I'm not sure if this is 4 little ones and two adults or 4 + 1. Either way, it answers why Jonah has been paying so much attention to the (abandoned) groundhog hole at the edge of the front lawn.
Just happened to be outside last evening when I caught sight of the family. It looks like they're moving out as they were headed towards the front creek and field.
So lucky I happened to be there cuz Jonah was out. I can't begin to imagine half a dozen skunk blasts on a dog overdue for shearing by 3 months!
It was interesting how tightly the skunks kept to their group. Difficult to count and, as they kept moving, difficult to get a decent pic.
Comment on Facebook I'm not sure if this...
My mom caught a skunk in a live trap, saw it was sleeping and decided to pick up the handle and slowly carry it. Surprise when the skunk woke, twirled around and blasted her with blobs of jelly like substance!
Haha they are cute though!!!!
Poor Jonah. He was due for his quarterly clip and groom end of March, just when all the groomers shut down. When they finally were able to open again they were really backed up in appointments, and doing fewer appointments per day becasue of new safety protocols.
Jonah finally has an appointment late next week. I think they'll have to shave him - his coat is VERY long and the more I brush him the quicker he seems to matt. On top of that we're in the midst of a brutal heat wave. Poor thing is so excited to go for his hike but gets pooped really fast.
I ordered dog clippers and grooming tools which arrived the same day I got a call for the appointment. I'm so relieved as I was terrified I would butcher him trying to do it myself.
Comment on Facebook Poor Jonah. He was ...
Cute pic and post!! Don't be scared to try grooming him. I had 3 Schneider and out of necessity learned to groom!!!!
Should have had the shear do it LOL I am clipping our right now
The back half of the farm is mostly brush or bush. I grazed it for years, and even fenced it into sections, but the coyote problem became too great, so the land's primary use now is my hiking trails (plus hauling water from the back pond for the sheep).
There's a lot of dogwood and its becoming ever more invasive. The sheep actually set it back while there as they loved the leaves.
I mow the grassy parts of my trails and have been doing that over the past few days. I was getting a wet arm as I passed close by the dog woods. On examination, the bushes are loaded with spit.
I thought, oh good, now in addition to covid-19 we're going to be hit with a plague of locusts.
Googling, I came up with a different answer - Dogwood Spittlebugs. Apparently harmless, even to the dogwood (drats). Never had this before in all my decades on the farm.
50 acres of spit...
Comment on Facebook The back half of the...
We have spittle bugs every year on many different plants. Did you examine the spit to find the little bug? They don’t move fast, at all!
Not so pleasant ! Sorry Doug!!! Maybe collect it and use it as a thickener for your dye stick?🤣
Its Canada Day, so I'm wearing my red Koigu Merino socks, heading out on the tractor to top clip the last paddock the flock was grazing.
'Top clipping' means mowing the paddock so that its a consistent height, cutting back tall stems and weeds that the sheep have left behind. That way there should be an even height of re-growth when the flock returns to this paddock in (probably) 6-8 weeks.
Hay cut today. YAY! Cautiously optimistic.
Was doing some hay math. Last year the sheep were only on stored feed for 130 days. Average for this climate zone is around 200 days so I was very lucky that last year's poor hay crop was followed by long grazing season.
Now hoping for a few more days of sun so everything can get baled up.
