Lately the locals have been making pests of themselves on our property. I know this because I relocated my office temporarily to my upstairs bedroom until the downstairs air-conditioning is replaced next week. Being upstairs all day has been an eye-opener to see all the creatures that make themselves right at home on the Buck ‘n Run Ranch. Particularly worrisome are the deer that jump the fence and loiter in our pastures. Icky but true, I found a tick on my neck last week. The ticks that cause Lyme disease are brought in by deer. I love to watch them from afar but don’t care to have them up near the house. I had the tick tested and it was not the kind that carry Lyme disease. Whew! I need another potentially chronic disease like I need a hole in my head.
I finally got a little garden planted in the raised beds Michael made for me. I looked out the upstairs window yesterday and saw a big doe eating my garden, right next to the house.
I grabbed my camera, but the battery was dead, so I grabbled my cell phone. Bloggers are like that. Memorialize everything. My cell phone takes lousy pictures but here is the intruder.
She left without incident when asked, but she jumped the fence into the pasture and waited until I went back in the house. A friend suggested I buy Nite Guards to keep the deer away. I’ll post about those when they arrive.
Also on the list of freeloaders are the wild turkeys. They are everywhere; on the roof, on the fences, in the trees, on the deck railing, digging holes in the yard, eating the dropped scratch, etc.
How nice of them to spread out out on the fence, one turkey per every 8 feet. It does make a lovely welcome to the ranch.
Here’s a little video of the pretty pests.
At the top of my list of pesky intruders is this Cooper’s hawk. He has been here for days, screeching all day long, hanging out in the tree and on the power line. He occasionally flies down into the pasture after who-knows-what but mostly he just stalks the chickens. They are safe under flight netting but they still great and worry about the hawks. The roosters let out the warning yell constantly and herd the girls into the coops.
We are very lucky that we have a guard dog on the ranch.
Oops, maybe not so much. He looks to be on a mandatory Candy Crush Saga timeout.