Wildlife April, 2009

Grandpa’s Farm
       The newsletter that focuses on the easygoing, calm, quiet life in the country. Simple tales of laid back country living here in Ho-Hum County. March, 2009

       Well, as usual, not much has been going on out here in the country. We’ve been sitting here drinking coffee and watching the horses lose their winter coats. We are also admiring the wildlife that keeps showing up close by.
       We live in a river valley with high hills starting right off the edge of the valley floor. The valley has orchards, vineyards, hayfields (some of which are ours), little towns and peace and quiet. (That’s why we call it “the country” as opposed to “THE CITY” which has telephone pole orchards, parking lot fields, traffic jams and slums, not to mention noise pollution).
       We are owned and managed by a hayfield and we live next to an orchard on one side and a vineyard and winery on the other. When our neighbor gets done squeezing the grapes he dumps the pulp out behind our house. It’s on his property but less than one hundred yards away from our backyard.
       The pulp piles attract a lot of wildlife. So far this winter we have seen pheasants, deer and turkeys (the latter are not the kids next door who also qualify as wildlife). There have been as many as thirty pheasants scratching through the piles all at the same time. We have also seen as many as twelve wild turkeys. They come down and chase the pheasants away just to keep things moving out here in the quiet, peaceful wilderness.
       When the pulp is dumped it is just good old grape pulp and not fermented. However, being in a pile sometimes generates heat, or maybe it is just the sunshine, but at times the pile will ferment and take the wildlife by surprise. One of our neighbors was on the way home from work one day when two pheasants flew across the road in front of him. One of them ran into the deer fence and rung its neck. Not being one to look a gift pheasant in the eye (he figured he had fired enough shot gun shells at them so he was entitled to a free one) he picked it up and took it home. As he was skinning it he noticed this strange smell and figured that the pheasant had received his just reward for "flying under the influence". (I don’t know if pheasants have designated flyers or not. They probably need designated walkers.)
       Sometimes we have seen as many as twelve whitetail deer at the piles in the daytime and who knows how many at night? I guess our dog, Lady, knows how many are out at night because she personally barks at each one several times. I suppose she thinks she is protecting us from them.
       One night she tried to protect us from a skunk and she got just a whiff on her (a whiff lasts about three dry days and about six to ten wet days). We have a black and white cat that used to come up to rub on Lady and they were good friends. Not after the skunk incident!  I think Lady saw the black and white and she thinks that it was the cat that whiffed her. She will not allow that cat in her backyard kingdom anymore. She hasn’t gotten whiffed again either, but some mornings (or mournings?) I wonder how she missed it because I can sure smell skunk outside.
       We have several hayfields and some apple and cherry orchards close by. The hayfields have attracted several flocks of geese lately. You can hear them honking half the morning but usually one of the wolves (the neighbors call them watchdogs) hears them honking and comes out to tell them to turn the horns off. They get insulted and fly off in a huff (or whatever it is that you call a group of gooses).
       The orchards have owls, hawks and cats that patrol them. It is a great thing because the mice can get out of hand in such places. Just as rats inhabit large cities, mice inhabit orchards. They also like to inhabit hay barns and houses. That’s why we have cats.
       Quite a few of our cats contribute to “wild life” in this area. I have had a running battle with a big old Siamese Tomcat all winter because he comes in and terrorizes my barn cats. Maybe that is another reason why we have dogs.
        We live close to a small lake and a river, too. There are osprey and eagles that patrol these areas. Osprey are fun to watch. When they catch a fish they hold it in line with their body as they fly. I have tried to take pictures of this but can’t convince the birds to hold still long enough. Eagles fly over quite often but they won’t hold still for a picture either.
       Our valley is irrigated or it would be a desert, so in the unirrigated hills close by we have coyotes that show up to entertain Lady when the deer are busy elsewhere. One day we were watching the pulp piles and two coyotes came strolling out of the sagebrush and through the deer fence (which is broken down) looking like they were going to take over the piles. Lady took offense to their gangster attitude and barked them back up the hillside. Lady may not be able to get out of the yard but she has a lot of control over the pulp pile area. (The deer know she can’t get out so they just ignore her.)
       The other wildlife we see are the small birds that hang out around our feeders. In winter they are mostly sparrows and juncos but just this week the goldfinches have come. We got our thistle seed out right away because if we don’t they will sometimes come to the kitchen window and lodge a complaint. Last year we had a pair of tree swallows and a pair of bluebirds nest in our bluebird houses and we are anxious to see if they come back this year.
       The other bird we get plenty of are hummingbirds. Talk about coming to the window to complain - they will dive bomb you if you step outside without a refill for the hummingbird feeders. They are fun to watch and sometimes eleven or twelve will come in at the same time and play chase and fight over the feeders. Sometimes their antics are just plain funny.
       Well, now you know about the wildlife close to Grandpa’s Farm.  I just wish something interesting would happen around here once in a while. Now I better get out and get something done or that grandma will be after me with her broom. Talk about wildlife.....