Animals are truly amazing.
Kind of makes me happy to be one. This toad was sitting on
the U-boat when I rolled it out into the market area from
inside the doorway. It apparently chose the location for it's
cool and damp atmosphere. The next photo was about 8 hours
later when we had a thunder storm and the U-boat got wet.
No problem for the toad who just changed color. The pictures
don't really do justice to how well the little critter blended
in. This spring the birds are spectacular and sing us awake
and to bed every day. I have seen the first scarlet tanneger
this week along with a really well rounded chorus of warblers
and thrushes and on and on.
The cows are thriving on their pasture rotation and
are beginning to shine. The pigs are growing slowly and have
taken to digging out under their coop to lay in the cool damp
soil. I'm pushing back the slaughter date for them until they
are finished to my satisfaction. We've had some mortality
with the chicks particularly in one coop. It is not uncommon
for chickens to succumb to mobbing. If they are agitated or
frightened by anything, they all mob into a corner and try
to hide. The problem is that this often results in them making
a pile. Since they are hiding the chickens on the bottom of
the pile make no effort to escape the pile until they are
suffocated. I had a friend who lost 40 full grown birds in
this manner during a thunder storm. I have heard of broiler
houses where almost all 20,000 birds in the house mobbed and
died. Surely, the sense has been bred out of some varieties
of birds in the pursuit of more meat and bigger or more abundant
eggs. They aren't the brightest animals on a farm. WE have
lost about a dozen birds this way. It will be time to get
them out of the range brooder cages and into a mobile coop
soon. In the list of animals
who want to eat what we eat, the deer have dug out a pretty
long area of one row of tomatoes. I think they were after
something in the potting soil. I managed to find it in time
to save some of the tomatoes but there were quite a
few that didn't make it. We are planting in others to take
their place so I don't envision a major problem or loss but
there will be less of the variety they ruined. Denuded
Oak Trees
The gypsy moth caterpillar infestation is really taking it's
toll on the oak trees and have hit the apple trees very hard.
I remember in the early 70's when we saw the first real plague
of gypsy moth caterpillars and they killed our quince trees
and a number of the chinese chestnut trees. In just thirty
or so years, they have evolved to look slightly different
in their markings, and didn't exhibit any attraction to the
chestnut trees at all. It would appear that their diet preferences
have changed and I find that fascinating. IF they could be
selectively bred to prefer some of the invasive species that
are becoming problematic we might solve a problem with a problem.
Hiding
in plain sight
The cows are thriving on their pasture rotation and
are beginning to shine. The pigs are growing slowly and have
taken to digging out under their coop to lay in the cool damp
soil. I'm pushing back the slaughter date for them until they
are finished to my satisfaction. We've had some mortality
with the chicks particularly in one coop. It is not uncommon
for chickens to succumb to mobbing. If they are agitated or
frightened by anything, they all mob into a corner and try
to hide. The problem is that this often results in them making
a pile. Since they are hiding the chickens on the bottom of
the pile make no effort to escape the pile until they are
suffocated. I had a friend who lost 40 full grown birds in
this manner during a thunder storm. I have heard of broiler
houses where almost all 20,000 birds in the house mobbed and
died. Surely, the sense has been bred out of some varieties
of birds in the pursuit of more meat and bigger or more abundant
eggs. They aren't the brightest animals on a farm. WE have
lost about a dozen birds this way. It will be time to get
them out of the range brooder cages and into a mobile coop
soon. In the list of animals
who want to eat what we eat, the deer have dug out a pretty
long area of one row of tomatoes. I think they were after
something in the potting soil. I managed to find it in time
to save some of the tomatoes but there were quite a
few that didn't make it. We are planting in others to take
their place so I don't envision a major problem or loss but
there will be less of the variety they ruined. 
Denuded
Oak Trees
