Harrowing done

I finished my harrow work last Saturday. I wreaked havoc on the gopher infested areas of the central and north pastures. With the grass and weeds knocked down all their holes are in the open and easier for me to find. The holes with the dirt spread outside were always easy to find, but the gophers have more holes where they do not place dirt outside and keep quite simple and hidden from predators.

Then I went to work on the gophers. My count for the year is now 19 regular and 9 pocket gophers. Last year - with my late start - I only trapped 34 regular gophers. A hawk feasted on a leg hold trap gopher as I only found the leg in the trap and the trap out in the open. I have been trying to anchor the traps far enough out that I don't have to pull the gophers out of their hole after they are caught.

As I have traps across all of the "villages", and it is early in the season, I have confidence I may finally get rid of all the regular gophers this year, which will be quite the accomplishment.

My hayfield before and after the harrow work.

The north pasture in the middle of harrow work.


My neighbors had company over and were in their backyard so I decided not to harrow the section of the pasture near their yard.

When I finished my harrow work I found one of my three harrow sections had broken in two under the stress of the harrow work as the pastures are very bumpy. A project to work on another day. With my work done all I had time for was a shave and shower to wash the layer of dust/dirt covering me, and then a quick bite to eat before I were to the contra dance that night.