Wildlife

I sneaked around the evergreens on the forest fringe to see if I could find the tree where Buddy flushed the turkey hen. Sure enough, I found the tree and the eggs, but it appears that the hen has not been back to the next since being scared off by Buddy. of 3, 4, and 2 instead of 3 by 3 by 3. We can recheck the nest in a couple of days to see if they have been moved by the hen at all. We suspect that the hen will not come back, unfortunately.
In the forest near the house I spotted a small (3 foot?) Eastern Black Snake all coiled up in a tight ball.I took a couple of pictures, but did not want to get too close to scare the snake away.

Gambol flushed a fawn this morning, chased it for a while while it squealed, and finally left it 9 (after a short tone).

Red clover deer candy

While inspecting his Barony Paul discovered that the deer are popping off the red clover flowers but leaving the leaves and the white clover flowers.  We have a field of leaves and stems.

Deer in the meadow

The deer have been scraping through the snow cover to find green shoots of clover.  Where they found the clover, the deers browsed it down to the raw dirt.  If they uncovered just plain grass, they left that alone.  When we first saw the scrapes, shortly after almost 12 inches of snow accumulation from two back-to-back storms between Christmas and New Year's, we thought that the piled up snow was where the deer had bedded down during the snowfall.  Later we could see that the deer had pawed up particles of mud as they scraped the snow away.  In almost every case, the deer had scraped down and found some clover under the snow--they must have a pretty good sense of smell.

The dogs love running in the snow, even soft mashed potato snow. No critter is safe from these hunters.

Buddy

Gambol

Buddy finds a buck

We were exploring the lowest corner of the property when Buddy, always as far afield as we'll allow, barked.  He never barks so we scrambled to find him.  He had a 4-6 point buck at a standoff until we showed up.  Then the buck took off up the hill. Neither dog gave chase.

Fawn experience #4

On our after dinner walk to the meadow Gambol began barking like crazy: (Mom, MOM, MMMOOOOMMMM, I found something.  Look, look, I found it for you Mom.). It was not his squirrel bark nor his chipmunk or rabbit bark. I knew it wasn't a turtle because he just brings them to us with no barking. I backtracked to see what he had.

2 orange and whites, nose to nose

It appeared to be in good condition but had a 1.5" scab behind its left ear. 

Buddy brought us a turtle...the same female that Gambol found last night, but at least Buddy didn't eat her.

PS Tuesday, 19th, 0600
The boys found the fawn, dead, under the same spruce. It had an injury to its rear leg; perhaps that's why it didn't runaway on Sunday. I dragged her to the lower bone pile. One less deer to eat Paul's plantings.

Buddy and Bambi

Buddy found a fawn on our early walk this morning at the lower Shannon Curl trailhead.  Buddy apparently thought the little guy was a funny looking Brittany as he checked all the normal dog-information places.  Their colors were similar, orange and white spots. The fawn was shoulder high to Buddy and wasn't impressed with the attention. Mama was not around.
I don't know if it was Mama visiting our west yard yesterday afternoon, but a deer wandered just off the fieldstone path until the dogs barked her away.
Four phoebes fledged this morning.  We missed the first flight but we've had front row seats to the best video  in town out the back door for the last 3 weeks as mom and dad perched on the berry cages to hawk flying bugs for their babies. Yesterday they barely fit in the nest.  It was time to go...

 

Reading: 37 Wind in the Ash Tree****Jeanine McMullen  Life on a Welsh farm; humorous tales of country living with goats.
36Capitol Punishment ***Ryne Pearson  Special Agents Art Jefferson and 'Frankie' Aguirre pursue a white supremacist--John Barrish--who has in his arsenal a chemical weapon so lethal that the smallest amounts can cause mass death. Barrish has struck before, when four black children were killed in cold blood on their way to church. Another Just-in-Time good guys win.
35FAST ***Shane M. Brown  Hidden under the Arizona desert is the grandest ‘Science-City’ ever created. All hell breaks loose when terrorists unleash a devastating attack using stolen genetic research. Cpt Alexander Coleman is just minutes away, and he’s not coming alone. He commands a full platoon of Special Forces Marines. His estranged wife, Vanessa, and eight year old son, David, might still be alive in the besieged underground complex. The chance they both survived is slim, but that’s more than enough.  Yet another J-i-T good guys win; they are Marines, after all.

First snow

Started about 7AM and is wet and heavy, sticking to trees and grass but not driveway yet. 32 deg at 8:30.
Scrambled out of bed to a low and deep chest growl from Buddy: a small herd of deer crossing the drive. 45 minutes later he still won't leave the window in case they didn't really leave.

The chickens are hiding from the snow under the truck.

11:30 heavier snow 32 deg
Half the chickens made it back to the coop before the ground was covered.  We may have to carry the rest.

branches are beginning to sag but the birdbath is still visible

On the last walk through the meadow we shook the fruit trees, locusts and some oaks on the path to relieve them of their snow load.  The cherries, especially, still have plenty of leaves.

