Yesterday I noticed a very large, brown spider walking down a tunnel that traverses about 250 yards through solid rock at Boundary Dam. Now, there are a lot of spiders up here, no doubt, but this one was different. He seemed old and didn't scurry away when I walked up.
I know he noticed me just by his actions yet he kept walking, slowly deliberately towards the exit of the tunnel. His pace wasn't hurried and it almost seemed to be arthritic in its manner. But he was making progress.
I was in the middle of doing a round and didn't have time to watch him for more than just a couple of minutes. But he kept going, never waivering in his direction of travel like a man lost in the desert that sees the glow of civilization only a few miles ahead of him. One spider leg in front of the other, nothing hurried just determined.
I don't really like spiders other than they are interesting in their colors and their web designs and their patience but this one seemed different.
Today, I am starting up the same tunnel but I have to take a detour that leads down some steps-14 to be exact to a visitors area. I go down the steps, then as I am coming back up, half way down the steps is the body of the spider. I have no doubt it is the same one. He is on his back and his legs are curled up. He has walked probably 75 to 100 yards from where I last saw him.
I truly felt sad for this old spider was trying to get to the safety of the outside world and failed. He took the detour which led him down the stairs. I assume he died trying to get back up them after he realized he had taken the wrong path.
Why would I feel sorry for a spider? I don't know but I know I could relate a lot of the human existence in him and his travels. He had somehow got into the tunnel, probably because of the warmth it provided. But the tunnels are almost sterile of life and who knows how long it took before he wanted the warmth of the sunlight on him again.
To me it's a sad story but it is the story of life....
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Longhorns and an Electric Fence
When I moved up from Texas I soon found two bred longhorn cows for sale. So I bought them. It was great having a couple of cows. They reminded me of Texas and they were truly beautiful cows. The next spring one calved and the other turned out to be not pregnant.
The calf was beautiful, truly. The cow would leave it hidden in the grass or under a large bunch of trees just like a deer and then return to feed it on regular intervals. Except if you decided to go walking towards the baby, then she was there in an instance to make sure her calf was safe.
Both of these cows were extremely friendly and I enjoyed the heck out of petting them. The calf quickly grew and by winter he became a true nightmare. He would easily jump the fence and tear up the hay pile. He had learned that the hot wire really didn't bite that much so he would just go through it.
The next spring, I knew I needed a stronger fencer than the one I had. I went to Bleyls in Sunnyside to look for a bigger model. They were out of all the intermediary ones but had one that was good for several miles of fence. Well, I didn't exactly have several miles of fence but I figured that this one would pack more of a zap and keep the yearling in.
And it did. The calf and cows learned immediately that the fence was no longer to be messed with so they stayed away from it....great I had solved that problem!!!
So one day I am out checking the irrigation on the pasture and it had broken loose so the whole pasture was saturated with water. No big deal. I had a hoe and was chopping any errant weeds I found and soon found one under the hot wire fence....
I went to chop the weed and the next thing I knew there was a loud "pop" and I was knocked onto my butt! The shock had been so strong that it was truly scary! I sat there for a minute while the cows watched me and then decided I should get rid of this maximum range fencer and get a more appropriate one! I did and never had any more problems with that!!!
The calf was beautiful, truly. The cow would leave it hidden in the grass or under a large bunch of trees just like a deer and then return to feed it on regular intervals. Except if you decided to go walking towards the baby, then she was there in an instance to make sure her calf was safe.
Both of these cows were extremely friendly and I enjoyed the heck out of petting them. The calf quickly grew and by winter he became a true nightmare. He would easily jump the fence and tear up the hay pile. He had learned that the hot wire really didn't bite that much so he would just go through it.
The next spring, I knew I needed a stronger fencer than the one I had. I went to Bleyls in Sunnyside to look for a bigger model. They were out of all the intermediary ones but had one that was good for several miles of fence. Well, I didn't exactly have several miles of fence but I figured that this one would pack more of a zap and keep the yearling in.
And it did. The calf and cows learned immediately that the fence was no longer to be messed with so they stayed away from it....great I had solved that problem!!!
