Close Encounters of the Wildlife Kind
Photo: A. Rose
By Alex Rose
While many of our neighbors have generously recounted numerous, amazing local animal encounters, all of which are unique and encompass varied “flavors,” one outstanding feature is ubiquitous to all. The Skyline community truly respects and admires our four-legged and bird neighbors. They are seen as valuable and cherished presences, despite their showing up as not just warm and fuzzy encounters, but sometimes in truly challenging situations.
A fairly universal concern, especially to anyone who drives our dark roads on foggy, drizzly evenings, is deer along the road sides. How often do we creep along on Oregon’s typical dreary nights, keeping eyes peeled for roadside eyes in our head lights. Two neighbors recounted their trials as the sad inevitable unfolded for them: each struck a quirky deer that suddenly spooked, propelling them right into their vehicles.
OH DEER!!!
From Laurel Erhardt – “Late one night, years ago, a young buck bounded out of the Doug firs in front of my car giving me no time to stop. Hitting him solidly in the hindquarters, the momentum threw him 20 feet off the road. It was obvious if I left him, he’d suffer terribly.
I called Joe, an experienced hunter; however, although, morally and ethically correct to put this animal out of its misery, Joe would be in violation several of hardcore rules good hunters never break. We decided to apprise the property owners of the situation. On the one hand, we didn’t want to be shooting a deer in their field at night; on the other, would they talk to us or shoot at us? “Hello," an elderly female voice comes through the speaker. My response gushes out. “Hello, I’m sorry to bother you, but I’ve hit a deer, and he’s in your field, and he’s not dead; and we’d like to take care of him but we just didn’t want to do this without letting you know,” “Oh, our deer, I just love them. I worry about them so. You know those cars go so fast. It’s not like it used to be. They’re not down by the road are they? I worry so much. We feed them apples you know, in our back yard. Two bucks. Oh, I wish they would stay away from the road.”
“I HIT A DEER. He’s in YOUR field!”
GASP. “Now you’ve got me crying. What are we going to do? I don’t know what to do.”
“ I’m so sorry. But you don’t have to do anything. We will take care of it all. We just want you to know we’re going to be in your field, and we’ll take care of him.” She insists that I call her and let her know how it all comes out. I’m wondering what does she expect me to tell her? We cannot leave the “pet deer” dead by the side of the road for the distraught elderly couple to see; however dumping a deer carcass is not as easy as it seems; so, after several attempts, Joe brought the carcass back home. We came to the conclusion that we know needy people who would be most appreciative to have this venison. So Joe stayed up to the wee hours dressing out the deer.
The next day I remember my promise to call the home owner. It turns out she is so glad I called. She wanted to know everything. “Did your husband shoot it? Were you able to save the meat? Was your car damaged? Are you all OK?” Two of her comments made me chuckle over how concerned I had been for her. Before she had started feeding the deer, she had done her due diligence - they couldn’t be held liable for a car hitting a deer on the road. Most importantly, she was overjoyed; her two little bucks had been in the orchard this morning. Obviously, I had gotten an intruder!
Another dark, rainy night, another deer zigzagging off Skyline onto the road right in front of our property! A neighbor had been driving very slowly and saw a few deer on the side; they were all moving further off the road, but one she didn’t see was stranded on the other side and leapt across to follow the others surprising the driver completely. Fortunately, the driver had a rifle handy and was able to hasten any suffering on the deer’s part; but her car took a hit – dents here and there and some repair work necessary. Living close by, she was able to hurry home, dress the deer, and save the meat! She said, “I didn’t get much chance to taste it, but my kids and grandkids feasted away!”
From Jeffrey Miller; “We can laugh about it now; but we weren’t laughing when it happened. The Miller garden/property is enormous with thousands of flowering plants. Everything was set and ready for a fancy wedding the next day. The morning of the event arrived; and much to Jeff’s shock and horror, deer had jumped over the 7-foot elk fence and had managed to eat over 1,000 rose blooms on over 100 rose bushes in ONE NIGHT!!! Ergo, miles of fence that held elk successfully at bay had to be raised another 3 feet to be deer proof. Now the fence is tall enough; however tree branches fall onto it; and even though it’s “patrolled” regularly, by the time the fence damage is found, the deer have often feasted on their favorite, “rose-caviar.”
