Category: Animals

The thick fog made everything a little softer this morning.

Bud did it again.  Fate and Zinnia came running into the house when I called them, but not Bud.

Then I saw the hole he dug under the gate.  The big log pushed away and a pile of rich brown soil.

Bud was standing in front of the barn, looking lost.  Zinnia was on the porch as if nothing unusual was happening and the hens were under the Lilac.  I called Bud and he came running. Relieved, I think, to be back on familiar ground.

The logs piled in front of the gate were a temporary solution to Bud’s digging.  They worked through the winter when the ground was frozen.   We thought maybe Bud would forget about digging by the time spring came.

But it seems now that Bud has started digging he’s not going to stop.

The big flat rocks worked on the front fence.  Since I put them there he has stopped digging into he front yard.  So today I began lining the gate with more big flat rocks. (we have plenty from the old barn foundation in the barnyard)  I also buried some chicken wire along the gate line, hoping if he does start digging it might be a deterrent.

I got half the work done and will finish the rest next weekend.  Until then I put a pallet and more logs on the half I didn’t get to.

When I let Bud out after doing the work, he ran right to place where he had dug the hole.  He walked up and down the gate checking out the rocks then lifted his leg and peed on them.

I guess if they were going to be there, he was going to make sure everyone knew that they were his.

Issachar grabbed a mouthful of hay as I carried it to the feeders.  The donkeys and sheep surrounded me, eager for breakfast.

Except for Lori.

She stood at the fence staring into the yard.  I called her over, but she ignored me. I began to worry that something was wrong.

As I walked up to her and she turned to look at me then looked away.  By the time I got to her, she was nibbling on the bit of green that was growing under the rocks on the fence line.

In the same way Fate will sit at the drawer with the dog treats in it and look back and forth from it to me, I felt like Lori was telling me she didn’t want hay, she wanted the grass growing on the other side of the fence.

“Sorry Lori, ” I said, not yet.  The grass isn’t ready for you yet.  But soon.”

I went to muck out the barn and when I was done Lori was at the feeder with the rest of the sheep, munching away.

Zip and Zinnia were all over each other this morning. While Fate stood by and watched.

When Jon and I first got together, my dog Frieda would bark and lunge at his dogs.   But over time Jon’s Lab Lenore taught Frieda that they could take a walk together.  Soon she learned to be with his border collies Rose and Izzy too.  Lenore was as sweet and generous as Zinnia is.  It really felt like she was trying to make Frieda feel more comfortable in her new home.

Maybe Fate will learn from Zinnia and see that she doesn’t have to just stalk or ignore Zip.  Or, maybe not.

It’s true that I’ve been dismantling Zip’s hay castle all winter long.   Last week I took the hay bale that made a cozy cave for Zip to sleep in (complete with cushion).

But now that the temperatures are warmer his three sided lean-to serves another purpose.  Cozy in his corner Zip can look out over his kingdom from high up.

Depending on when the grass is good for grazing, Zip’s castle will continue to  diminish.  But I have no doubt he will find a summer place to roost.

And in just a few months we’ll be building him another hay castle, when we get our hay delivery for next winter.

I was picking up dog poop so my eyes were focused on the ground.  What I saw looked like an intestine or other organ left behind by a cat after killing and eating a small rodent.

I bent down to get a closer look.

What I was seeing was actually two very thick earthworms about eight inches long.  Two inches of them seemed glued together by a bubbly white foam where they overlapped.   And just as quickly as I realized what they were, they broke apart, each worm disappearing in their own hole in the earth.

I didn’t know what I had witnessed but had a good idea it may have been two earthworms mating.  I easily confirmed just that when I found a photo on  Science Learning Hub.

Then I ran right upstairs to tell Jon who was just getting out of bed.  He was a little flustered.  It’s not what he expected.

The thrill for me was partly how unexpected it was to see two earth worms mating, but also that I happened to look down at the 8 inch patch of ground at the moment this little miracle was happening.

What I thought was something from the end of life turned out to be just the opposite.  I was watching the beginning of new life.

An inspiring way to start the day.