So one day I am out checking the irrigation on the pasture and it had broken loose so the whole pasture was saturated with water. No big deal. I had a hoe and was chopping any errant weeds I found and soon found one under the hot wire fence....
I went to chop the weed and the next thing I knew there was a loud "pop" and I was knocked onto my butt! The shock had been so strong that it was truly scary! I sat there for a minute while the cows watched me and then decided I should get rid of this maximum range fencer and get a more appropriate one! I did and never had any more problems with that!!!
Friday, September 7, 2012
Chicks, chicks and more chicks
Fall is definitely in the air; the mornings are cool and wet with dew yet the afternoons are still pleasantly warm. Fall, the foreboden of winter is a time for the dogs to finally quit shedding and start adding a winter coat, for the chicks to gain size so that they can last through the winter, but not for new chicks to be born!
Yesterday, September 6, another hen came off with 8 babies. Hmm. These are a slow growing variety that mainly fend for themselves. That means that this clutch of chicks will barely have any size by the time the cold winds of winter set in.
I knew the hen was fixing to sit on her eggs but I didn't interfere because I felt sorry for her. Seems that she sat on a batch of eggs for way too long and none of them hatched. I think this was because as she was sitting there in the corner of the barn, a crippled hen who never really gained any size or maturity started cuddling up to her.
This crippled hen must have been hurt in the spine when she was growing for she walked with her toes curled and couldn't stand up. When she walked it was with a fast forward momentum before she would fall. I didn't have the heart to dispatch her and actually she did pretty good and made it into almost adulthood. Then she took up with this hen that had decided to nest on the floor as she(the crippled one) couldn't fly up to the roosts like all of her family did.
The sitting hen decided that if her eggs weren't going to hatch she would adopt the crippled young hen which appeared to be more than acceptable for the crippled hen. She would cluck and call over the crippled hen for whatever morsel she found. This continued all summer.
Then about a month ago, she started laying in a box in an abandoned building. The crippled hen would stay below her when she started to sit. I didn't even think of the ramifications of that but soon they happened-a coyote or other predator took the crippled hen who no longer had the protection of the chicken coop. It made me sad.
So I allowed the hen to sit and hatch her babies and I guess we will see if she makes it through the winter with them. That will depend on the severity of the winter, luck, and predators. There is a horned owl that comes fairly frequently and will take everything from chicks to adults if they are out too early in the morning or too late in the evening.
We will see what happens this winter but it is My Farm Life!
Bob
Yesterday, September 6, another hen came off with 8 babies. Hmm. These are a slow growing variety that mainly fend for themselves. That means that this clutch of chicks will barely have any size by the time the cold winds of winter set in.
I knew the hen was fixing to sit on her eggs but I didn't interfere because I felt sorry for her. Seems that she sat on a batch of eggs for way too long and none of them hatched. I think this was because as she was sitting there in the corner of the barn, a crippled hen who never really gained any size or maturity started cuddling up to her.
This crippled hen must have been hurt in the spine when she was growing for she walked with her toes curled and couldn't stand up. When she walked it was with a fast forward momentum before she would fall. I didn't have the heart to dispatch her and actually she did pretty good and made it into almost adulthood. Then she took up with this hen that had decided to nest on the floor as she(the crippled one) couldn't fly up to the roosts like all of her family did.
The sitting hen decided that if her eggs weren't going to hatch she would adopt the crippled young hen which appeared to be more than acceptable for the crippled hen. She would cluck and call over the crippled hen for whatever morsel she found. This continued all summer.
Then about a month ago, she started laying in a box in an abandoned building. The crippled hen would stay below her when she started to sit. I didn't even think of the ramifications of that but soon they happened-a coyote or other predator took the crippled hen who no longer had the protection of the chicken coop. It made me sad.
So I allowed the hen to sit and hatch her babies and I guess we will see if she makes it through the winter with them. That will depend on the severity of the winter, luck, and predators. There is a horned owl that comes fairly frequently and will take everything from chicks to adults if they are out too early in the morning or too late in the evening.
We will see what happens this winter but it is My Farm Life!
Bob
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