A sweet deer tale from Vickie Coghill: “Driving down Logie Trail, I saw a deer on the side of the road. I slowed way down because deer will zag in front of a vehicle in an instant. The doe paid no attention to me and kept looking at the fence. So I looked, too.
There was her baby stuck in the fence! It was an itty bitty spotted week old fawn. I stopped and pulled over to assess the situation. The baby had its front legs and part of her body through the fence but her back leg was woven through the wire and held fast. She was crying for her mama because there was no hope of her getting out of that. I went to her cautiously because I’ve seen enough mad mama videos, and I didn’t want that mama deer kicking my head in.
I went to the baby slowly, and all the while speaking softly and keeping my ears open for hoof stomping or other warning signs of an attack. I told the mama I’d help her, and I asked her to please don’t hurt or kill me.
She stood nicely about 20’ away as I pulled and untangled her precious, adorable, soft baby from the wire. It was tricky with the back leg, but I got her released in a couple minutes. I don’t know how that little thing got so woven in that fencing! I checked her out good for injuries and thankfully there were none. Not a scratch. I packed her several feet past the fence and stood her up. As soon as she was on the ground mama deer came and checked her out with a couple licks. Then off she slowly walked with her baby bouncing behind her. It was an amazing thing to witness. There was no hurry and no panic. I think she trusted me to help. It was such a beautiful thing to be involved in. With that crying baby it would have been a very short time before the coyotes in that ravine heard her and she would have been a goner for sure.
I was overjoyed and blessed to be a part of that special rescue! It was a great day! ♥️🦌”
ELK EVERYWHERE
From Karen McDaniel: “Several years ago, my husband Daryl came home from work, driving his F-350 extended cab truck, when he noticed a small herd of elk on the hill above our house, chomping on my blueberry bushes and apple trees. Annoyed, he put the truck into four wheel drive and drove up the hill, honking his horn at them.
The elk dispersed. Daryl returned to the driveway and parked for the night. The following morning, when he was leaving for work, he discovered a very large pile of elk droppings on his front bumper, which was at a convenient height for whichever elk decided to make a political comment.”
From Jim Kessinger: “When the Fall pumpkin season is finished, we have literally tons of pumpkins left over, so I put them out for the elk; and in less than a week, they’ve eaten hundreds and hundreds of pounds of pumpkin – there’s nothing left. Elk can be dangerous, especially in the Fall when the bulls are active. One morning, my older dog wasn’t in her usual place on the porch. I went out in the fields to find her; and who knows how?...I found her; she had been trampled to death by elk.”
THE CRAFTY COUGAR
From one neighbor: “After talking to several neighbors near and far, I have learned there is a cougar in the area. In the last few months several people lost lambs, which could have been eaten by coyotes. Full grown goats and sheep have disappeared and also a pregnant ewe. Gone without a trace. One horse on Skyline had rake marks on its sides and back from that cougar. Luckily the horse survived. Cougars will kill and pack the victim off to eat and then cache the rest of it for later.”
From Alex Rose: For the first two years we owned this property, our caretaker told us of a cougar that had been sniffing around his truck. He had two medium-sized dogs that might have attracted the big cat; or perhaps the smell of butchered meat he sometimes carried. The house on this property is perched high, affording a full view of a large meadow that we can see at all times.
