Lounging Around

Hay Fields

Vermin!

For a while we had suspected that a raccoon had been eating the cats' food. Dirty dish, dirty water were the evidence in the morning, and the creature was no where to be found. One our last trip to Tractor Supply, the bought a live trap for $19.99 (oh yes, it was on sale), and we left the store thinking providence was on our side. That night we set the trap, baited it with cat food, and closed the doors to the barn, thinking we'd be doing well if the cats didn't get caught in it.

The next morning I went outside to feed the cats, making sure to stop by the woodpile to pick up a long stick in case our pest somehow managed to mistake. I slid open the barn door, peered inside, and was greeted by a hideous sight-a panting, hissing, fat, scruffy possum. EWWWW-it reminded me of the Rodents of Unusual Size from The Princess Bride.

And unfortunately, we didn't have a Westley on hand to slay the beast...

I couldn't move any closer to the mangy creature-instead I ran inside, screamed for my husband, and we both made the trip out to the barn. We took a towel to cover the vermin, and then set about deciding what to do with it.

Now, in hindsight the best thing would have been to dispatch of the "thing", but the closest implement we own to a weapon is a chef's knife (and that was not going to be used to slay the beast). So, we decided to set the possum free-with the false hope that it would happily return to the woods to forage for food. At dusk, we loaded up the pest in the back of the jeep, and drove to the southwest corner of the property, where we released it. He waddled off towards the woods, ambling his way through the woven wire fence.

Freedom!

We were called "NUTS" for releasing it by one neighbor, who told us we should call him to shoot it if it turned up again (and I'm sure we were called not so nice things to our faces), and our former landlord offered to shoot the next one, too. Well, two nights later the cat food was gone and the dish filled with dirty paw prints, so the trap came back out of storage. Apparently possums aren't very smart because the next morning, the same one was caught, back in the trap.

Usually I believe in second chances, but he was eating a hole in the cat food budget, and he was not going to be welcomed to the buffet any longer. Not to mention, a critter that ugly has to be carrying some nasty germs, since possums like to eat road kill.

Needless to say, we called the neighbor, and the vermin met its maker that evening. And so far we haven't had any non-felines enjoying the cat food.

Add it to the list...

Add "snapping turtle" to the list of local wildlife...

Introducing....

Introducing Ms. Sassafras, the stray cat who WOULD NOT LEAVE despite my best attempts to run her off, which included throwing water at her and chasing her down with yard implements (don't call PETA-I never hit her, I just waved the pitchfork at her). A few weeks ago she was in the barn, and as usual showed no fear when I approached. Since she probably hides and then eats after I leave, I told her she could hang around as long as she promised not to have any kittens and to help with the mousing. I'm guessing she has more that one home because she's pretty plump (and she's been that big for a while so hopefully she's won't have a litter). After our little talk, she trotted right by me to the food and started eating. She's very friendly and loves to be petted. 


She was given amnesty for her trespassing a few days before Taylor died, and even though we miss him a lot we're very glad to have "Sassy" hanging around. She and Twerp had to get used to each other for a few days, but now they're hanging out and sharing peaceful meals at the food bowl. 

Turkeys

Last week I was running out of the house to go to work, when I saw something walking by the living room window-- it was a turkey! It was walking about a foot away from the house. I ran to the mudroom to grab my camera-and to my surprise another turkey was walking by! Having never been so close to a wild turkey before- those suckers are BIG! I was really thankful I saw them before I left the house, because I would have been caught between the two and may that would have made for feathery encounter.

The second bird walked right in front of the front door before joining his buddy in the yard. It was almost like they were conducting surveillance as they circled the house, eyed the yard and the open door to the barn. Apparently there were more interesting things in the pasture, because the two birds took off over the arena towards the back pastures. 

A Sad Day

Two weeks ago our barn cat Taylor died-I found him by the side of the house. Our guess is that he had been poisoned as there were no signs of injury. After bawling my eyes out digging his grave beside the stand of pine trees, I spent the rest of the afternoon contemplating the meaning of life, without coming to any hard conclusions.

I know barn cats don't live as long as their indoor counterparts, but it was still tough losing the little guy-we hadn't been with us a year yet. Our routines felt out of sync for a few days, but we have started to adjust to not having our grey tiger striped kitty being around.