My Sky Color

A forty something Dad, Husband, Engineer guy living in Western Oregon. Reflections on all things in life. A few technical things and whatever else comes along.

Friday, December 16, 2011

The Sweetest and Most Heart Wrenching Thing You'll See All Week

Baby Boy

Labels:

Sunday, December 04, 2011

The Farm Vermin Saga Goes On

In the past the racoons have been the bane to our chicken's existence.  Over the past few years we have gradually cleaned out the racoons in the area.  Lately I have found that screaming at them like a crazy person keeps them away for an indefinite period of time.

We always have a couple times a year when we smell skunks checking out the place.  They never stick around to our relief.  This year I have opossums.  Once in a while when I go to feed the animals at night there will be a opossum in the barn.  By the time I can get armed they escape.

The other night an interesting thing happened.  When I close the chickens in the coop for the night I count them.  As can be seen in the pictures below there are always two on the ladder type roost and eight on or in the nesting boxes.  I am wearing a head lamp with a narrow beam so I turn toward the two chickens then the other way for the 8.  When I counted the two then swung around to tally the others something in the back of my mind triggered.  "Wait, something didn't look right with the two chickens."  So I swing the light back around and there is a tail sticking straight out next to the wall right next to the chicken.  There right next to the chicken is a opossum tail.


So I ran out to the wood shed next to the barn and grabbed a small piece of firewood.  When I got back in the coop it was still there.  The chicken next to it didn't look right.  I feared the worst.  I shoved the chicken to the side and it was okay.  I gave the opossum a whack with the stick.  It hit the ground and lay still.  The oldest trick in the opossum play book is to play dead.  I gave him a couple more to the cranium.  He did the running in place like I'm dying.  I carefully carried him to the dead varmint disposal place.  I didn't want the playing dead, that is hopefully really dead opossum to swing around and bite me while carrying it by the tail.

I am hoping that this rid us of another free loading varmint.  A couple nights ago, when I went to feed the animals, there was a opossum in the barn...  Was it really dead or just using the old trick?  I think we're going to have to start using the live animal trap to be sure of the ultimate demise.  Dang chickens.

Labels: , ,