Mystery #1

About 10 days ago, my daughter and I noticed that one of her big, light brahma chickens, was missing her tail feathers. Every one was gone, like something had pulled them out. She was also acting very nervous and was very hard to catch. Not like herself at all. It was all really strange and, in the end, we chalked it up to maybe the hen was having a spring molt.

Mystery #2

This past Monday morning, I let our dogs out the front door and noticed what I thought was a white plastic bag laying in our front pond, about 4 feet out from the bank. The more I looked, the more I realized that it was not a bag, that it was, in fact, one of our Pekin ducks. I quickly waded into the pond and saw that she was still alive, but barely. I wrapped her in a towel and got her up on the porch. The feathers had been torn out from her back, she was barely breathing, and she was obviously in bad shape. Long story short, I ended up having to put her down. It was a shitty experience that I have no desire to ever repeat, and for the love of us we could not figure out just what the hell had happened to her.

The Answer to Our Questions

Friday, Pookie and I rode the Harley down to Wilmington. The day was beautiful, and after pretty much two weeks of mostly rain, it felt good to be out in the sun and "in the wind". While we were gone, our daughter let the chickens/guineas out for their usual roam in the yard. We got home, and as we were getting off the bike, my husband's phone rang. It was our neighbor telling us that a large dog had gotten hold of one of our chickens and carried it into his yard. We were very fortunate that he managed to wrestle the hen out of the dogs mouth. It was one of my black australorps, Ella (aka "Crazy Eye"). She was alive, had a chunk of feathers missing from her back, and her skin was torn in two places. We carried her back to our yard, only to see the very dog that had hurt her splashing around in our pond, very interested in our remaining 3 ducks. He ended up running from our yard, our daughter in hot pursuit. In the end: #1 - we got close enough to see that he had on a collar with no tags. #2 - no one in the neighborhood knew who he belonged to, but they had been seeing him on and off for about a week and a half. And, #3 - the last we saw of him he was heading down the street.

So, today my husband and I went over to Tractor Supply and bought a gate for the driveway. Then when we got it home, my awesome, amazing husband hung it for me, even though he absolutely hates the idea of having one to open and close whenever he leaves or comes home. This fact makes me love him even more.

P.S. As I type this, Crazy Eye is recuperating out in the feed room. Two times a day I clean her wounds with peroxide, then I slather on antibiotic ointment. She is eating and drinking and we are cautiously optimistic about her recovery. The rest of the flock are out happily pecking around our fenced in 4 acres. Complete with a gate.


~SueSue

All Creatures Great and Small


Blue Herons are beautiful creatures.

Thanks to our ponds we have an abundance of waterfowl that visit us on a daily basis, and since living here we have had the privilege of seeing more Blue Herons than most people will ever see in a lifetime.

Things that I have learned about the Blue Heron:

Blue Herons are large birds. I'm talking HUGE. When they are full grown, they can reach 4 1/2 feet tall and have a wingspan of 6 feet 6 inches - that's as tall as Pookie!

Blue Herons have long, sharp bills which have been described as both 'impressive dagger-like', and 'sharp blade-like'.

Blue Herons are very patient. They stand very quietly at the edge of our pond, almost blending in with the grass and bank, just waiting for the perfect opportunity, the perfect snack, to swim by. Then, in a flash, they strike with that long, sharp bill and voila! Supper. Then they slowly, slowly, move a few feet down to their next fishing spot. This activity can last for hours.

I have seen Blue Herons at our front pond just before dawn, so herons are early risers too. There is something almost unearthly about seeing a Great Blue standing quietly there in the mist, just as the sun is trying to sneak up on the East'ard side of the Island. Always gives me goosebumps.

This morning I discovered that Blue Herons can also be vicious.

I had been over to the coop to let the chickens out. I had gathered their waterers and was over by the hose filling them, when I heard a racket coming from across the pond. I looked over and saw two herons, one on top of the other. I initially thought, "Well, hey! It's almost Spring". Then I saw the larger one, which was on the back of the smaller one, draw back that terrible, great bill and strike the much smaller one in the head. I immediately dropped the hose and ran around the pond waving my arms and screaming like a wild woman. I think I yelled "Hey! Stop it!" or some other useless phrase that I'm sure the heron could have given two shits less about. Anyway, I guess the combination of my yelling/arm waving/morning bed-head hair was enough to scare him and he stopped his attack and flew away. The smaller heron was obviously hurt and unable to stand. I went inside and got Pookie, and a blanket, and we walked back over to where it lay. After much discussion, we decided that maybe it was stunned and would recover in a bit. I would keep check on it, and if it didn't come around, I would call the wildlife center and carry it over to them, bundled up in a blanket in the back of the Jeep.

I am sad to write, that less than 30 minutes after the attack, it passed away.

Meanwhile, the ducks are off the hook with their obsession of furthering the flock, the trees are just starting to show buds, my Hillbilly Tomato seeds should be arriving by mail any day now, and I saw daffodils blooming in a yard on my way home from work yesterday. Spring is indeed in the air...and I have a Blue Heron to bury.


~Sue Sue