Lo and behold, on a sunny afternoon, the first summer we lived here, a large long-tailed cat leisurely strolled across the entire stretch of the meadow. It was so surprising and beautiful to see! We were enthralled. Two sides of the meadow are surrounded by heavily-treed ravines filled with elk paths and wildlife; and we see trees down there scarred with long and deep rake marks, very high on the trunks. Two weeks ago, I saw a large dog-like (I thought) animal near our driveway about ¼ mile from the house. I couldn’t ascertain what it was; and before I could grab the binoculars, it suddenly startled and proceeded to race the full length of the meadow towards the treed ravines. Thinking at first it was a coyote, I then noted the long tail; and it ran stretched out like a cheetah so fast, I couldn’t grab the binocs in time.
Another neighbor, “It happened in the early hours of the morning in 2018 when I was going to do chores at my father’s (Don Jenkins ) house. I heard a deep grunting sound that went on and off as I walked down towards the barn, When I arrived, the goat was not there, and the sheep was in distress. I took the dogs into the field to find the goat and assess the sheep. The dogs refused to chase, but I saw the cougar’s eyes glowing back at me! The goat had been pulled up onto a burn pile by the cougar, who retreated when the dogs and I arrived. Sadly, Johnny Carson, our dear goat did not make it.”
THE BOTHERSOME BEAR
Bear are showing up on a more regular basis; so I’m saving bear tales for the spring when Ben Cate, our representative from the ODFW will be making a bear presentation for the community at the Skyline Grange.
From Dick Gilkeson - “My neighbor noticed that one of his bee hives had been moved about forty feet overnight. He reported the incident and said he believed it was a visiting bear. The response was that no bears had been seen in the Forest Park area since 1985, and that it must have been raccoons moving his beehives around.
Mark insisted that it was more likely a bear since no raccoon was strong enough to move a hive across his field. He insisted that the animal control folks set up a trap that would catch a bear, if one actually existed, to go after food left in a cage at the end of a tunnel-like opening. Sure enough the next morning there was a bear in the trap which was then carted off Mark’s property.”
THE BRAINY BOBCAT
Bobcats (also known as Lynx) are part of our landscape, and their fluffy kitten offspring are so much fun to see and watch, reminding us enormously of our own feline companions.
From Casselle La Tourette - “This really cute bobcat mother began showing up with her two captivating kittens. It was a dry summer, so lots of wildlife were moving in closer and closer to the house. We wanted to try our hand at chickens, so we built what I thought was the Fork Knox for chickens; but the crafty Bobcat mom taught us a thing or two. First she burrowed under the fence; we fixed that; then, she jumped over the fence – another chicken down; so, we covered the coop area but not the entire chicken run, which was large; and the chickens were only let out into their run if the gardener was right there with them. But then, one day he stepped just a few feet away; and like a shot, Bobcat Mom flew over the chicken fence and escaped with yet another feathered meal. We realized she was always with us, watching us at all times We had become her Seven-Eleven! Having a small child wobbling around the garden, I realized that my baby, too, was being surveilled under the watchful eye of our “resident” Bobcat…Our creature neighbors teach us a thing or two, so I understood I had to take measures…”
FEATHERED FRIENDS
From Brad Graff – “One morning we looked out the backyard and saw a bald eagle on the putting green. It was unusual to see a bald eagle on the ground so we were very curious what it was doing there. We took out the binoculars and saw that it was moving a golf ball around. We think it thought it was an egg. After playing with the golf ball for about 5 minutes, the eagle picked it up and flew away to its nest. Somewhere there was a nice Titleist-One ball lining his nest. I hope she is still not trying to hatch it.
We heard some really weird screeching noises coming from a tree about 50 yards from the house. We saw it was two baby Great Horned owls and their mother. The babies are total fluff monsters when they are small. They stayed around for a few months, and we got to see them in different areas all around the house.”
THE BEE KEEPER
A call came in - There’s a swarm of bees….” Can you come get them?” ‘Beekeeper Joe’ asks the usual questions: “Where ya live? (Don’t wanna drive to hellandgone for a swarm of bees!) How long they been there? (You wanna know how many times I’ve driven to pick up a swarm and they’re gone before I get there?) But this call is sounding all pretty good. Big ol’ swarm on a low branch in a leafy tree. Been there all day in a residential neighborhood (Joe’d be the hero!).
