would explain why so few birds are even going outside, except for the ducks.  Only his head and breast meat were taken, and I thought as soon as I saw him that it had to be an owl.  I've heard two calling to each other lately. 

I'll put the camera out again tonight, out of curiosity. 

And that's it for today, except for those of you who know Benny, the French Bulldog, at www.twofrenchbulldogs.com  Andrea, his mom, has written today that Benny's fight against liver cancer has taken a bad turn, and asks for all of us to pray tonight for him.  I ask, too... I have followed Benny and Lilly's blog for several years, and it has brought delight into my life.  It hurts me when fellow bloggers are hurting. 

Prayers coming your way, Benny Boy... Fight Like a Frenchie!!!

The Rest of the Story

First off, I want to thank everyone for their comments last night.  I admit I was pretty torn up about it.  Annabelle had turned into the most spectacular hen, with gorgeous shining plumage.  She was also very gentle, and since she was attacked in the barn on her nest one night, rarely left the henyard, where she felt safe.  We noticed in the last two weeks that she was trying to fly up to the top of the little henhouse with Jackson every night... she would try, but she was so heavy she could not get going enough, and couldn't figure out how he did it... walk up the ramp precariously... go to the top of the rabbit hutch, then up to the top of the henhouse. 

 

So she kept roosting on the doghouse, where she and Clarabelle had slept for so long. 

This is her last picture alive, I took it Thursday night as I was locking up.  It was very humid out, and she was breathing through her mouth... she had tried to figure out how to get up (you can just see Jackson's feet on the end of the henhouse in the background) and finally gave up and came up on the doghouse. 

 

I was talking to her as I went out, and always gave her a scratch on her breast. 

 

About 3 or 4 months ago, Keith and I realized that, instead of putting dead birds out in the trash, which we had done for a while, we would just put them at the bottom of the pasture for the wildings.  Any bird who died or had to be put down was put away down there by the "door" where the fox came under the fence.  You might remember that we recorded a fox, a skunk and a possum all around Clara's body when it lay down there through two nights, then disappeared.  Clarabelle weighed much less than Annabelle.

 

We cannot figure out what got Anna.  She was chased around the yard, and up and down the south and west fencelines, with feathers being pulled out of her by the dozens.  She did NOT make it clear around the fence.  We guess Lilly saw or sensed it, because that night she ran up and down the fenceline over there by the pen, but did not bark. (Keith was on the porch).

 

The flimsy gate to the pasture which I bungeed shut at night was as tight as I could make it. The only reason we don't use the gate in the big henyard is the fence has settled and the gate does not open fully.  It will be repaired next year.  We did see that the makeshift gate was pushed OUT about six inches on the north side of it.

Keith has now closed it completly and permanently.  We also had used that "gate" for the birds because Beau, and then the llamas, would come into the yard if the real gate were open to eat all the chicken feed.  Keith also strengthened the wire along the eastern boundary (this side).

So, what got her?  We don't think anything as small as a raccoon or possum, because they could not have chased her as they did.  We don't think it was the fox, because she was so big, and because of the damage done to her body.  

 

Coyote?  They have been up very, very close this week.  Yes, we miss having the llamas here as guardians, and no, we can't handle another big dog... like an LGD... Lilly is far too possessive of her place, and I would not want to have any dog tragedies.   But a coyote going OVER an eight foot high fence?  Unlikely.  Like I said, the flimsy gate was pushed OUT.

So... what got her?

 

We think a cat.  If anyone wants to see the damage done to her... I have a very graphic picture that I can send to you if you will contact me at ksredhead1950@gmail.com, and I would value your opinion as to the wounds.  I took the picture after Keith carried her to the bottom of the pasture... and it shows plainly her wounds and the damage done by claws, we think, to her neck.

 

This morning, being the inquisitive person I am, I walked to the bottom of the pasture in order to see if anything had come in the night to disturb her.  Our Moultrie camera had malfunctioned, and was sent back this week, so I got another less-expensive camera and will set it out there tonight to see what is coming in and out.  But, I digress (as usual). 

 

This is what I found, where the approximately 20 pound Annabelle was laying last night (Keith thinks she weighed much more).

 

That's it.  Zip. Zilch.

 

There was one drag mark of about 18 inches just about a foot to the west of this paltry pile of feathers.

 

No partially eaten carcass, NOTHING.

 

Keith and I both looked.

 

It meant something PICKED THE BIRD UP AND CARRIED IT AWAY.  She was too big to get under the fence, and there would have been feathers there in the fox opening... there were not.

 

We did some reading on www.cougarnet.org.... could this be what did it?

 

Do you remember my writing about two strange sounds I heard in the night a few weeks ago that I ascribed to foxes?

 

There is a confirmed sighting of a cougar in Atchison County, only one county north of us, from last fall, confirmed by Kansas Fish and Wildlife.

 

Tonight the new camera is set up and functioning in the pasture, pointing downhill towards the treeline.

 

It's going to be interesting to see if anything is on it tomorrow, as it has been raining and storming off and on all day.

 

For now, Jackson is sleeping in the big henhouse.  He is not necessarily very happy about it, but goes in without any trouble when we come out to put them up.  When I go outside, he talks to me constantly, and responds when I chirp back to him.  If you have ever had a turkey, you know how personable they can be, and we want now to protect Jackson as best we can. 

 

If I have to, I'll have fencing put up for him, like the new henhouse.

 

But, in the meantime, we shall see.

 

 

 

 

 

A Little Rain

Indeed, that's what came our way last night... a little rain.  How grand it was to see lightening in the sky, and to hear rain on the windows!  We had a puddle in the driveway this morning, but it did not do much towards helping the poor earth, I'm afraid.  It WAS 20 degrees cooler while I did chores, however!

The view from the deck.  There was about a half inch of water in the yard cart you see by the seed barrels.

With apologies for all the chicken pictures this week... here are the standard chicks again.  These are turning into beautiful birds.

And they love to bathe communally!

Here is a picture that came off the game camera the other night... I finally got the pictures off it and it is set up to take pictures tonight.  It was fascinating to see dawn and dusk while sleeping in my own bed.

What IS the creature you see to the right?  We think someone's fluffy dog, but we can't identify it!

At 1:37 in the morning, we can't imagine whose dog (if a dog) it might be.  We know there are feral cats down below us at the Spehars, they feed them around their woodshop.  But it almost looks like a little dog, doesn't it?

I hung the cam on the pasture pen that you see in the picture... pointing toward the henyards.  The other night it was hung on the henyard gate.  It'll be interesting to see what's on it tomorrow.

Why I only got 7 eggs today.  I wasn't going to argue OR interrupt his dinner.

Because of the rain, I am taking a watering break tonight, and will hit it again tomorrow night when Keith has returned from Salina.  I'll go out to batten down the henyard hatches soon... and at least it will be comfortable in the henhouse tonight for the big flock.

This week I have been to two wakes, or visitations.  One last night and one this afternoon.  It reminded me, again, how fragile our lives are, and how short they can be, as one young man of 31 died tragically, and the other, at 57, of cancer, leaving a family to mourn him.  It makes me more than ever ready to retire, to have a few years here (at God's will) to love this little plot of land, to take care of my dear family, and to be a good companion to Keith.  I know it is not far off, and the thought of it is very sweet.  My heart went out to those poor people who have lost loved ones, especially a grieving mother, my friend, tonight.