Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Meanwhile, on the Farm...

Spring is definitely here.

And I'm hoppin' mad.

Spring, on a farm, is not just about anticipating a new gardening season. It's not about cute little lambs, baby chicks, wobbly legged calves, or the return of the robins.

It's about the return of the raccoons.

I wish that I had pictures of the one that we are dealing with.

We named her "Lucy-fur". She is a return customer to the all-you-can-eat chicken buffet.

And this time, she's brought friends.

Lucy-fur doesn't just get her name for the fact that she's female and has fur.

There's another side to her.

And it's bad.

She's also missing half of her face which makes the implied meaning of her name even more fitting.

To anyone not living in the country, raccoons are cute. In fact, they are downright adorable.



To city-dwellers, raccoons may seem like a great pet idea. They look soft and cuddly and probably smell like peaches.

To us country folk, however, this is what we see.



And don't even get me started on the smell! (Think dead, rotting fish, not peaches.)
This is NOT the animal that is shown on all the sweet little wildlife shows. (Pictures taken by so-called city dwellers!)

Add that to the squawks from the chicken house, and the yowling from the cats, just trying to protect their feed bowls, seeing this little farm demon at 2 a.m. is just plain old frightening!

So, tonight, we implement Plan A.

The scene of the "take down"?


"Whatchulookin'at?"

"Get a room already...I'm trying to save your lives!"



"Excuuuuuuse meeeeee. A little privacy please!"

"Danger! Danger! Danger!"



"Hey lady....you're interrupting our bath-time!"

"Run! Run for you lives!"



You see, chickens aren't very smart. They need our protection from the evils of this world.

Mostly from raccoons and young boys with BB guns and arrows.

While they are busy, living in denial, I'll be preparing for The Mission.

Point of entry...


Point of exit...


And if all else fails, we resort to Plan B.


At 2 a.m., the chances that we'll need a Plan C are a pretty sure bet!


Just ask the porch.

To be continued....


....I'm sure.









4 comments:

Mountain Home Quilts said...

Plan C (assuming that it is a 22) sounds good to me! :)

Cindy said...

Looking forward to the continuation. We wrestle with foxes and hawks. The girls are not the smartest things ever created, but they are great. Let me know if you catch the varmint!

Cindy

Anonymous said...

LOL!!! I was laughing so hard at the 2nd pic of the coon's. So true! Little monsters.

-Valerie

Lisa @ Life with 4! said...

Dealing with the same coon drama around here. Last year they took off with 3 of my hens.... made me hoppin' mad too!!

We are implementing some prevention plans also. Out the end of a .22!