Joe Cool arrives. It’s a hot spring day. As the coolest of bee keepers know, you don’t need to wear the whole hot bee suit when you’re collecting swarms. They’re pretty docile at this stage of their lives. They’re not protecting their hives, they’re conserving energy so they’re in “no-sting” mode. A small crowd of neighbors gathered to watch the show. They’ve obviously been worried about the bees all day - keeping the kids indoors during the threat. They are standing at a very, very respectful distance. Joe puts on his gloves and veiled hat but doesn’t bother with the suit. He’s wearing a cotton button up shirt with the first three or four buttons undone – cause it’s hot – and he’s cool. He approaches the swarm and murmurs rustle thru the crowd…. No suit? Won’t he get stung? They are standing, watching in awe. Subconsciously, leaning away from the bees – prepared to bolt and run….Holding their children closely, prepared for the worst yet not able to look away.
Calmly approaching the low hanging hive, Joe’s acutely aware that all eyes are on him, and he’s (the hero.?) He’s placed the hive box directly under the bee swarm. Next, he gives the branch the swarm is on a sharp shake; and the ball of bees will simply drop into the hive-box which it always does. He grabs the branch, smiles at the crowd, and gives it the sharp, snap, shake that he knows will cause the bees to neatly plop into the waiting box below. The crowd stands in disbelief at his casualness in such a dire situation – and gasps - then he shakes the branch, which catapults the bees and sends the whole ball of bees inside his half buttoned shirt. Since the shirt was tucked in, he had now just captured the swarm in a cute little bee paunch, and was able to “box” them at home.
RACCOON RASCALS
From Jeanine Gilkeson – Every Fall around the first month in September we have furry visitors. Over the years we have grown Concord grapes on a pair of vines that stretch from the ground to our second-floor deck and then up over an arbor over our outdoor table. Naturally, as the grapes ripen, they attract nearby raccoons, who work their way up the vines to get at the sweet-smelling bounty. Unfortunately, raccoons are not the neatest eaters in the forest, and they manage to spit out the all the grape skins as they work their way across the arbor. Now grape skins are one thing, but the number two thing is also their specialty, and I do mean number two! As they get their fill they also manage to poop all over the deck below the arbor making quite a mess.
One year I decided to trap the creatures in a live trap and I was feeling so proud when the trap worked. I even found two raccoon children in the trap together. Normally, I would cart the grape thieves off to destinations that shall remain secret; however, the last time I put the live trap out I got an unexpected alternative: namely, a smaller black and white creature that was clearly not my neighbor’s cat. Yes, it was a skunk- and I had to figure out how to get it out of the trap. Can you guess how I did it?
WILY COYOTES
Unlike their wolf cousins rarely hunt in packs it’s been a rough month here. The coyotes are on my full grown goats now. One was killed a couple weeks ago another yesterday. Killed and gone. They are hunting as a pack now. Probably coyote parents and last year’s pups. Great! and breeding season is here. The coyotes are out of control on this hill. I’ve been here 48 years and I’ve never ever had them pull down a full grown goat or sheep. Lambs and chickens are their go to meal when they can get away with it. I stopped raising lambs here years ago because of coyotes. And I got great joy raising lambs on this farm too! Taken away because of those killers. Fine.
I can’t imagine what will happen if they go unchecked. Another litter or more this year and no predators to keep the population down. I get irritated when they hit my chickens, but at least I can resolve that by keeping the chickens penned up. If one troublemaker comes around, s/he will be quickly dispatched by my rifle. That takes care of that problem a year or two. I cannot keep goats locked in a barn indefinitely. Their job is weed and brush control here. I hate to run a trap line but I’ll do what I have to protect my animals.
I moved my remaining goats away from my farm and to a friend’s secure farm. Since the food source (my goats) were removed from my farm, it’s been quiet here. Cougars can have a 50-150 square mile territory so it can be anywhere. Miles away or on my mountain. I hope with the Frat Boyz goats being gone, the cougar will move on.
