We've had a visitor lately. An opossum has gotten into our recycling that I had put on the front deck, but didn't get to the actual proper bin before dark. She's pretty small, not very aggressive, and fearful of us. They are known to be egg stealers, but with all of those scary teeth they could definitely kill chickens, so we have to make sure we don't give her the opportunity. She's surprised me a few times--not waiting until late at night to appear, but waking up right after sunset as if she had an alarm clock. I have to make sure I have everyone locked up, right away. She seems to be interested in any chicken food that wasn't cleaned up--not exactly a cold blooded killer. For any of you reading that have never seen an opossum, here's a cute video I found. This is obviously just a play fight. Pretty interesting for these two species to enjoy play, when they would likely be competitors for similar food sources.
A pretty good article! : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum I bet you didn't know that they are marsupials!!
Here she is:
Henry and Prince have been out with the flock full time now. They are pretty tired I think. I was feeling pretty good about it until I heard today that there was a cougar sighted near here a few days ago. We might start locking them all in the barn at night. The flightier ewes won't like this at all. It will be challenging just to get the door shut behind them. I might have to rig some sort of pulley system. Hopefully I can make it positive for them and I won't ruin their barn recall.
Oakley has been quiet and sweet, but his heaves have been getting worse these last few days. The humidity has been very high, and I think that is contributing. My fear is that he's getting sick again, as he seems to at least twice a year, requiring antibiotics for a part of his lungs that is likely damaged and very susceptible to irritation/infection. I think this might have started right after our last lesson, which was a pretty cold day. And of course when I was riding Winston the other day he insisted on galloping and carrying on and potentially stressing his lungs further. Our vet told me that it takes a month for a red angry lung to 'pink up' and get healthy with no exercise stress on it. We'll see how it goes...He was loving his hay tonight, and not bothered in the slightest that there was a blizzard out there. He and Winston stood out in the pasture in the pitch black, the swirling snow all around them. I have to say, I get it. It's surprisingly peaceful. It wasn't cold. But that will come. In two days we will have temps -23C and potentially colder.
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| Sir Winnicus in his awesome waterproof turnout |
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| Just the start of the snow...an hour later everything was completely covered (including the sheep) |
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| Buff, Pearl, Granny Rose and Pepper chilling in their poly tunnel while the blizzard went on. |
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| Venga had already gone to bed. She tends to sulk a little when it snows. She stood at the top of their ramp yesterday screaming, refusing to walk down. Love our princess : ) Coop isn't finished being insulated yet, but it's still pretty cozy in there. They seem to like their bubble wrapped and carpeted perches. |
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| Miss Buff on her way to bed. G will cover this area so it doesn't get snowed in, and the coop and poly tunnel are connected securely. |
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| I love winter barn duties....Time to get all our lanterns and headlamps ready with fresh batteries! |
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| The barn was warm and cozy despite what was going on out there! |
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| Our wonderful stoic bear horse of the tundra. Need to re-waterproof his turnout! |
This is what we did to Shadow's tractor in an attempt to winterize it:
Rather lunar lander like, don't you think? Still need to do the doors, nest boxes, uncover the window, and wrap the perches. We'll put up a heat lamp, but need to be careful since there's not a lot of head room. It will be mounted at one end so a bird on a bird can't get burned.
I have a lot more to report, and photos to share, but I'll have to wait until after dark. I have too much to do during our few hours of daylight. I just checked in with a photographer acquaintance in northern Minnesota, and he said he just finished clearing his driveway--14 inches so far, and another 12-16 on the way.
My skis are waxed and ready in case I need them to get to the barn tomorrow!! We are only expecting 6-9 inches in this area, but you never know what Mother Nature will throw at you in this place....Snow shoes would definitely be useful.
A few photos from last winter:
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| A grey day...we don't get too many of those here. |
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| Freight train Oak Bear!! He loves snow!! |
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