Wiley Coyote x 2

There is seldom a dull moment at the farm.  When we arrived a week ago, the rain gauge was brim-full…showing 5 1/2 inches had fallen since our last trip.  Then, last Friday night it rained another inch.  We are awash and aslosh!  The cows and calves are happy.

When we went for our walk on Saturday morning, Red Cow’s heifer calf was having a mid-morning snack.

B1’s calf was getting a bath, which she apparently enjoyed immensely.

On Saturday afternoon, Brian, Debi and Granddog Louie arrived for their first look at the place since we did the prescribed burn in February.  

Everything looks very different.  There are seeps and springs where lush grasses now grow, and we have an abundance of wildflowers.  

The dogs are once again outfitted in their T-shirts to keep at least some of the spear grass and “beggar lice” out of their coats.

My brother and his family took on the project of sorting and organizing the many projectile points, arrowheads and stone tools that have been picked up on the place over the years (mostly by our parents and our Aunt Frankie and Uncle Watt).

A couple of months ago, Brian Jameson and Carol Macaulay-Jameson, archeologists familiar with this area, looked through our collection, and recommended that we try to organize and identify them.  They said some of the points were several thousand years old, evidence of continued habitation by native peoples throughout our county’s history and before.  While Noah and Rachel played a serious game of cards, Allan and my niece, Erin Carmody, worked hard to sort and catalog the collection.  This will allow us to preserve it for kids and grandkids, and it won’t be just a bunch of projectile points and stone tools.  There will be a real connection to the farm we all call home.

I had a delightful surprise on Tuesday morning.  I had gone out just at sunup to photograph the meadow below our house.  I noticed movement a couple of hundred yards away and thought it might be a deer or turkey.  As I quietly watched, I saw something very unusual.  A pair of coyotes made their way across the pasture, apparently unaware of me or Colt who was dozing a few feet away.  These images are certainly not wall-hangers, and normally I wouldn’t use them.  However, I can’t resist showing you how perfectly the coyotes blend into the tall grasses, and how comfortable they were within sight of the house, even if they didn’t know I was watching.

For several minutes the smaller of the two hunted for mice or grasshoppers in the tall grass.  She would crouch quietly, then spring with paws together and front legs extended in an attempt to catch her prey.  I didn’t see her eat anything, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.  After several minutes, the two of them loped up the hill, then melted away into the brush.

We know coyotes live on the farm.  We hear them from time to time, and see their scat.  However, I can probably count on one hand the times I have seen one of them.  This chance to watch them in their daily routine was a real treat, and one I hope will be repeated…maybe if I get up early enough.