While many of our neighbors have generously recounted numerous, amazing local animal encounters, all of which are unique and encompass varied “flavors,” one outstanding feature is ubiquitous to all. The Skyline community truly respects and admires our four-legged and bird neighbors. They are seen as valuable and cherished presences, despite their showing up as not just warm and fuzzy encounters, but sometimes in truly challenging situations.
A fairly universal concern, especially to anyone who drives our dark roads on foggy, drizzly evenings, is deer along the road sides. How often do we creep along on Oregon’s typical dreary nights, keeping eyes peeled for roadside eyes in our head lights. Two neighbors recounted their trials as the sad inevitable unfolded for them: each struck a quirky deer that suddenly spooked, propelling them right into their vehicles.
OH DEER!!!
From Laurel Erhardt – “Late one night, years ago, a young buck bounded out of the Doug firs in front of my car giving me no time to stop. Hitting him solidly in the hindquarters, the momentum threw him 20 feet off the road. It was obvious if I left him, he’d suffer terribly.
I called Joe, an experienced hunter; however, although, morally and ethically correct to put this animal out of its misery, Joe would be in violation several of hardcore rules good hunters never break. We decided to apprise the property owners of the situation. On the one hand, we didn’t want to be shooting a deer in their field at night; on the other, would they talk to us or shoot at us? “Hello," an elderly female voice comes through the speaker. My response gushes out. “Hello, I’m sorry to bother you, but I’ve hit a deer, and he’s in your field, and he’s not dead; and we’d like to take care of him but we just didn’t want to do this without letting you know,” “Oh, our deer, I just love them. I worry about them so. You know those cars go so fast. It’s not like it used to be. They’re not down by the road are they? I worry so much. We feed them apples you know, in our back yard. Two bucks. Oh, I wish they would stay away from the road.”
“I HIT A DEER. He’s in YOUR field!”
GASP. “Now you’ve got me crying. What are we going to do? I don’t know what to do.”
“ I’m so sorry. But you don’t have to do anything. We will take care of it all. We just want you to know we’re going to be in your field, and we’ll take care of him.” She insists that I call her and let her know how it all comes out. I’m wondering what does she expect me to tell her? We cannot leave the “pet deer” dead by the side of the road for the distraught elderly couple to see; however dumping a deer carcass is not as easy as it seems; so, after several attempts, Joe brought the carcass back home. We came to the conclusion that we know needy people who would be most appreciative to have this venison. So Joe stayed up to the wee hours dressing out the deer.
The next day I remember my promise to call the home owner. It turns out she is so glad I called. She wanted to know everything. “Did your husband shoot it? Were you able to save the meat? Was your car damaged? Are you all OK?” Two of her comments made me chuckle over how concerned I had been for her. Before she had started feeding the deer, she had done her due diligence - they couldn’t be held liable for a car hitting a deer on the road. Most importantly, she was overjoyed; her two little bucks had been in the orchard this morning. Obviously, I had gotten an intruder!
Another dark, rainy night, another deer zigzagging off Skyline onto the road right in front of our property! A neighbor had been driving very slowly and saw a few deer on the side; they were all moving further off the road, but one she didn’t see was stranded on the other side and leapt across to follow the others surprising the driver completely. Fortunately, the driver had a rifle handy and was able to hasten any suffering on the deer’s part; but her car took a hit – dents here and there and some repair work necessary. Living close by, she was able to hurry home, dress the deer, and save the meat! She said, “I didn’t get much chance to taste it, but my kids and grandkids feasted away!”
From Jeffrey Miller; “We can laugh about it now; but we weren’t laughing when it happened. The Miller garden/property is enormous with thousands of flowering plants. Everything was set and ready for a fancy wedding the next day. The morning of the event arrived; and much to Jeff’s shock and horror, deer had jumped over the 7-foot elk fence and had managed to eat over 1,000 rose blooms on over 100 rose bushes in ONE NIGHT!!! Ergo, miles of fence that held elk successfully at bay had to be raised another 3 feet to be deer proof. Now the fence is tall enough; however tree branches fall onto it; and even though it’s “patrolled” regularly, by the time the fence damage is found, the deer have often feasted on their favorite, “rose-caviar.”
