No more "Take Out"

I'm older now.  My last post was on my birthday.  It wasn't planned, it just happened that way.  And, yes, I began playing with farming when I was thirteen; now I am fifty-three.  Some things you don't forget.

Things feel calmer and a bit more mellow.  I may be finding routine - well, no, not really....

We had visitors two weekends ago, lots, and had a great time.  The teen boys were put to work and many items got moved.  I think they were glad to help.  I know their father was glad they helped.  We walked a bit, especially the Middle Field that had just been mowed and is the way to the cabin.  We heard coyotes.  Millie the Maremma dog was busy.  We ate lots of great food.  We visited a few scenic spots in the area.  We stayed up late and slept in late.  We had a lovely time.

Our weekend guests were very generous with various food contributions, from scrumptious first corn on the cob; yummy jams from the farmer's market; and ice cream and cookies.  And then there were the beautiful trees for the property.  I have decided where to put the Japanese Maple and may put the Catsura Tree in the front yard near the Willow.  I have yet to decide where to plant the Japanese Lilac Tree.

This week was the final installation inspection of the new furnace.  This is the beginning of the basement flood recovery.  We still have an ugly sea container adorning the front yard where our basement belongings are currently stored.  Some more work is planned for August and then further work for September.  We have the storage unit until October.  It really is messing up the view from the front veranda.

Part of why if feels calmer is that there have been no coyote attacks.  On the one hand we must be due.  But then, I am warming up to the notion that what we have in place is working.  Millie the Livestock Guardian Dog is working.  She may not be with the sheep as we would like, having moved under the front veranda.  But she works all night long and despite getting zapped by the electric fence we have seen her at night in these fenced areas barking away at the sounds of intruders.

Other interventions include the daily radio broadcasts.  A CBC talk show plays all day, directed to the back of the farm.  We do not hear it at the house at all.  We plan on putting up outdoor speakers.  Sometimes the location is changed up so that the human voices sound different as they vary throughout the day.

And there is Bob and Betsy.  Basically these are scarecrows.  When Lucky was attacked I returned from the Vet's to find that my sister had dressed sticks of wood with my smelly barn clothes.  This lasted a few weeks.  Then hubby suggested I use Bob after the coyote was so close to the house.  Bob's a muscular guy and we don't have many clothes that fit his large torso but we are managing.  This past weekend our visitors helped me to dress Cousin's recent contribution.  We put a skirt and blouse on the mannequin, stapling the skirt as she is a bit larger than I.  A headless mannequin, we wrapped her neck with a t-shirt that flows down her back, put sunglasses on that which we tied down with hot pink survey tape and, Voila!  A face is born.  Eyes are an important deterrent to predators so the glasses were important.

When we made up Betsy we moved Bob down to the Front Field and placed Betsy in the House Field.  At least, the visiting teen boys completed the placements.  More recently I moved Bob further out to the other side of the creek and I used a branch to form a waving arm.  After all, my neighbour says he keeps waving.

I moved Betsy too.  The sheep and llamas have not attempted lately to go out to the House Field, although they have been out there since the coyote attack.  They began to go out there the other day but then they saw Betsy and they turned around and went back.  So, I went out with them.  I called them - You can hear me now, calling "Baa, baa, baa, baa".  They followed.  I went out and gave Betsy a hug.  I turned her around so she faced the road.  Disappointed there was not grain (that is, "candy") the sheep turned around and headed back up the trail.  Poor lonely Betsy.

I spend a lot of time with the sheep.  Although I am no longer spending two to four hours per day grazing the sheep out back in the Middle Field, I do spend a good portion of each morning with them.  I no longer put the sheep out at seven.  I enjoy my breakfast and coffee before heading out.  I take the rifle with me.  I let the sheep out and follow them out into the field.  I walk the perimeter several times, putting my fresh scent everywhere.  One morning I took my coffee and sat in a lawn chair atop the barn hill and observed from there.  My rifle was next to my coffee cup.  Since carrying the rifle I don't knit much.  There's only so much multi-tasking one can do with a rifle and knitting needles.

I have hung up a tin pie plate on the fence.  These make noise and they are reflective, features coyotes do not like.  I have more which I will soon hang along the fence line.  Mowing along the fences has had a large impact too.  The hiding spots are very limited.


The other night I was working away in the Small Barn, tidying up, cleaning and organising.  The sheep were nearby, just on the other side of the fence in the Front Field.  Suddenly, they herded up close together in a quick manner.  They looked down into the valley behind the hill.  Something was there.  I picked up my rifle.  I went through the gate, which is not tightly secured but left so as to easily navigate with a rifle in hand.  The sheep were cautiously looking downhill.  I got closer.  I too peered downhill.  And then I saw it.  The large brown ears twitched as it saw me.  And then it scampered away.  It was a large brown cotton tailed rabbit.  We all let out our breath.  Even the sheep are at times on edge.

So, we are attentive, for sure.  But rather than worry incessantly, I am trying to see that our interventions are working.  In addition the lambs are larger and cannot be carried off quickly.  This new restaurant is no longer a drive-thru with takeout.  You have to dine-in.  That takes more time and planning and with the increased human presence the coyotes have chosen not to take the risk.  The 'take-out' opportunity no longer exists and we continue to minimise other opportunities for these clever predators.

Hubby has acquired most of what he needs to set up a coyote ambush.  And now that the field is clear of brush  the coyotes can be seen in that field.  It is all a matter of time.  Yet, the problem is huge.  The fellow who mowed for us was explaining that one winter he killed 58 coyotes in a certain area.  So, the population is huge, but our interventions can have an impact.