Friday, June 14, 2013

My Poor Fedex Ground Guy

Yesterday it was pouring. What's new. There was a loud knock at the door and I ran upstairs to find the FedEx Ground guy running to his truck. I picked up the package and yelled to the guy. He is usually chatty and since I talk to noone all day long, I yelled thank you. No reply. Odd. And then it hit me. He thinks we are some kind of crazy people. As he walked to the house, he passed half a carcass of a lamb complete with head and 2 front legs. 

I yelled my apologies but he was already in the truck speeding away. I knew I should have picked that thing up. But the dogs were having so much fun with it carrying it around. 


For all you folks reading who think everything is sunny and full of peonies, let's say the past few weeks have been full of pouring down rain, broken tractors and lamb perils. The coyotes have had their babies, the fawns are being born (saw one yesterday), multiple parts of the tractor and haying implements have been breaking down every sunny day, the plow broke so the veggie and flower garden can't be readied. And it won't stop raining.

Mostly it is the coyote losses that get us down. Yesterday The Farmer let a bunch of ewes with their babies out into a pasture to graze for the day. Not a half hour later, he was driving the tractor to collect something and a coyote ran in front of him. That coyote. He hopped off the tractor and went to the grazing sheep. Yup - a coyote killed dead lamb. This animal has been feasting on lambs left and right, night after night. We have a guard dog, a guard llama, a guard donkey, very decent fencing. This thing won't stop. And that is only with one group of sheep in Bernardston. Coyotes are rugged, hungry, very resourceful. The Farmer said this one looked healthy. He has been eating good. It is really driving The Farmer nuts. Me, I think about the poor mama looking for its baby and also the loss of revenue.

Here at our house, three nights ago, it was raining and Winston was barking more than usual. The Farmer got up to see what he could see in the middle of the night. Better him than me considering where he had to walk to and through in the dark, climbing through tall grass and over all kinds of fallen tree limbs and trunks. He couldn't see anything in particular. But when he got up to the house, he noticed Winston had followed him back up the hill and brought the head and 2 front legs of a sheep with him. So that was the ruckus. Too late. 

As for throwing out the dead lamb, the coyote was scared off. He would have eaten it or at least carried it away. Why let a good lamb go to waste so I let the dogs gnaw on it. Something might as well enjoy it.

Julia did notice it. When she got home from school the other day, she said "Mommy, was that a lamb's head I walked past on the way to the school bus?" "Yes Julia." Poor kid - can't believe it doesn't give her nightmares. Sure would have given them to me when I was 14. But it is all in a day around here. Nothing really bothers the kid, or me I guess. Thank goodness because we never know what the next day will bring. 

I'm not sure the FedEx guy will come back. Crazy hillbillies. (That's what I have started referring to us as.)

10 comments:

Patricia said...

While I am sitting here in the city working.(ha!) I live in the country. I regularly see foxes, and once I think I did see a coyote. We have deer infestation, they eat everything. Last year the neighbor was beset by a ground hog. The poor man got nothing from his garden. this is life. Kids understand far more than anyone realizes.

Take care,
Patty in Sparks

Laci D. Stokesay said...

LOL ... I am a country girl but headless sheep or any animal for that matter would sadden me enough to move to the city ... I used to hate watching the dairy cows getting their horns cut off ... But on the flip side I can hunt go figure?
You are probably right the Fed Ex guy will be walking on egg shells next time he comes ... LOL

Auntie Shan said...

You do realize, don't you, that you have the makings of a "teaser" scene for a great "sit-com"..?!

*SHEEP-WIVES of WEST MASS*

:-D

Joyce said...

Our Avon lady used to sit in the car and honk her horn so that my Mom could escort her in safely . . . our dog wasn't a killer, he just sounded like one. Hugs - - - things are bound to look up soon.

hawknitr13 said...

life on a farm is nature at its best and worst! life isn't always what we think, hope or dream it will be... but there's always 'tomorrow! tomorrow!... as the song goes!!! Bless you for telling us 'like it is'!!!
^)^ linda

Unknown said...

Truly survival of the fittest...Hang in there!!

MicheleinMaine said...

Oh my! Sounds like a rough week! We've had a fawn in our field a couple days this week - so amazing and cute, but soon it will start gnawing on my garden like the rest of the herd!

Hang in there!

Cinderellen said...

Oh the glamour of farm life. Too rugged for me, I'm afraid. Sorry to hear your profits are being literally eaten away.

Gail said...

Hi Kristin - I enjoy reading your blog. I am often going thru similar things as you, so its nice to know that I am not alone - I am outside albany, ny with sheep - not quite as many as you, but I don't have a Farmer to work with! I deal with alot of coyotes also & I think you need more dogs. I currently have 3 dogs & a donkey. I think the donkeys and llamas are not as effective as the dogs & once you have a problem, they are not as good at stopping it - they are more preventive. I know the dogs are a expense and take time to raise and keep, but I think they pay for themselves in the long run. Also, while depressing to dispose of the lamb carcass, it is more of a coyote draw than a treat for the dogs.
Good luck & hold on for a couple more days - supposed to have 4 dry days in a row!!!
gail

Sheep Farm adventures of a Shepherdess said...

As I read I was chuckling out load at the same time thinking to myself boy, glad to see we are not the only crazy hillbillies out there. There are some on the East Coast going through the same sh** as we are on the West Coast. At he same time hoping your Fed Ex guy is not a PEDA member.

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