A sweet deer tale from Vickie Coghill: “Driving down Logie Trail, I saw a deer on the side of the road. I slowed way down because deer will zag in front of a vehicle in an instant. The doe paid no attention to me and kept looking at the fence. So I looked, too.
There was her baby stuck in the fence! It was an itty bitty spotted week old fawn. I stopped and pulled over to assess the situation. The baby had its front legs and part of her body through the fence but her back leg was woven through the wire and held fast. She was crying for her mama because there was no hope of her getting out of that. I went to her cautiously because I’ve seen enough mad mama videos, and I didn’t want that mama deer kicking my head in.
I went to the baby slowly, and all the while speaking softly and keeping my ears open for hoof stomping or other warning signs of an attack. I told the mama I’d help her, and I asked her to please don’t hurt or kill me.
She stood nicely about 20’ away as I pulled and untangled her precious, adorable, soft baby from the wire. It was tricky with the back leg, but I got her released in a couple minutes. I don’t know how that little thing got so woven in that fencing! I checked her out good for injuries and thankfully there were none. Not a scratch. I packed her several feet past the fence and stood her up. As soon as she was on the ground mama deer came and checked her out with a couple licks. Then off she slowly walked with her baby bouncing behind her. It was an amazing thing to witness. There was no hurry and no panic. I think she trusted me to help. It was such a beautiful thing to be involved in. With that crying baby it would have been a very short time before the coyotes in that ravine heard her and she would have been a goner for sure.
I was overjoyed and blessed to be a part of that special rescue! It was a great day! ♥️🦌”
ELK EVERYWHERE
From Karen McDaniel: “Several years ago, my husband Daryl came home from work, driving his F-350 extended cab truck, when he noticed a small herd of elk on the hill above our house, chomping on my blueberry bushes and apple trees. Annoyed, he put the truck into four wheel drive and drove up the hill, honking his horn at them.
The elk dispersed. Daryl returned to the driveway and parked for the night. The following morning, when he was leaving for work, he discovered a very large pile of elk droppings on his front bumper, which was at a convenient height for whichever elk decided to make a political comment.”
From Jim Kessinger: “When the Fall pumpkin season is finished, we have literally tons of pumpkins left over, so I put them out for the elk; and in less than a week, they’ve eaten hundreds and hundreds of pounds of pumpkin – there’s nothing left. Elk can be dangerous, especially in the Fall when the bulls are active. One morning, my older dog wasn’t in her usual place on the porch. I went out in the fields to find her; and who knows how?...I found her; she had been trampled to death by elk.”
THE CRAFTY COUGAR
From one neighbor: “After talking to several neighbors near and far, I have learned there is a cougar in the area. In the last few months several people lost lambs, which could have been eaten by coyotes. Full grown goats and sheep have disappeared and also a pregnant ewe. Gone without a trace. One horse on Skyline had rake marks on its sides and back from that cougar. Luckily the horse survived. Cougars will kill and pack the victim off to eat and then cache the rest of it for later.”
From Alex Rose: For the first two years we owned this property, our caretaker told us of a cougar that had been sniffing around his truck. He had two medium-sized dogs that might have attracted the big cat; or perhaps the smell of butchered meat he sometimes carried. The house on this property is perched high, affording a full view of a large meadow that we can see at all times.
Lo and behold, on a sunny afternoon, the first summer we lived here, a large long-tailed cat leisurely strolled across the entire stretch of the meadow. It was so surprising and beautiful to see! We were enthralled. Two sides of the meadow are surrounded by heavily-treed ravines filled with elk paths and wildlife; and we see trees down there scarred with long and deep rake marks, very high on the trunks. Two weeks ago, I saw a large dog-like (I thought) animal near our driveway about ¼ mile from the house. I couldn’t ascertain what it was; and before I could grab the binoculars, it suddenly startled and proceeded to race the full length of the meadow towards the treed ravines. Thinking at first it was a coyote, I then noted the long tail; and it ran stretched out like a cheetah so fast, I couldn’t grab the binocs in time.
