Foxes, coyotes, and disappearing fowl; a spring to remember

By Bebe and Sissy Fenstermaker

Well, we are under siege here. Three days ago the guineas went nuts before finally being coaxed into the chicken house for the night. I had seen them at the door but after an hour of searching for silent guineas, I gave up on them. Suddenly they appeared and dashed in for the night. Two days ago I again saw them at the chicken house door but, on my way through the Barn (again to let them in), I met a small fox. It was coming right at me. This was not right; it looked at me and hesitated as if to say, "Hey, just go around me." I yelled at it to turn around and get on out and it did, rather slowly. Chickens were completely surrounding the back doors of the Barn. Oddly, none seemed upset. Only after I shooed the fox out among them did they started to mention that the new guy was not one of our usual fellows, then ratcheted it up into quite a discussion. The guineas evaporated into thin air. There was lightening and thunder as a rainstorm was in the offing. The fox looked at me and then toward where I was heading it. I kept yelling at it to see if it would run. It wavered back and forth with indecision. The chickens stuck closer than I thought safe, so I took a little board and threw it near the fox. I did all this because I was looking for rabid fox or distemper fox. It seemed in good health, just terribly hesitant, as if it had had a plan and I had interrupted it. Normally, whenever I have been anywhere near a fox, it streaks off. This one moved a few feet further away, still looking from me to the great wide open spaces, then back at me. It seemed he really did not want to go. I threw the board again and it landed on him. He moved very slowly away and disappeared alongside the Barn. The guineas stayed out until dark then came in yelling. Later, Sissy and I theorized, even wondering if the fox has been afraid of lightening and thunder.

Yesterday I left the chickens and guineas in the chicken house but let the geese out. They were surely safe from a fox. Oh no, indeed. I was only gone three hours but one of my 11-year-old pilgrim ganders was gone when I returned. This is such a mystery; it always is when fowl are involved. The fox was a small young one, about the size of the barn cat. The gander was big, weighing nearly 15 pounds . Was it a fox family or perhaps a bunch of coyotes? Last summer I found a fox that I knew on sight dead near the creek not long after coyotes had killed it. I heard the kill and the coyotes' yelps. Not too long ago at 5 a .m. a bunch of coyotes set up a howl at the Barn. I moved them off with a shotgun blast mid-howl. Thinking of all the possibilities, it is conceivable that the fox in the Barn was steering clear of coyotes that were also lurking around here several days. Taking a goose is no problem for coyotes. Looks like the guineas were in the know all the time. I wish I had used more sense and been more cautious. I have loved that white gander since he arrived in a little box from Oregon with all his friends. He did important duty as the sight gander for the other pilgrim that is blind in one eye. It is never easy.

Late note: two laying hens gone, poof, in an hour. It must be foxes. There were three young bucks hanging around all afternoon. They would have disappeared if there had been coyotes.

Bebe Fenstermaker

We have had a spring to remember. The temperature has not hit 90 degrees yet. We had a chilly cool front in late April and a milder one just the other day. Due to all the rain, the countryside is still very green (jade green, yellow green, acid green, blackish green). The hills are dotted with the various shades. The pink evening primroses are happy with the cool overcast days and offer quite a show along the roadsides. Coming up amongst them are bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and the many different kinds of spring yellow wildflowers. The field below the Fromme house is a solid mass of Mexican Hat wildflowers that are at least three feet high. I wade through them from time to time while herding the birds to the coops. Needless to say I get quite wet when doing so after a rain.

After so many overcast days, the blues from lack of sunlight begin to settle upon us. When the sun does show we delight in it and then shortly welcome the shade the billowy clouds offer.

Of course the does look like they are popping. Mrs. Nose will probably drop her fawn(s) at the end of May. That is when she becomes a snorting bitch and the dogs and I will have to change our walking route. Genevieve will have hers sometime in June. Both does have daughters of all ages, including yearlings, and all look to be expectant mothers, too, before long. Yikes! I guess I will have to step outdoors ever so often and shoot off the gun just to clear all the bodies from the yard. I'm sure it will be a stampede for cover and then the next time I look out, there they all will be again, loafing on the 'lawn' like lounge lizards just gossiping and chewing their cuds.

The snakes are out, too. I've already run into a rattler and a neighbor reported seeing a coral snake at her house. I walking with a stick and keeping my eyes on the ground wherever I go now.

Sissy Fenstermaker