Let's Take a Break From Christmas...

...and take a walk.

About 3 days ago Bella and I headed down over the ridge to the creek bottoms to wander around a bit.  

We hiked across the hay field over to check on Fluffy; who is still hanging out on the fence post.  I find it incredible that the jaw is still just hanging on the wire.  It has been there closing in on 9 years now.
 

The moss, lichen and rodents are really taking their toll on her.  That dead limb washed up there beside the post is a great perch for squirrels or rats to reach the jaw to gnaw on it. It's hard to tell in this photo, but the white edge is where the bone has been gnawed down.

Here is a shot that shows a comparison of how much has been gnawed away:


The closest part isn't as easily accessible, so it hasn't been gnawed down.


After we left Fluffy we wandered back up along the creek bed in the trees.  I love this group of sycamores.  They must have grown up from a stump many years ago.


The two on the right are actually fused together.

Pretty cool.  Here they are below from a different angle.  Not quite as picturesque; but the skyline was pretty.

We left the trees and wandered on.  But one thing I noticed in our walk; Bella stuck pretty close to me.  Now, usually she does stay fairly well in range, unless there is squirrel activity; then she loses her head and goes way off chasing them from tree to tree. She'll see one, chase it til it holes up, then she will see another and take off after it.  She always comes back, but it's annoying when I am ready to leave.

Anyway.  She stayed pretty close this time, not wandering far off.  And a way up the trail we came across this:

 


 


 

I didn't get a super close up picture so it's hard to see the fur very well, but obviously it was a kill of some sort.  I thought maybe a possum or something, and someone else on Facebook said it looked like a deer.  But there wasn't any blood or bones or anything of the like of a large carcass scattered around.  Bella gave it a good smelling over, and I am sure she knew exactly what happened there and who it was, but she's not telling.  

Then we came back up the ridge to home.  And my butt and legs have been sore for the past 3 days from all that hiking up and down that hill.  I know, I know; the best remedy for that is to hike it several times a week.  Bella would love that.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Oyster

It isn't even halfway through the month yet and I have run out of lists or anything amusing to tell you about the dairy. So here is a poem I picked up on a homesteading forum. It does deal with ag issues, just of a different sort... Enjoy! The Oyster Baxter Black The sign upon the café wall said OYSTERS: fifty cents. "How quaint," the blue-eyed sweetheart said with some bewildermence, "I didn't know they served such fare out here upon the plain." "Oh, sure," her cowboy date replied, "We're really quite urbane." "I would guess they're Chesapeake or Blue Point, don't you think?" "No ma'am, they're mostly Hereford cross . . . and usually they're pink But I've been cold, so cold myself, what you say could be true And if a man looked close enough, their points could sure be blue!" She said, "I gather them myself out on the bay alone. I pluck them from the murky depths and smash them with a...
Read more

Like Cats A'Fightin'

Image
That's a local saying when it's snowing hard. Snowing like cats a'fightin'. You can look out and see the fur flying. Ellen had never been outside while it was actually snowing. She was enchanted. She had to have a bucket of it to carry around. It was in the mid-20s but we took a bit of a walk before coming back in for a nap. The snow is still too dry to be able to make a snowman, it is really powdery. So far we have somewhere between 3 and 4 inches, I would suspect.
Read more

The Blind Calf Story

Image
This happened last month. I thought it was an interesting case. Wed Aug 15th 2007 8:30 AM: Went out and brought new heifer calf and cow in from field. Not too sure how old calf was; umbilical cord sort of dried up, but calf still seemed damp. Left her with cow all morning ‘til maybe early afternoon, then separated them. Beautiful, normal calf. 6 PM Fed calf bottle. She slugged back the whole thing. Thurs Aug 16th5:15 AM (approx) Calf comatose. Or as near as I could tell. She was on her side, non-responsive, drooling, head on ground, eyes closed or just barely opened. I tried to feed her bottle but she only swallowed convulsively once or twice, then milk just drained from her mouth. 5:30 AM. Husband went out and looked at her. Drug her out of pen and out of the way to be taken to boneyard later after chores were all done. She was barely breathing and as I said, totally non-responsive.This was a real grief as the cow she came from is a great milker and to get a heifer from her was a joy....
Read more