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| A foggy full moon |
Lots of Irish in our background....Great Grandpa McGivern came from the Emerald Isle himself....but no green to be seen just yet.
Varmints, though, we surely seem to have those. The kids both saw a big grey fox in the yard, in Becky's case in broad daylight, Saturday.
Then Saturday night, Alan came back from taking his fiance home and sat in his car, just outside the back door, for a few minutes. He heard something right behind the car, and turned his rear lights on to reveal six coyotes right there in the driveway behind the house. I mean right where we walk, right under the kitchen window over the sink.
Yow! Becky and I had been hearing them nights, and they did sound close, but surely not that close.
I don't know if I've mentioned it here, but over the past few weeks I have several times thought something was following me to the barn at night. Before the time change we were still going over after dark and I heard little rustles in the dead, dried weeds, and little crackles in the snow.
I tried to convince myself that it was the wild grey tom cat or maybe bunnies, but it prickled the hair at the back of my neck and disturbed me enough to mention it to the family. It just didn't sound like a bunny at all. They tend to quick bursts not sneaky slinking. And the cat is terrified of me.
Now I wonder if maybe I had reason to be nervous. Sure am glad the days are getting longer.
However, corned beef and cabbage are on the menu for tonight.
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| And a little bit o' green |
Plus a link here to a story about what our Irish ancestors put on the menu, back before the potato was imported from Peru. It explains a lot about our occupation.....
OK. That's scary. Dang. Now what?
ReplyDeleteLoved the link. Had no idea about the Irish and cattle.
Happy St. Patrick Day!
P.S. Read that the name of this full moon is "Worm Moon" because the ground is warming and the worms are stirring. Not in my neighborhood they're not!
Loved the link about Irish eats. Very interesting. The dairy industry should try to reinstate these food traditions.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the coyotes:Is there any evidence that they are a danger to humans? I know there was one lethal attack a year or so ago by a solitary (possibly rabid?)coyote, but I've never heard of any other. The cats, on the other hand, are surely fair game for them. And they do help to keep the deer population down to manageable numbers. Still, it would be creepy to confront a pack of them in the dark. Maybe you could carry bear spray or something when you venture out to the barn at night. I wonder if the are drawn to the barn by the smells of calves being born.
Wow, I have heard the coyotes here in the distance but never seen them that close. One time we did see one of them run across the heifer pasture in the middle of the afternoon. It would make me a little skiddish going out in the dark.
ReplyDeleteCathy, not sure. Ralph is talking about doing some serious mowing down front and in the old horse pasture to keep down the brush. I kinda doubt that much will change because of it. I actually found a couple of trout worms in the barn yesterday. lol
ReplyDeleteJacqueline, I loved that story too. So interesting! As for the yotes, I agree that they probably aren't too much of a danger to me personally. They will kill calves and down cows though. And chickens. And tiny pet dachsies. Daisy is always on a leash, but there are a number of substantiated stories of them attacking dogs on leashes. We have some friends about twenty miles from here that actually had them come into the barn to get a calf. Thus I don't like to see them being so bold. Having them afraid of us is healthier for both parties. Rabies is also always an issue. I will never forget when Ralph's mom lived here alone and the visiting nurse called us in outrage. Our "dogs" had kept her from getting on the porch. Except that our dogs were home with us. Coyotes!
TMM, they are very bold around here. As I understand it, the fellows who run dogs on them don't do so too much on this side of the river for fear of them getting on the Thruway.