Another neighbor, “It happened in the early hours of the morning in 2018 when I was going to do chores at my father’s (Don Jenkins ) house. I heard a deep grunting sound that went on and off as I walked down towards the barn, When I arrived, the goat was not there, and the sheep was in distress. I took the dogs into the field to find the goat and assess the sheep. The dogs refused to chase, but I saw the cougar’s eyes glowing back at me! The goat had been pulled up onto a burn pile by the cougar, who retreated when the dogs and I arrived. Sadly, Johnny Carson, our dear goat did not make it.”
THE BOTHERSOME BEAR
Bear are showing up on a more regular basis; so I’m saving bear tales for the spring when Ben Cate, our representative from the ODFW will be making a bear presentation for the community at the Skyline Grange.
From Dick Gilkeson - “My neighbor noticed that one of his bee hives had been moved about forty feet overnight. He reported the incident and said he believed it was a visiting bear. The response was that no bears had been seen in the Forest Park area since 1985, and that it must have been raccoons moving his beehives around.
Mark insisted that it was more likely a bear since no raccoon was strong enough to move a hive across his field. He insisted that the animal control folks set up a trap that would catch a bear, if one actually existed, to go after food left in a cage at the end of a tunnel-like opening. Sure enough the next morning there was a bear in the trap which was then carted off Mark’s property.”
THE BRAINY BOBCAT
Bobcats (also known as Lynx) are part of our landscape, and their fluffy kitten offspring are so much fun to see and watch, reminding us enormously of our own feline companions.
From Casselle La Tourette - “This really cute bobcat mother began showing up with her two captivating kittens. It was a dry summer, so lots of wildlife were moving in closer and closer to the house. We wanted to try our hand at chickens, so we built what I thought was the Fork Knox for chickens; but the crafty Bobcat mom taught us a thing or two. First she burrowed under the fence; we fixed that; then, she jumped over the fence – another chicken down; so, we covered the coop area but not the entire chicken run, which was large; and the chickens were only let out into their run if the gardener was right there with them. But then, one day he stepped just a few feet away; and like a shot, Bobcat Mom flew over the chicken fence and escaped with yet another feathered meal. We realized she was always with us, watching us at all times We had become her Seven-Eleven! Having a small child wobbling around the garden, I realized that my baby, too, was being surveilled under the watchful eye of our “resident” Bobcat…Our creature neighbors teach us a thing or two, so I understood I had to take measures…”
FEATHERED FRIENDS
From Brad Graff – “One morning we looked out the backyard and saw a bald eagle on the putting green. It was unusual to see a bald eagle on the ground so we were very curious what it was doing there. We took out the binoculars and saw that it was moving a golf ball around. We think it thought it was an egg. After playing with the golf ball for about 5 minutes, the eagle picked it up and flew away to its nest. Somewhere there was a nice Titleist-One ball lining his nest. I hope she is still not trying to hatch it.
We heard some really weird screeching noises coming from a tree about 50 yards from the house. We saw it was two baby Great Horned owls and their mother. The babies are total fluff monsters when they are small. They stayed around for a few months, and we got to see them in different areas all around the house.”
THE BEE KEEPER
A call came in - There’s a swarm of bees….” Can you come get them?” ‘Beekeeper Joe’ asks the usual questions: “Where ya live? (Don’t wanna drive to hellandgone for a swarm of bees!) How long they been there? (You wanna know how many times I’ve driven to pick up a swarm and they’re gone before I get there?) But this call is sounding all pretty good. Big ol’ swarm on a low branch in a leafy tree. Been there all day in a residential neighborhood (Joe’d be the hero!).
