A Dragon in the Sky

A dragon visited us last night.  Fortunately for our animals, he just dipped down and tasted a distant tree on his way to wherever he was going.

Bye Bye, Birdie: A Tragic Turkey Tale

Back toward the end of September, I did a post about our turkeys ignoring the call of the wild turkeys.

They may not have been very adventurous back then, but earlier this month they got really adventurous--and came to call in the back yard.

So we clipped their wings, Herb put up chicken wire to block the handy cross rail they were landing on, and we put them back in the pasture where they belonged.  Or so we thought . . .

Then last week our contractor, who was putting a railing on the back porch, called me while I was driving home and said, "I'm being attacked by a turkey!"  It turned out he was kidding--about the "attack" part.  But there really was a turkey in the back yard hoping for a handout from his lunch!  I got home, caught the turkey and put him back where he belonged.  And that was that, for a while.

Then just this Monday, the 14th, Herb came in and told me that one of the turkeys was gone.  We concluded that it had gotten over the fence again, this time to join its wild fellows.  We decided we needed to slaughter the other turkey quickly, although it seemed to have settled in with just the sheep for company.  We set today as the sad day.  I knew we would really miss our turkey's cheerful "prrrrit! prrrrit!" but with half our Thanksgiving dinner running wild, we intended to make sure of the half that was left.

Then yesterday morning Herb came into the house with some tragic news.  Turkey Lurkey, as I had christened the "one that didn't get away," had drowned itself in the stock tank.  We simply could not figure out why--with the kiddie pool/duck pond right there full of water--our poor, silly bird had tried to drink out of the tank.  Even though we had intended to dispatch him within 24 hours, it made me sick to think of him dying that way.

Then yesterday afternoon as I was moving cattle, something caught my eye in the Home Pasture.  A closer look led me to the obvious conclusion that "the one that got away" hadn't gotten away at all.  In fact, it had met a fate worse than mere death--it had been killed by a predator, most likely a coyote.  The widespread clumps of feathers with blood here and there indicated that the poor turkey had fought and struggled before succumbing; the absence of bones indicated that it had been carried away.  Suddenly the stock tank drowning made more sense:  maybe the other turkey jumped up on the water tank to escape a return of the predator.

And where was Misty when all this happened?  In the barnyard with the ducks, guarding the chicken coop.  She can't be in two places at the same time, poor girl--and I must confess to being rather thankful that she didn't have to fight off whatever took the turkey.  Her presence might have discouraged the predator from attacking--or she might have been injured fighting it off.

We've learned several things from this tragic tale.  We like turkeys, and we'd like to try again.  But next time we'll follow advice we just got from our friends the Newswangers, who raise a whole flock of turkeys along with their Dexters:  We'll use electrified orange netting.  Predators can't climb it to get in (like they can with a fence), and turkeys can't climb it to get out.

This was a costly lesson for us since I now have to order an expensive organic turkey.  It also cost our poor turkeys because they died lingeringly and in fear, as opposed to quickly and mercifully.  Life on a farm isn't always stunning sunsets and cute calves.  Sometimes it's ugly and cruel, and we have to learn to take the bad with the good.

Ignoring the Call of the Wild

I was having coffee on the back porch the other morning when I heard turkey noises coming from out where our turkeys shouldn't be, so I walked over to the fence to look.

This is what I saw.  (I had the camera handy as I often do while eating breakfast outside.)

I grabbed a telephoto lens to get a closer look.  This flock of wild turkeys was strolling down through Kara's Pasture next to the Home Pasture where our two turkeys are.  They sort of flowed through the fence into the Lower Pasture, not in a hurry at all, calling something friendly-sounding that I think meant, "Oh playmates, come out and play with us."

They kept calling as they went across the pasture, down into the creek, and disappeared into the woods.

Our turkeys were busy grazing, not even looking or paying attention to their wild cousins.  So much for the "call of the wild!"

Life Through My Lens

These are random photos that I've taken recently.  No one photo merited an entire post, but taken together they show snippets of my life through my lens.  And they make me smile!  I hope they make you smile, too!

"I believe in unicorns!"

Jet-Lea, martial arts expert.

"I never repeat gossip, so listen carefully."

"Did, too!"  "Did not!"  "Did, too!"  "Did not!"

"Run, run as fast as you can; you can't catch me, I'm the Rocket Man!"

Détente.

"Here's lookin' at you, kid."  Jet does his Humphrey Bogart impersonation.

Creepy-crawlies on my back porch.  This is good.

Creepy-crawlies inside my house.  This is not good.

Jet:  "Will you be my friend?"
Macree:  "Munch, munch."

Jet:  "Will you be my friend?"
Olivia:  'Howooooooooo!"

