Another predator after my chickens

We've lost another chicken or two over the last couple of days. The kids do most of the feeding, watering, and egg collecting, so they usually have the most current news of anything going on. They discovered a place where a critter had either reached into a chicken pen and pulled out a hen or had gone into the pen to grab one. Instead of telling us the kids tried to block the opening with a lid from a plastic storage bin propped into place with a 2x4. The fix was fairly secure and probably would have worked for a while. I found out we had a predator when I saw feathers scattered over a 10'x20' area in the yard. The kids have new instructions to let us know immediately if they see anything unusual.

I put out the gigantic live-catch trap last night, baited with a raw chicken leg. The leg was in a pack purchased long ago and stuck in the freezer and it has come open so the leg was somewhat freezer burned. I hope the predator doesn't mind the freezer burn but if it goes for the bait it won't have long to worry about it.

The kids also noted a drop-off in egg production from one pen. The last time that happened we found a large rat snake living under the big plastic garbage can that is the combination shelter/laying spot for those birds. After I killed the snake the egg production went back to normal. I either have another snake or the same critter that stole the birds has been stealing eggs as well.

I'll have to take care of this problem. I've got a craving for a cheese omelet and I don't want to share with anything on four feet or no feet.

I Like Going to The Farm

I like going to that part of the country because it still has that feel of being free. In the towns you aren't constantly captured on camera. There are no metal detectors. When people mention "the government" it isn't with love or awe in their voices.

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I went out this weekend to clear some limbs and open up an area where we are planning on building a new blind and also to pick up some fire wood. The saws ran great. Limbs and trees came down, and the bed of my truck was filled.

I saw a little 2x2 whitetail buck that was red like a Hereford cow is red. I saw two mule deer bucks still in velvet. One was a 3x3 and the other at least a 4x4+brown tines and he was a little asymmetric with one big tine crossing over the middle of his head. I saw lots of turkeys.

There were still a few plums on some bushes but we didn't take the time to pick them. There are still plums in my freezer waiting to be made into jelly.

The grass burs were thick in places.

I wish I had more time I could take off and spend there.

Dead deer at the farm

My dad was at the farm yesterday and when he went by the house he was greeted by an overpowering stench of death. He quickly found that the source was two dead mule deer. One was in the yard near the front door. It was mostly consumed and dried out to little more than skin and bones. Some of the bones were scattered but he could see that all four legs and the head were still there. The other deer was still at the point that liquid was running out of it. The second deer was on the concrete porch by the front door and under the porch overhang. That deer also had all four legs and the head. There were buzzards around an old junk pile about a quarter mile away that may indicate another deer but my dad didn't investigate that.

The game warden asked that we not disturb the deer until he had a chance to look them over, although he admits he probably won't be able to find many clues in what is left.

We suspect one of the following:

1. Feral natives driving around looking for something to steal or vandalize saw the deer and thought it would be fun to shoot them for no reason. Mule deer are not very wary and you can often walk or drive up to within 20 feet of them. You may ask "Wouldn't the second deer run away after you shot the first one?" and the answer would be "Not necessarily." I shot a 3x5 mule deer buck one morning. While the doe was looking at me trying to figure out what all the noise was about the buck ran off into the trees. After a minute or so the doe looked around for the buck and was surprised to find him gone. Then she went back to feeding. The problem with this scenario is the difference in the decomposition between the two deer. Possibly the one on the porch decayed slower because it is in the shade almost the whole day.

2. Someone poached the deer nearby and thought they would use the flat and relatively clean porch as a place to set them while they cut off the hind quarters but they were frightened off by something like a vehicle driving by.

3. The deer could have found some cotton or wheat seed that was treated with insecticide. That will kill deer and livestock. The deer could have found the seed a week or more apart. Wildlife is attracted to the area around the porch because we have a trough set up to collect rainwater. The scary part about this scenario is that it means there is probably a pile of treated seed somewhere and more deer may get into it. It could be on our farm or some other farm or it could have fallen off somebody's trailer and be sitting in a ditch.

We'll probably never know what happened to them. The question is: What to do about the bodies?

The one in the yard is mostly gone so we probably won't do anything with it. The one on the porch has reached the point that it would be messy and probably come apart if we tried to move it. My dad's suggestion is to leave the one on the porch for another week or two and give it a chance to dry out. Then scrape the remains off with hoes and use them to drag them out away from the house. If he had gone down there a few days earlier he could have just tied a rope around the neck and drug it off with his truck.

If these deer were killed by some yahoo out wasting time then I hope the jerk brags to someone and they turn him in. If they were killed by treated seed then I hope that a bunch of wild pigs finds it and cleans it up before more deer get into it.

Will vs. Beneficiary

If you have any stocks or mutual funds with a beneficiary listed then you should make sure that the beneficiary agrees with what is in your will. I found out that the beneficiary takes precedence over your will, at least most of the time.

The best advice is to go to a good lawyer that specializes in this sort of thing. A good lawyer can help ensure that there aren't a bunch of loose ends and make sure that your wishes are carried out.

If you want to make sure that certain things go to your kids instead of to your second spouse's children from a previous marriage then you need to get good legal advice on how to do it.

Another batch of eggs in the incubator

They've been in two weeks now. The smell this morning indicates that we've got a bad one again. I hate getting a rotten egg in the incubator. I guess I'll have to go through and give them all the smell test so I can get the bad one out before it pops.

Received a letter from my credit card company yesterday

It informed me that they are raising my limit.

What is that all about?

I guess they are just being optimistic.

Unreasonable search? How about x-ray machines mounted in vans to scan other cars on the street?

Here is your link.

The short form is that government agencies in the US and other countries have purchased over 500 mobile x-ray machines mounted in vans. The purpose is to drive around and see what you have in your car or concealed on your person. If they don't already have the ability to search your house you can bet that they will soon.

The article doesn't say how many of the machines were purchased by the US vs. other countries and doesn't say how/where they are deployed. I suspect a number of the one's owned by the US may be in Iraq. Probably the SS (secret service) has a number of these to go along with the Presidential motorcades in the US and abroad.

Their use will become more widespread and the technology will become cheaper.

This reminds me of a book by Aurthur C. Clarke called "The Light of Other Days". In that book scientists and engineers working for a company discovered a way to force open wormholes anywhere and anywhen they wanted to so they could watch anyone at any time. The technology soon became so inexpensive that everyone had one and could watch everyone else.

It is an interesting read and well worth the time.

The thing that makes this x-ray machine much worse than the book is that in the book they never figured out how to use the technology to see in the dark so you could have some privacy in total darkness. With an x-ray machine you will never have privacy.

Big Brother just got a new toy.