2015 Fly-in and Varmints

Our fly-in this year was mostly in name only. It was really more of a "Friend reunion". John Hauck and Nell drove out in the spring, They ended up staying a while so Nell could recuperate from a fall that she took off the trailer steps. They then toured Alaska until it started getting cool, then came back to the house for the fly-in. Boyd Young drove out, because of vacation restraints and iffy weather for his return. Karen's niece Mici took the train and Mike was kind enough to take her for some rides in the cub. Toby had a run in with a tree while his plane was on a trailer, and had to turn back. Mike Marker and Jan flew in with a new Carbon Cub, and Roger trailered over. These folks are the core of the group, and every body else was occupied with other commitments. While we missed them, it was a much easier and relaxed time for Karen and I.

We had a few good days, and then the weather that Boyd was worried about came in, so we relaxed and just enjoyed each others company. Every body has slowly trickled back to their homes. The last, John and Nell, left Yesterday to continue on with their slow travel back to Alabama. We all had a great time, and Karen and I really enjoyed each and every one of them.

Over the last week or so, I noticed that I was losing baby Chicks. After a lot of trouble and three setting hens, I had managed to get four Aracuna chicks to hatch. My old Roster is infertile, so I had to depend on Tammi for hatching eggs. The Chicks although pretty good sized begin to disappear. Then the other day  I saw where a varmint had grabbed and carried off one of my older hens. I am actually missing three Buff Orphington full grown Chickens and three young chicks. Of course my first thought was Coyote. There have been a bunch of pups hanging around the place, and I thought that one of them was sneaking into the yard and grabbing them. I  noticed today that the nest that one of my hens had been setting, and left four addled eggs in, was now empty. Brick was sniffing around the area pretty intensely. I now know that he was smelling the Coons and the left overs from the rotten eggs.

I have been watching pretty close but haven't seen anything until today. Josie my little female Brittney, is my eyes. Her vision is much more dependable than mine. She doesn't bark, she just "Uff's" when she sees something. She is a great watch dog, and is so much more valuable to me because she doesn't go nuts and run around barking and scaring every thing off. She just watches and alerts me to potential problems. She has slowly become so much more valuable because of this trait. She warns of of Snakes, chases off the Harriers and Ravens if they get too close, and now seems to be developing into a "seeing Eye Dog" for her apparently rapidly aging owner.

This evening we were sitting outside by the hot tub enjoying the evening, when she began to "Uff Uff" while looking across the creek. I got the bino's and looked and looked, but could see nothing. Finally I expanded my search and saw the Coyote that I had been looking for, going up the Creek. By the time I got ready to shoot him, he was out of sight up the creek.

The sun set had lit up the few clouds that we had, with their full colors, and I took a few pictures of them.

I stayed outside and read until it begin to get dark. I then locked up the Chickens against the varmints, and gathered up the dogs to go inside. Josie was sitting in her regular spot on the couch, and I had walked over to close the door. She began "Uffing" again while sitting on the couch. She wouldn't quit either. I let both of the dogs out, told her to show me what she was upset about, but Brick, ( aptly named, due to the thickness of his lovable head) kept trying to get her to play. Eventually I saw something in the Elm Tree that didn't belong. When the smoke cleared these are the responsible parties to my Chicken losses.

I owe the Coyotes an apology apparently. I have had more Chicken and Pigeon losses to these guy's than I care to remember. They are relentless once they discover a food source. Its too bad for both of us, but there can only be one outcome, I just got them before they did too much damage this time.  It is normally much more difficult and I usually have to resort to traps to get rid of them. Of course I would prefer to not have to kill a mother and pups, but sometimes there is no recourse. A couple of years ago one actually tore a hole in the roof of the Pigeon house to get to the birds inside.  Perhaps now things will settle down a bit.