Puppy-Cat disguised as a ferret.

An Unwelcome Guest

The previous post recounted a lovely day with special guests.  This post is about a much less welcome guest.  We've been hearing him in the vicinity, but he came really too close for comfort today:

I first saw him sitting on the grass between the tree and the house, but when I went onto the porch to get a closer look, he flew up in the tree.

I wasn't able to catch them with my camera, but two very angry little birds (wrens, maybe?) were fluttering around telling him off.

I really need to get after the local telephone company to remove the large unneeded wire that runs across our pasture because we do not want this guy to have a place to sit and watch our chickens.  A few years ago a hawk grabbed one of our meat chickens in the exact spot I found this one today.  I chased it away, and the chicken survived, but that didn't endear hawks to me!  Take your eerie "scree! scree!" somewhere else, buddy, and leave our birds in peace!  

Talking Turkey

Our keets and turkey poults are getting in some practice flights in the brooder house.  Only the keets showed off today (mainly because they're more timid and want to stay away from me), but the turkeys fly all over when they want to.

The keets like to sit on top of the brooder box--warm toes, I guess.

When I get too close, one takes off . . .

Airborne!

Misty waited outside the brooder house for me to finish feeding.  She's a very patient dog and goes through life in a very zen way, strolling majestically,  gently biting Zephyr on the scruff of the neck to stop her when she's barking, never hurrying when she's called.
 

Misty followed me down to the mailbox to get the morning paper and waited with me while I admired the view.

Something caught her attention, and she began strolling toward the fence between the orchard and the pasture.

Suddenly the zen-like attitude disappeared as Misty broke into a run and a pair of wild turkeys burst into flight.

Misty did her best . . .

. . . but they escaped unscathed.  Now if she'll only do like that with the hawk I've seen hanging around.  She knows who belongs here and who doesn't!

The wild turkeys duly vanquished and the newspaper in hand, Misty and I headed back up to the house, all nice and zen again.

Sharing the Pasture

We had some uninvited, but welcome, guests in Kara's Pasture this morning, much closer than they usually come (in the Back Pasture).

 

Look how that bold little gal in front strides out with her foreleg!

When they got to the fence, they stopped and looked at it for a minute.  Then one (I'm betting it was Miss Strider) leaped the fence and the others followed.

I'm perfectly happy to share our pasture with these lovely guests--as long as they let me get a glimpse of them from time to time!

Brandy, Our LGH (Livestock Guardian Horse!)

After wading through about 175 emails this morning, I was just heading back to bed with toast and tea when I saw Brandy (in the Home Pasture right behind the house) craning her neck toward the back of the property, standing stock still staring at something.  (Ooh, love that alliteration!)

Before I could grab my camera and snap any pictures Brandy had turned to look at me although Angel and Julie were still busy eating.  But I had seen what caught Brandy's attention!

Two graceful shapes were flitting across the Back Pasture, heading toward the pond and the woods.

Thanks to their cautious advance, I had time to grab my telephoto lens and switch.  I slid the back door open enough to lean against the frame and steady my lens--and started shooting.  Not the kind of shooting that's making the deer extra cautious, though!

By flits and freezes the deer advanced, a doe and her grown fawn, I think.

The one in the shadow stopped to grab a bite while the one in the sun leaped ahead to reach relative invisibility.

They disappeared somewhere in the area of the pond, probably hidden behind the tall, feathery weeds, down where the water has dropped low due to lack of rain.

Once I had lost the deer, I looked around to see what everyone else was doing:  Siobhan and Sara chewed their cud by the water tank, Julie and Angel ate steadily while Brandy still watched toward the Back Pasture.  Hey, that's what she gets for being the Alpha!  I bet she could have told me exactly where the deer were.

It occurred to me to wonder, like Sherlock Holmes, at the incident of what the dog did (in the day, this time)--nothing!  Where was everyone?  Even the Triplets, who usually yap non-stop much of the day, were quiet.  So I went to see.

Misty was sacked out in the sun out front.  In her defense, maybe she was tired after being (audibly) on guard all night.

Or then again, maybe she was tired out after her busy-ness the past few days . . .

. . .turning the front yard into her treasure chest again.

Hero was drowsing right outside the front door, too sleepy to look up.

Zephyr had been asleep inside on the landing carpet until an acorn hit the porch roof with a loud clunk! Then she sprang to her feet and raced to the back door barking furiously, continuing to give little warning woofs even after I told her everything was ok.  I think she wanted me to know she's on the job in the house even if outside is somebody else's job.

I waited awhile to see if the deer would come back across the pasture, but finally I gave up and took my tea to bed.  There was nothing I needed to do--Brandy was on guard!