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Thursday, August 25, 2022

Not Again

 

Not the chicken culprit, but the scourge of the garden

He's back! That smug and self-satisfied stalker of the skies, Orion the Hunter.

I couldn't believe it when I went out this morning. It's way too early, but there he was, not up to full strength yet...instead of standing tall, dancing down the heifer barn roof, he was sprawled, all long and lazy, across the top of the mulberry trees in the side yard.

Looked as if some shield maiden might have been hand feeding him from a bunch of grapes, although with the dangerous dry I don't think there is going to be much of a wild crop this year.

I am NOT ready for any of the things Orion signifies, except perhaps the absence of Yellow Jackets, with which I have been waging...and mostly losing...a prolonged battle this summer.

I know he's really there though, evidenced by the fluffy show lamb and the shiny pony being readied for the fair every afternoon. Summer is done! Toast. You can stick a fork in it. Fall can be nice, but next in the seasonal sequence comes my nemesis....I won't mention it but you know of what I speak.

Oh, and about whatever is killing the hens, Ralph and I have both seen a black thing out in the yard in broad daylight. This morning when I awoke at 4, Jill was barking her head off and there was a faint scent of wild out in the yard. Skunky, but not skunk.

I don't like it.



2 comments:

Shirley said...

I noticed the geese are starting to show up, the swallows are gathering and the horses are shedding their summer coats. I love fall time!
Do you think it's a mink that's getting your hens?

threecollie said...

Shirley, only a few geese moving here so far, and although huge numbers of migrant songbirds are supposed to be flying over our county every night, I am not seeing much of interest. Guess they are not stopping here. As to the varmint, it could well be either a mink or a fisher. Ralph and I both saw it and it is pretty good sized and black.