I found my missing pocket gopher trap tonight after I had given up on finding it. After resetting another trap to a new hole I picked up a few small rocks nearby and then stumbled upon my missing trap.
Inside the trap was the front half of a dead pocket gopher. That may explain how the trap got so far away from its original hole. Some animal picked the trap up and carried it off in hopes of getting the gopher.
I caught five pocket gophers tonight out of seven traps. I wish I had better success with my regular gopher traps. Of the half dozen plus traps I moved Wednesday to the new group of holes all but one trap were undisturbed. One leg hold trap had been triggered but there was nothing in the trap. The gopher must have slipped out of the trap somehow. Darn! The gophers are leery enough of the traps without having a near death experience to remind them to be careful.
I did catch one small mouse in a leg hold trap. That makes two for the year.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Another feeder break
Notch and Pink are still putting their feet into the feeder.The other day I discovered that one of the three boards in the cattle feeder next to the barn was broken. *sigh*
This was a strong sturdy board. I made a temporary fix to it. When the cattle leave the corral and go on grass I will replace the board.
I now have trapped more pocket gophers this year than regular gophers: 35 versus 27.
The regular gophers are still moving around to avoid the traps. Today I discovered about ten new holes south of where I had my traps. I moved some of my traps to the new holes. Hopefully the effort the gophers made to create this new complex will encourage them to "fight" and not move to new holes.
Today I discovered one of my pocket gopher traps is missing. The trap was in the middle of the line of traps and also relatively near another trap. The marker pole is still there and the hole is open, but no trap.
I looked around and around the area but could not find the trap. As the gopher is caught inside the trap I never have had a hawk swoop down to take the gopher and the trap. And I never had a gopher 'walk' off with a trap. If for some reason the gopher was not killed by the trap, the trap is in the hole so it would not be possible for the gopher to climb out of the hole with the trap. As the traps are now near the rental house south of the hayfield I wonder if one the dogs or kids that live there got curious and took my trap?
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
More old hay
I got more old hay today. Jim's son-in-law and daughter had hay they wanted to get rid of as their miniature horses won't eat it.
They were very happy to give me the hay as it saved them time and effort to haul the hay to the dump to get rid of it. I was very happy as the cattle will eat the hay, and this extra hay will now enable me to get the cattle through the rest of this month on hay and allow the grass to get a head start before I let the cattle loose on the pastures. With my hay and Jim's hay I only had enough hay to get to Memorial Day - a week short of June. The cattle are eating more and more hay lately.
Fed cattle are happy cattle and happy cattle don't get into trouble and cause problems.
The hay originally was from the same batch as Jim's hay. And the same happened to this hay: not really covered against the elements. Actually it was better covered as it originally was covered, but some of the tarps tore and became useless and other tarps were moved to other better hay they had bought. Even when 'new' the horses turned up their noses at this hay because it was dusty. Overall this hay was in better condition than Jim's hay which was never covered. But it still had plenty of wet, black, or moldy spots.
In addition to the three miniature horses, their kids each were raising pigs for 4-H this year and they had four pigs. To keep the animals in place they strung an electric wire on their short two strand fence. I could easily step or reach over the fence to load the hay but I still turned the electric wire off when loading the hay as I didn't want to accidentally touch the live wire.
The hay stack was closer to the pigs than the horses which was annoying as pigs smell, and these smelled strong (and bad). *p-yew!*
Their son Cody raised a calf for 4-H last year and with the profits from the calf he bought a used pickup. He is 14 years old and mature for his age. He loves animals and wants to be a vet or be a rancher when he grows up.
I brought two full loads of hay home tonight and I have one more load to get tomorrow of miscellaneous bales and broken string bales.
While unloading the first load I turned on the water to top off one water trough. My memory is going as I forgot to turn the water off before I left to get the second load. I returned to a lake at my fence gate. *augh!*
This makes two nights in a row I have done this. Last night I had the water running when I got the idea of going over to talk with Jim to ask if his son-in-law still had the hay he wanted to get rid of. I had a lake when I returned home.
From the first load I gave the cattle several bales of hay to eat. They had it all eaten by the time I returned with the second load. When feeding them more hay from the second load I noticed five heifers did not come to eat and were standing at the fence near the hay I had unloaded already. Then I saw that the cattle had gotten off one board of the fence and now were able to get their heads through the fence and they were eating the hay from the stack. *argh!*
So I had a challenge of re-nailing the board back on the fence, keeping the cattle away, and navigating the 'lake' as I went in and out of the gate. I also found a large sheet of wood and placed it between the fence and the hay stack to reduce the enticement to the cattle to try to get the fence board off the fence again.
Tomorrow I will unload the second load of hay from the pickup and then get the rest of the hay.
While I had stacked the hay well, I decided to be on the safe side and tied the stack down somewhat.
They were very happy to give me the hay as it saved them time and effort to haul the hay to the dump to get rid of it. I was very happy as the cattle will eat the hay, and this extra hay will now enable me to get the cattle through the rest of this month on hay and allow the grass to get a head start before I let the cattle loose on the pastures. With my hay and Jim's hay I only had enough hay to get to Memorial Day - a week short of June. The cattle are eating more and more hay lately.
Fed cattle are happy cattle and happy cattle don't get into trouble and cause problems.
