Where the Wild Things Are
And a wild fantasy...
“It puts a shine on everything, when you have a milk cow. Dogs, cats, horses, sheep—everyone’s happier.” —Our neighbor Ron
Ron’s the older “gentleman cowboy” neighbor I’ve mentioned before. As an inveterate animal lover, he’s the guy who likes to shake down his apple tree so the bears can eat the fruit.
And I’m guessing from our own bears-in-the-yard incidents, it’s the one way they won’t damage the tree!
At the time Ron told us that, a bear was regularly breaking through our fences and creating havoc in our garden. I wasn’t exactly thrilled to have a bear being encouraged to feast so close to our property.
Still, Ron is such a lovely person I couldn’t hold it against him.
Although he and his wife May currently have one horse and one ewe—who, May tells me, are good buddies—Ron once kept a few Jersey cows.
My husband John and I were saying goodbye to the couple at a recent neighborhood gathering, when I said to Ron, “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to ask you about your cows.”
Ron’s eyes lit up. “Are you going to get a cow?”
“I wish!” I laughed. “But no. I’m writing a novel about farmers who have cows.”
“Oh.” His face fell a bit, but that’s when he said, “It puts a shine on everything…” He’s a quiet sort of fellow, so I found this heartfelt comment especially touching.
What I didn’t confess to Ron was that ever since John and I settled into our Foothills property, I’ve fantasized about having a milk cow.
Preferably two, so the cow wouldn’t get lonely.
All I needed was to transform our 8 1/2 acres of dense, overgrown woods for a healthy pasture, plus install a fence around the pasture and build a shed, then learn how to milk a cow.
Oh, and it would be hugely helpful to have a basic knowledge of animal husbandry, and while I’m at it, lose my fear of large animals.
I would also need to magically find several free hours a day in which to milk the cow, care for the cow, and clean up after the cow. And her calf, since a milk cow is a package deal!
So yeah—there is very little chance of our ever getting a cow. I like to think our place has a very lovely shine already; still, since we don’t have dogs, cats, horses, or sheep to make things shiny for, perhaps it’s just as well.
What puts the shine in your life?
The Wild Things Are Actually Right Here
Along our little wooded lane, seven families live on the seven 10-acre parcels, and there’s another farmer with about 50 acres—all habitat for bears, coyotes, deer, raptors, songbirds and rodents.
Lately, most of the action has been right next door. About a 1/4 mile from our house, our neighbors put out what’s called a deer block. It’s a big chunk of manufactured grains and molasses, which ideally the neighborhood deer will feed on—instead of coming into their unfenced yard and devouring their pretty ornamental flowers and shrubs.
Our neighbors report that it’s been fairly effective—but there’s one big problem: the block attracts far more than deer. Songbirds, for instance, which is lovely. Black bears, which is not.
Shortly after they set out the block, some critter moved the 40-pound chunk a few yards away from where they’d set it. I don’t need to tell you that only a bear would have the dexterity—and the strength—to do it.
In the last couple of weeks, with this ready source of bear food on their property, they’ve seen a sow with two cubs several times on their game cam. Which I have to admit is a bit chilling.
The destructive—but fortunately shy—bear that broke into our yard the summer before last was a singleton, and that was bad enough. I would NOT want to confront a mother bear, with not one, but two cubs to get elevated over.
Earlier this month, another neighbor, who lives about 1/3 mile from us, was keeping a few beehives.
The operative word is “was.”
A bear attacked the hives, and when our neighbor tried to tend to his damaged hives, his bees attacked him. He was badly stung, and felt so dizzy and ill he had to call 911.
The thing is, our little corner of the Foothills is not a place to have a medical emergency. The closest medical help is the fire station about 9 miles away; the hospital is an hour’s drive, and that’s if you break the speed limits.
Luckily, he recovered in a few days. But the most serious episode recently happened to our other “next door” neighbor—her house is about 100 yards from ours.
She has three dogs, Aussie-Doodle mixes. The two burly adult males are good watchdogs, while the third is a five or six-month-old puppy. They all freely wander around her property.
A lot of country folks depend on their dogs to deter wildlife, but it didn’t work this time.
As our neighbor related, a coyote went straight for the puppy, but one dog managed to protect the pup. Then the coyote(s) went after the other adult dog and badly mauled him. The vet said the nature of the bites indicated this poor dog had been attacked by at least two coyotes.
I’m delighted to report the injured dog is healing. But our neighbor, who immediately reinforced her backyard fence with large steel panels, no longer allows any of the dogs out of her yard.
Before this, I’d only ever heard of a cougar attacking adult dogs. And while I’ve never felt afraid of coyotes, this incident does give me pause.
I’m also happy to report that I’ve had only one bear encounter this season. While I was cycling through the county park, just a few feet away from me a bear strolled across the narrow, forested park road, about 3 miles away from our house.
As soon as it saw me, it scuttled into the woods and disappeared. No danger, no drama, the way I like it.
In the local bears’ non-hibernating months, from April to November, I never go too far into our woods without John. But after hearing about all this bear activity close by, I’m super cautious just going out to my compost piles.
Now if only all the neighborhood bears would just trek the 3 miles to the park’s woods and stay there!
Wildlife Closer Than Your Backyard…
The other night, I was sitting at the kitchen table with my usual post-dinner reading, when I heard a rustle from the open pantry door.
I went on high alert…
Then came a distinct rattle from the paper bag of cans and plastic recycling. I jerked up my head to see a mouse leap from the pantry doorway and vanish under the refrigerator.
“John!” I bellowed. I’m not a shouty person, but when it comes to mice in the house, all bets are off. “I saw a mouse!”
Well, this being our second mouse-in-the-kitchen sighting, I knew the critter was not going to leave the safety of his fridge hideaway for love or money.
But for food…?
Although it was nearly midnight, John dutifully went out to the shop, and brought back three mousetraps baited with peanut butter. He set two strategically near the fridge, and one around the corner in a secluded spot near our hot water heater.
Naturally, this latest incursion meant re-tooling the pantry yet again. I surveyed the several food items still in their original (cardboard or plastic) packaging, completely mouse-chewable.
As you see, after not seeing any mice for two years, John and I gotten a bit overconfident.
Before going to bed, I decanted all those items into glass containers, and John’s stash of kettle corn went into the empty Crock-Pot. Mighty Mouse would have zero reasons to go back into the pantry.
Of course it freaked me out, going to bed knowing a mouse was loose in the house. However, I certainly wasn’t going to stay up all night to keep watch. Plus, I had high hopes for the traps.
Sure enough, by morning, the peanut butter had done the trick.
Until we replaced our hot water heater three years ago, we never had mice inside (save for a few tricksy customers who got into the cupboard under the bathroom sink).
I can only conclude that the intricate hot-water heater piping the technicians installed—from the crawlspace up through the floor—are behind the mouse break-ins.
Although we’ve never seen any openings around the pipes, you just never know…and I put nothing past the ingenuity of mice!
If you’ve got some genius critter stories, I’d love to hear them!
As always, thank you so much for visiting my Little Farm. If you enjoyed yourself, I hope you’ll press the handy “Like” ❤️ button… And your comments always make my heart sing!
Sending a shine from our wild woods to you,
~Susan, from the Foothills
Another mouse?! My shine is hiking. Because of the transitions it’s been at least 2 weeks so my feet, brain and heart are itchy!