MHf pond

Secluded.
Private.
Trees and wildlife.
All to yourself.

How to spend your time?

Fishing...
Grab your tackle and favorite fishing hat.
Boat and oars will be waiting.

Swimming...
Cannonball off a fallen tree.
Study dragonflies fluttering at the water's surface.

Picnic...
Pack a lunch or pack the grill.
Nap at the water's edge.

The MHf pond beckons you to celebrate the great outdoors!

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(click on photo to enlarge)

a might interesting

Here we have all the sizes defined by the egg industry:

peewee, small, medium, large, extra large, and jumbo.

So then, how shall we define eggs larger or smaller than these?

Miniature and colossal?

The smallest green egg on the left weighed in at a lowly 3/8 oz.
The largest brown egg on the right topped the scales at 3 1/8 oz.

Collecting eggs is always a treasure hunt!

frenzy in the henhouse

Popular belief is that roosters crow at dawn. Many believe that roosters crow only at dawn. Neither is true - especially if there is more than one rooster in the barnyard. MHf roosters have been known to crow anytime throughout the day. After the first rooster bellows, the other roosters take it as a challenge to see who has the best, the clearest, the loudest, and the most ferocious crow. And let's not forget the most attractive for the female. Posing in the most beneficial crowing position, each rooster accepts the challenge with all the gusto he can muster. They banter back and forth a few times and then all is well again. Daylight is their prime time to perform so the nights are usually quiet.

Usually quiet, that is. Awakened in the middle of the night, why on earth was one particular rooster repeatedly crowing? (Like parents with children, a farmer learns the particulars of each animal's voice.) This was indeed just one rooster. He was crowing as if his vocal chords had been hard-wired to a metronome. Over and over and over. Come on, already - we hear you! Falling out of bed and into our clothes, we venture outside to investigate. (It's 1:30 in the morning.)

For some reason everyone is outside under the yard light. In the middle of the night! What is going on? Except for the constant rooster crow, the flock seems fairly relaxed. But sleeping outside has never been a regular practice. A look in the henhouse leads nowhere. The rooster has since quieted. He must find a little comfort in having us out there. A walk around the henhouse leaves us baffled. Nothing seems to be wrong. It's obvious, though, that something is wrong as this is not normal behavior for the MHf flock. We're at a loss. As odd as it seems, we let them be and returned to bed.

While doing chores the next evening (more than 12 hours later), we found the problem. Curled up tightly in the bottom corner nesting box was this uninvited visitor. His coloring just blends right into the wood. That and the fact that he was resting way back in the box was the reason we didn't see him the night before. We were amazed that he was still hanging around, but thrilled that he was still asleep. Taking careful aim, three shots took him down. No more hen house villain. This critter could be the same reason we had been finding broken eggs in the nesting boxes recently. Perhaps we just stumbled upon a barnyard sign of things to come. We'll have to put that one in the memory bank.

wild cows [part 3]

Craigslist is a fantastic venue. One can always find something to buy. One can find other things, as well. Take cowboys, for instance. Do you realize how many actual, the-real-deal cowboys are still alive and kicking? After posting an ad for "Cowboys Needed" we had a flood of phone calls. Guys (aka cowboys) are just itching for an opportunity to tame the wild things.

These three riders came to our rescue. With all the confidence of a true-blue, done-it-before cowboy, they set out across the pasture. Don't miss the dogs in the photo. These critters were the ticket to getting the cows of out the trees. The dogs run them out and the cowboys rope them. Simple. Right?

Right. It was just that simple. In about 15 minutes, they called me [Paula]. Wow! That was so much quicker than I thought!! My job was to bring the trailer farther into the pasture so they wouldn't have to drag the cow all the way to gate. Piece of cake. Getting the cow into the trailer took was another matter, but these seasoned cowboys got it done.

Now to find the bull calf. Yeah. Three HOURS later there was still no sign of him. Did he freak out and jump the fence? Is he hiding in some deep crevice of the ravine? Did he climb a tree? It's anybody's guess. Searching every fenceline inside and out of the pasture (plus pastures adjacent), no tracks could be found. None. It was like he just flew away. That was February 18. We have yet to find him.

Meanwhile life goes on at MHf. And we continue to be surprised. Two weeks after her capture, the wild cow calved. We now have another little heifer in the mix. While the mama is Dexter, we have no idea what breed the papa is. Eric says the calf looks part deer because she's so tall and very, very skinny. The skinny may be due to the fact that mama lost so much weight over the winter. We're actually amazed that she calved so easily and birthed such a healthy calf. Both are doing well and gaining much-needed weight.

Here the calf is pictured with Baldie, the self-appointed babysitter. If you look closely, you can see the tip of mama's nose in the upper right corner of the picture. She is very protective. This photo was taken at maximum zoom.

[Click on any photo to enlarge.]