Farm News 02-19-06

Sunday morning, after chores, 12°

Trusty Proves His Worth: Bites Coyote on Butt

Monday morning the dogs started raising a ruckus so I went out the door to see what was bothering them. There went a coyote, trotting along easy and relaxed, right through the yard, cutting across a corner of the deck. It was easily the biggest coyote I have ever seen, the size of a large German Shepherd.

Trusty was very upset with this animal but more than a little cautious about tangling with him. Finally, seeing his chance, he darted out and nipped the coyote on the butt. The coyote turned and snarled but Trusty jumped back out of reach. The coyote went on his way, cutting down through the woods toward the pond.

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are interesting creatures who have lived here a lot longer than I have, so I tend to respect their right to be here. I draw the line, though, at their cruising through the yard looking for poultry. People complain about coyotes taking their stock but a lot of folks train the coyotes to eat domestic animals. If you toss dead stock out in the woods for the coyotes to eat, the coyotes start regarding domestic stock as prey. Pretty soon they won't wait for the domestic stock to die of other causes.

Once a coyote becomes bold enough to walk through a yard in broad daylight with two dogs barking at him it is time to retire that coyote from active hunting. This coyote was way too accustomed to being around humans to be an acceptable resident in the neighborhood. Having decided that, though, the next question regards the method of removing him from the neighborhood.

A bullet is usually the first idea. That carries the problem of how to deliver the bullet to the coyote. I don't carry a handgun and couldn't hit a barn at twenty feet with one anyway. Carrying a rifle is unwieldy at best and, though I own one, it is not within easy reach, nor am I a good shot anymore.

A trap might work, but setting a trap that will catch a coyote before being tripped by a cat or dog is a difficult trick. I would prefer a box trap to a leg trap, although leg traps are not at all as inhumane as most people think. It would be difficult, though, to set a trap that wouldn't catch Trusty first.

Most animals tend to use the same paths over and over, and coyotes are no different. Coyotes, coons, and possums will all use the same path through the woods. Traps, to be useful, need to be set along one of those paths. I am not a good shot anymore, perhaps, but I am a much better tracker, so the paths in the woods are fairly plain to me. Still, the problem remains of filtering out the possums, coons, and Trusty before they reach the trap.

Bunny Power

Baby bunnies make excellent guard animals for visits to health care facilities. Last week I wrote about taking the bunnies to the cardiologist's office. I also decided to become a professional author and put a Google Ad-Sense block on the blog. The next time I looked at the blog it had two ads for cardiologists. Amazing.

I didn't take a bunny with me when I last visited the dentist. Unprotected, I lost a tooth but learned a lesson. Always take bunny with you when you seek health care.

Dr. M. on Doctors

As an almost newly minted veterinarian (practicing her thoracic surgery techniques sans backhoe) I would like to point out a whole group of docs who almost universally love fuzzy bunnies. Veterinarians! If it's an emergency, you can usually get to see your vet the same day. If it's REALLY an emergency, a lot of us STILL MAKE HOUSECALLS. Most of us are women, lots of us are in our childbearing years.

How did this happy state of affairs come to pass? Veterinary medicine is full of nice people, with all types of personalities. Some are workaholic type A, a lot see it as a job so sweet you get to bring your dog to work. As a rule, we don't deal with the government or insurance. We get to pick our clients. We don't get sued when the babies are born less than perfect. Heck, we don't even get sued 10 years down the road if that particular baby isn't performing well.

In short, we get to be doctors; curing sick animals, bringing babies into the world and making children smile.

And we welcome fuzzy bunnies into the office!

Hooray for Dr. M., my favorite new vet. Dr. S., a local vet who is also a beautiful woman, is wonderful, but she has refused to do the job the next time I require heart surgery. Dr. M. has agreed to do any heart surgery I will require. I'll take a D.V.M. over an M.D., and a woman over a man, any day to do surgery. Being professionally correct and non-sexist definitely stops at the knife.

Cold Spell

It was 6° here Saturday morning and the wind was howling through the treetops. When the new highway was built it took out the patch of woods north of the yard. Now the wind screams down from the north right across the place and the difference is quite apparent on days like Saturday.

The biggest problem is keeping the animals watered. The rabbit waterers have been freezing up in about 30 minutes and the water for the goats, geese, and turkeys doesn't last any longer. The geese like to stand around in ice water keeping their feet cool, the turkeys don't seem to notice the cold, and the goats have heavy coats that keep them warm enough. The ducks would be okay, too, but I'm keeping them in the barn, along with Ting, because it is easier to water them in there.

There is a wood stove in the barn which, if I put enough wood in it often enough, provides a warm area for the cats and dogs. However, I'm getting too old to be cutting lots of firewood so the cats and dogs have to rely on their own coats more than the stove, now. Trusty has a purple K-State sweater that he likes to wear and Tessie has such a thick coat she never notices the cold. Martha, the old mother cat, likes a warm spot by the stove though. So do I.

The hoses are useless in this weather so all the watering is done by carrying buckets, a process which invariably results in a shoe full of water at some point. Also, I have to carry firewood into the barn for the stove, a process which invariably results in smashing a finger somewhere. So, when I finally get in the house, I often end up trying to untie a frozen shoelace with a finger that is banged up and stiff. At that point I try to remember that my grandparents did all that and more, and the weather was colder then, too.