During the day, yesterday, the wind was all bluster. Big fat round bluster. My hair looked wind -blown -fantastic. The storms came in later, at dusk and without any warning switched feet and kicked from the opposite direction, wooshing the tarp off the chicken tractor, slamming propped doors, scattering sheep. Of course the Tank hens were fine, but I got drenched in the thunder and lightening using the now inclement wind to help me put the tarp back on top of the pen the fattening chooks were in. Dinner began without me as I darted to and fro, opening and shutting doors and gates, annoyed that I had not seen the storm coming. But it is tornado season, though usually here this only means severe storms. I should have checked the weather more often yesterday but I so seldom do and the clouds came in very fast.
I had let the cows out onto the field after lunch. They are free ranging a bit at the moment, I have not started the electric fences, as there really is not a lot of forage, certainly not enough for them to graze 24 hours a day yet, but I cannot bear the terrible looks Queenie gives me when I try to lock her off the fields.
Most of the fields are just closed until I get the required 8 inches.
Daisy came out into the field next to the Queenies Flerd so she could have a proper munch too. Her mastitis is flaring up again so this time we are trying Oil Of Oregano. It comes highly recommended. But this is a chronic condition so we will see. It comes and goes. I just wish it would Go more than it Comes. The green grass will help. For the record last night she gave 55 pounds of milk, a record for her. (There are just over 8 pounds to a gallon).
The cows and calves galloped in before the storm and were safely in the barn.
The dogs and I have been combing the banks of the ditch the last few days and yesterday afternoon before the storms I think I may have discovered the mink burrows. There are three of them. Very close together. Probably connected. Two are fairly new. My research (how would we survive without Google) seems to point to them being Mink burrows. Both the burrow entrance and the scat correspond with online images. The only other rodent living down in the creek, that is really a ditch, is the muskrat (I am rather fond of muskrats and their primary predator is the Bastard mink) but the muskrats seldom burrow in and almost never that high. So I am going to shift the traps closer to these sites and see if I am not more successful there. What do you think? Have you ever seen a mink burrow? Ron?
Well time for me to get to work.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farmy,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
56 responses to “Storm Season”
Lovely shot =)
That’s a great stormcloud photo! The only thing I’d suggest is stopping up the burrows completely with some quick-set cement after dropping down some poison bait. Sounds harsh, but so is the treatment your poor chooks have received. If you trap and then release them somewhere else, you’re giving someone else the same problem… They’re not indigenous, they have usurped a place in the ecosystem, they are not soft fluffy fairytale animals, they are cold, vicious killers and by getting rid of them, you restore balance.
I would not re-home this animal. No worries there Kate. They are actually classed as vermin and it is perfectly legal to dispose of them. Sad but true. c
Actually, I think mink ARE indigenous, so I don’t think killing them restores any particular balance. That said, I certainly understand the need to eliminate a threat to livestock.
Storm season, eh? When isn’t it? Reminds me of something I heard ages ago from an old lady in Minnesota: ” We have 2 seasons. Winter and road construction.” The weather is master. And there, again, is the awe factor. The photo of the clouds alone is enough to make that perfectly, undeniably clear. Hang on.
Here we have winter and Jully
Oooooh, I can just about feel the wind from your description. Stay safe; the weather has been crazy-crazy!
Good morning, C. Glad you and your crew survived the storms last night. It did get a little wild. I had pig-farmer take a look at your burrow picture. He said that mink burrows are usually small entrances/exits. From the picture, he couldn’t tell the size. If it isn’t really large, it is probably mink. You are putting pieces of a nasty puzzle together!
The entrance is about four inches across thought there is quite a bit of excavation around one of them, maybe the dogs have already tried to dig it out.. c
Ah, then probably mink! It looked larger in the picture. I think you are on to them!!
Glad you survived the storms, we thought of you when we saw the damage being done. So harsh, so severe.
Not too bad here at all, lots of rain which is good, and branches down, nothing at all like other places thankfully.. c
I did not know that minks burrowed. Amazing thing Google! I have been using the internet for finding new crochet patterns and videos to learn new (to me) stitches.
A free iPhone app called Weather Radio allows me to have the weather in my back pocket. And it will even talk to me . . . all night, last night. lol
The storms are now approaching us in upstate New York, probably not so extreme as where you are but engh to keep me from planting anymore for a few days. I’m really enjoying reading your excellent writing about your farm, a much more elaborate and demanding affair than my little urban food farm here. Thank you.
Keep up the good work and catch that bastard. We have earth quakes in California and they come unannounced . Those are massive clouds on your photo. We have clouds like that here on the farm in Germany.
Impressive clouds! The sogginess has caught up with us and must have had something to do with my electricity going off and on several times over a period of a half hour.
Storms here all night and this morning. Shelly slept on the bed all night (unheard of as she no longer can jump up, had to lift her on) and is clinging to my leg everywhere I go! Phone rang at 6am this morning – was my Mum in the UK. She had been watching the news and they showed the devastation from the Tornadoes and she was worried about me, bless her. Tried to tell her I was miles away from where they were hitting, but to her anything happening in the USA is right where I live LOL.
Maybe you should get yourself a Jack Russel dog and send him down the burrow after the Bastard Mink!!
Good luck with the minks!
Wow, what a storm shot! You stay safe in all of those storms this week. Hoping you can trap those mink bastards. 🙂
You’ll get those mink soon. A Nice pair of fur gloves might make you feel good! I hope the storms go where they can do no harm.
Love,
ViV
I wonder if it could be a ground hog hole? We can hardly keep fowl on the farm where I grew up. The vermin are just rampant, despite the dogs we have… Makes you really appreciate the struggle of the first settlers to rural lands.