1:45 still snowing

Trees are bending over with the heavy wet snow. Bird bath is completely covered. Chickens still trapped under the truck.

6:00PM  Snow is just about over.  Temperatures hovering around 32 degrees.  A total of 4 inches fell but the warm air and ground are slowly reducing the snow cover.  With 42 degrees expected tomorrow, most of this will melt away.  It will be slushy.  Fog has developed in the valley.

Penn State beat Illinois in the last seconds, sort of like the game we went to in Champaign with Heiner and Fass's when Shannon was a freshman and Penn State won in the last 6 seconds.  JoePa gets 409 wins.

Gambol and the Doe

Gambol met an upset doe in the Mucky Woods south of our property.  He was trespassing and she let him know it.  (I hope the lesson sticks.)  He apparently started chasing her but she turned and repaid the favor.  I was about 25 feet way as they ran in a circle.  Gambol's tighter turning radius was all that was between him and a bite on the rear.  His tail was tucked and he wasn't barking.  They parted ways as I yelled loudly for Gambol to leave it and come to me; she stood silently for 5-6 seconds and watched us watch her.

Reading: Eating Animals **** Jonathan Safran Foeron (dvd) How animals are raised for food; not too preachy until the end.  

Looks like we have lost a barred rock hen.  Only 11 birds came out of the coop this morning.
On my morning hike I came almost nose to nose with a handsome buck.  We were between the 2 owl boxes; Gambol was off running on his own.  We stared at each other for 15 seconds or so before he blinked and took off.  I'd say his spread was 12-15" and he had 6 points.

Evidence of Deer

Color is past prime for maples but the oaks are coming on

Locust torn to shreds

scrape at the camping fire pit

Buddy points on a scraped aspen

We had a very strong fox scent in the lower meadow this morning.

Buck on the verge

Where was my camera:  this morning after opening the garage door I headed out to the chicken coop.  Right in the middle of the lower Jennifer Trail, not 50 feet from me was a buck.  He blended in with the brown leaves and the sun wasn't over Bald Eagle so I didn't get a count of his points, but I think he might have had 2 plus the prong.  He was a big animal but leggy, not husky in the chest.  He watched me walk to the coop and didn't flag his tail until I passed him again on my way back to the house. 
We've seen a scratched area in the dirt near the camping spot and other evidence of rubs and smells.  Now we know we have at least one deer at the Barony.

Monster deer at Paradise Ranch

From the Baron and Gambol:

This morning at 0800 when I took Gambol out for a walk we had a real experience--there was about 3-4 inches of new powdery snow and under that was a layer of ice. Every step caused a crunching sound as the ice broke in a oval around my boots. We were making a racket walking along one of the forest trails that we usually take. It runs to our property line where you can see the old 10-12 foot high fence that surrounds the hunting lodge property behind us. The fence was installed to keep the imported trophy deer and elk within the hunting property's 777 acre boundaries. As we approached the fence I noticed that there was a horizontal shape, the size of a large log, on the other side of the fence that shouldn't have been there. It was the profile of a huge deer (I want to say it was a mule deer because of its size) and it had what I estimate was an 8 point rack with a spread of 2.5 to 3 ft--this was a monster deer. It was watching us approach and I could see it move its head and antlers as it tried to get a better look at us through the branches of the trees that are on our side of the fence. At this point Gambol spotted the deer and barked several times. This did not seem to bother the big buck and he slowly walked away from us, perpendicular to the fence up a 20 ft wide logging trail. I turned Gambol around and he got back to sniffing the snow for squirrels and rabbit tracks and I looked back at the buck--it had turned back towards us and was watching us leave.
Well when I returned from the dentist at 1300 I took Gambol out again and sure enough, the buck is still in the same area. I turned us around before we got too close so we wouldn't spook it--although it sure wasn't spooked when we saw it this morning. I planned to take the camera by myself (sorry Gambol) and see if I can capture it with pixels later this afternoon. What a monster of a deer!
As you might imagine, when I returned to the area at 1500 with the camera around my neck there was no sign of the big buck. I think I will try to look for him again over the next few days, but I will have a camera with me just in case.

After later research: It turns out that Paradise Ranch is being renovated.

Unhappy pooch

Oh my, the wails and cries and noise out of that dog's mouth when I shoved him in his crate and locked the door behind so I could go to work! I didn't stick around to hear how long they lasted but when I came home at 1:00 with gifts he was quiet. I brought him a squishy bed and a rawhide bone to make up for the morning shove. I think I'm back in his graces. Now, if he'd use the squishy bed instead of hopping up on me, he could be in my good nighttime graces.
He remembered where I've been taking him to pee and poo! What a smart dog.
This morning I got up a little early so he could have a run. I did the chickens while he took off. (No egg yet.) He is amazingly uninterested in them. Does he think they are hawks and therefore off limits? This was a repeat of yesterday although this morning I just let him out the door and didn't bother with the leash. He looked behind at me and then took off, happily bounding through the snow and over the hill. A few minutes later, he came back looking for a hug.
I worked from home this afternoon (wow! could I get used to that!) 8 deer spent a while driving the poor dog crazy. I didn't think it a good idea to chase the deer outside so he did inside; he barked and howled at them as he raced from window to window. When they were gone, I let him out to run the scent; this time he stuck around the house but ran in circles.