Joe Cool arrives. It’s a hot spring day. As the coolest of bee keepers know, you don’t need to wear the whole hot bee suit when you’re collecting swarms. They’re pretty docile at this stage of their lives. They’re not protecting their hives, they’re conserving energy so they’re in “no-sting” mode. A small crowd of neighbors gathered to watch the show. They’ve obviously been worried about the bees all day - keeping the kids indoors during the threat. They are standing at a very, very respectful distance. Joe puts on his gloves and veiled hat but doesn’t bother with the suit. He’s wearing a cotton button up shirt with the first three or four buttons undone – cause it’s hot – and he’s cool. He approaches the swarm and murmurs rustle thru the crowd…. No suit? Won’t he get stung? They are standing, watching in awe. Subconsciously, leaning away from the bees – prepared to bolt and run….Holding their children closely, prepared for the worst yet not able to look away.
Calmly approaching the low hanging hive, Joe’s acutely aware that all eyes are on him, and he’s (the hero.?) He’s placed the hive box directly under the bee swarm. Next, he gives the branch the swarm is on a sharp shake; and the ball of bees will simply drop into the hive-box which it always does. He grabs the branch, smiles at the crowd, and gives it the sharp, snap, shake that he knows will cause the bees to neatly plop into the waiting box below. The crowd stands in disbelief at his casualness in such a dire situation – and gasps - then he shakes the branch, which catapults the bees and sends the whole ball of bees inside his half buttoned shirt. Since the shirt was tucked in, he had now just captured the swarm in a cute little bee paunch, and was able to “box” them at home.
RACCOON RASCALS
From Jeanine Gilkeson – Every Fall around the first month in September we have furry visitors. Over the years we have grown Concord grapes on a pair of vines that stretch from the ground to our second-floor deck and then up over an arbor over our outdoor table. Naturally, as the grapes ripen, they attract nearby raccoons, who work their way up the vines to get at the sweet-smelling bounty. Unfortunately, raccoons are not the neatest eaters in the forest, and they manage to spit out the all the grape skins as they work their way across the arbor. Now grape skins are one thing, but the number two thing is also their specialty, and I do mean number two! As they get their fill they also manage to poop all over the deck below the arbor making quite a mess.
One year I decided to trap the creatures in a live trap and I was feeling so proud when the trap worked. I even found two raccoon children in the trap together. Normally, I would cart the grape thieves off to destinations that shall remain secret; however, the last time I put the live trap out I got an unexpected alternative: namely, a smaller black and white creature that was clearly not my neighbor’s cat. Yes, it was a skunk- and I had to figure out how to get it out of the trap. Can you guess how I did it?
WILY COYOTES
Unlike their wolf cousins rarely hunt in packs it’s been a rough month here. The coyotes are on my full grown goats now. One was killed a couple weeks ago another yesterday. Killed and gone. They are hunting as a pack now. Probably coyote parents and last year’s pups. Great! and breeding season is here. The coyotes are out of control on this hill. I’ve been here 48 years and I’ve never ever had them pull down a full grown goat or sheep. Lambs and chickens are their go to meal when they can get away with it. I stopped raising lambs here years ago because of coyotes. And I got great joy raising lambs on this farm too! Taken away because of those killers. Fine.
I can’t imagine what will happen if they go unchecked. Another litter or more this year and no predators to keep the population down. I get irritated when they hit my chickens, but at least I can resolve that by keeping the chickens penned up. If one troublemaker comes around, s/he will be quickly dispatched by my rifle. That takes care of that problem a year or two. I cannot keep goats locked in a barn indefinitely. Their job is weed and brush control here. I hate to run a trap line but I’ll do what I have to protect my animals.
I moved my remaining goats away from my farm and to a friend’s secure farm. Since the food source (my goats) were removed from my farm, it’s been quiet here. Cougars can have a 50-150 square mile territory so it can be anywhere. Miles away or on my mountain. I hope with the Frat Boyz goats being gone, the cougar will move on.