The deer know

At dusk the Baron commented that there were 5 minutes left for hunting today. I looked out to see 5 deer crossing the trail. He hadn't seen any all day today and there were none in the meadow this early morning. They know!
He did visit with Freddy for a few minutes, just long enough for Freddy to sample the BOSS* offered today. We wonder how Freddy and the Julian bear get along. Both have been enjoying our hospitality for a month or so.
We opened the coop to let the sun in but the girls had to be coaxed out. They sat in the door for 2 hours, sunbathing but not venturing down their nice ramp. We hardly have any snow left but I guess we don't have any bugs or much cover either so it's not worth the risk being seen by a hawk or owl when they don't have a rooster (or at least a cockerel) to protect them. I took the opportunity to fluff the straw and put down more DE. They have eaten half the cabbage I hung for them this morning.

*Black oil sunflower seeds

First day of deer season

from the Baron:

Well after sitting for 2 hours and seeing only a grey squirrel about 10-12 feet from me, I decided to do some still hunting and walked the paths including up to the top of the property. Nada. Not a doe, fawn, or buck. Oh well, it was a pretty morning with the droplets on the branches looking like jewels and then the fog tried to roll in but never really dropped the visibility much.
I heard some close-in shots, maybe Ron got a shot off.
Maybe tomorrow....

Bugs and Bird Spa

The war against lady bugs has begun for the season. Today was warm after the last 2 frosty nights and the house was covered, inside and out, with them. The Baron sucked up 100 in the living room and when I turned on the lamp by my computer several plummet down to the heat. A small wad is tucked into the corner of the wall and beam. We'll try not to let that grow to the fist-size it was our first Christmas here. The war is on.

As the colors change across our valley, deer are bulking up for hunting season. At least a dozen were in the meadow when I went down this morning. I could easily have hit one near Waddle as she stood in the foggy dark, on the damp and leaf-covered road, at a curve in the road; not a good safety combination. Five or 6 were chowing down on the azaleas in front of the house at (our) dinner tonight.

Now that we have opened up the vegetable garden by pulling out the peppers and tomatoes, the turkeys have discovered the Barony Bird Spa. They cooed and chortled as they splashed compost and dirt all around their bath. Some indentations are 4" deep where they dug in. See Red watching, perhaps protecting his girls from the big boys and girls or perhaps wondering what would happen if he got naked with them.


Look carefully for the snood, the red worm-like protrusion, above this turkey's beak. (above)

What a beautiful beard on this big boy. I've named him Thanksgiving Dinner.

Venison 101 at Penn State

The Baron took this world famous class, a whole Saturday, with lessons from hoof to plate, and can now not only butcher our herd but can also make sausage and lay out an entire dinner. He says there's a lot of gut pile in one deer.
He has his license and has been to Cabella's. Let's get it on!

Something big

As we were taking our usual evening constitutional looking for gobbler scratches and other signs of spring like Eastern tent caterpillars we came upon a whole deer carcass, totally devoid of flesh, but still hanging together, just off Pierce's Passage. We saw a white fuzz about 10 yards off the trail. That was hair scattered around a 5 foot radius. All the major bones were there and had been gnawed. We've been on this trail within the last 2 weeks. Wouldn't you have thought that we would have heard a commotion like the killing of a deer? Doesn't bode well for my future chicken farm.

Sideways snow

We woke to a Penn State sky (blue and white) and 27 degrees. That didn't last long. About 11:00 the temperature started dropping and the winds came up. Snow blew parallel to the ground. That didn't seem to faze the snow birds; the regulars were out in flocks stoking up on milo and sunflower seeds.
We went for a walk at 16 degrees, wind gusts to 40 mph, and continued snow bursts but with the new Carharts, cold and wind isn't a problem. No drifting over the drive. The ice from last night's rain helps.
The oaks look like white birches when the sun comes out. Snow is plastered on the west side all the way to the top.
7 deer visited the Baron's corn piles at 4:45. They are fluffy and look well nourished. 3 were intertwined, legs and heads, eating out of the same pile. That's a far cry from the snapishness we've seen previously when one will headbutt or kick at another who gets too close.

Little red squirrel

Spring is near. I can feel it. I noticed some tree buds yesterday and today I’m watching a little red (I think) squirrel chow down on the bird suet. I saw 2 chipmunks racing through the snow, the first sighting of the season of them. The gold finches are blotchy yellow instead of their winter drab, and Dr. Cardinals (that's what Mom Kitty used to call them)seem brighter. And now I wake up to the sun coming over the mountains instead of waiting, warm under the covers, to watch it. There's lots of bird bickering, tail chasing and swooping after each other, too. Two deer visited the hill garden this afternoon. One looked much lighter in color than the dusky gray of winter. They both seemed well fed and healthy. Can daffodils be far behind?