The hay originally was from the same batch as Jim's hay. And the same happened to this hay: not really covered against the elements. Actually it was better covered as it originally was covered, but some of the tarps tore and became useless and other tarps were moved to other better hay they had bought. Even when 'new' the horses turned up their noses at this hay because it was dusty. Overall this hay was in better condition than Jim's hay which was never covered. But it still had plenty of wet, black, or moldy spots.
In addition to the three miniature horses, their kids each were raising pigs for 4-H this year and they had four pigs. To keep the animals in place they strung an electric wire on their short two strand fence. I could easily step or reach over the fence to load the hay but I still turned the electric wire off when loading the hay as I didn't want to accidentally touch the live wire.
The hay stack was closer to the pigs than the horses which was annoying as pigs smell, and these smelled strong (and bad). *p-yew!*
Their son Cody raised a calf for 4-H last year and with the profits from the calf he bought a used pickup. He is 14 years old and mature for his age. He loves animals and wants to be a vet or be a rancher when he grows up.
I brought two full loads of hay home tonight and I have one more load to get tomorrow of miscellaneous bales and broken string bales.
While unloading the first load I turned on the water to top off one water trough. My memory is going as I forgot to turn the water off before I left to get the second load. I returned to a lake at my fence gate. *augh!*
This makes two nights in a row I have done this. Last night I had the water running when I got the idea of going over to talk with Jim to ask if his son-in-law still had the hay he wanted to get rid of. I had a lake when I returned home.
From the first load I gave the cattle several bales of hay to eat. They had it all eaten by the time I returned with the second load. When feeding them more hay from the second load I noticed five heifers did not come to eat and were standing at the fence near the hay I had unloaded already. Then I saw that the cattle had gotten off one board of the fence and now were able to get their heads through the fence and they were eating the hay from the stack. *argh!*
So I had a challenge of re-nailing the board back on the fence, keeping the cattle away, and navigating the 'lake' as I went in and out of the gate. I also found a large sheet of wood and placed it between the fence and the hay stack to reduce the enticement to the cattle to try to get the fence board off the fence again.
Tomorrow I will unload the second load of hay from the pickup and then get the rest of the hay.
While I had stacked the hay well, I decided to be on the safe side and tied the stack down somewhat.
The cattle were waiting for me to give them hay from the first load.
On the right side is the fence they got one board off of.
On the right side is the fence they got one board off of.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Up and down
Monday was a gorgeous day and one of the few we had this Spring that was above normal temperature wise. The temperature reached 82 degrees. It was sunny with no wind. I shirked my chores and went for a hike in Glacier Park.
Today is different: cold, cloudy, windy, and wet. The temperature is 55 degrees - below normal. The forecast was for a chance of rain in the afternoon. I woke up to rain. Then just before noon it poured again.
The good news is that between the recent warmth and the rain the grass is growing. I am feeling better about the transition later from hay to grass for my cattle.
The cattle sure do eat. I am going through the hay fast. The recent bales I got are touch lighter than my bales. Also I end up tossing out parts of many bales due to mold. And being older rained on hay the nutrition content is less so it seems as if the cattle eat more to get the same benefits. And I still feel bad feeding them some bales as some bales look and smell bad. Dan said the hay he feeds his cattle now is also old and not the best.
Yesterday I had spread out some of the old bales in an effort to dry them better in the sun and warmth. Bad move as it rained on them today.
24 hours after I set out my pocket gopher traps and I caught five gophers, had one trap buried in dirt, and one trap was untouched. A good days effort.
With the nice weather the regular gophers worked on opening up a closed 'village' as they opened three or four previous closed holes. I moved some traps to these holes.
Today is different: cold, cloudy, windy, and wet. The temperature is 55 degrees - below normal. The forecast was for a chance of rain in the afternoon. I woke up to rain. Then just before noon it poured again.
The good news is that between the recent warmth and the rain the grass is growing. I am feeling better about the transition later from hay to grass for my cattle.
The cattle sure do eat. I am going through the hay fast. The recent bales I got are touch lighter than my bales. Also I end up tossing out parts of many bales due to mold. And being older rained on hay the nutrition content is less so it seems as if the cattle eat more to get the same benefits. And I still feel bad feeding them some bales as some bales look and smell bad. Dan said the hay he feeds his cattle now is also old and not the best.
Yesterday I had spread out some of the old bales in an effort to dry them better in the sun and warmth. Bad move as it rained on them today.
24 hours after I set out my pocket gopher traps and I caught five gophers, had one trap buried in dirt, and one trap was untouched. A good days effort.
With the nice weather the regular gophers worked on opening up a closed 'village' as they opened three or four previous closed holes. I moved some traps to these holes.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Gophers again
The weather this weekend was fabulous. It was so nice the gophers were active. The same old "a few old holes reopened and traps avoided" situation. But... I did catch a gopher in a trap that had not seen activity in a long, long time.
I also put out my seven pocket gopher traps. Since I have harrowed the hayfield it is much easier to find new dirt mounds. With this recent warm weather the grass finally has started growing, but it is still short.
I started from the hayfield's north end and worked my way back and forth across the field to the south, and this took a while to do. I was a little surprised not to find any new dirt mounds until I got to where I had left off trapping last year. This is great but I had expected the gophers to have spread back to the north. So it appears three fourths of the hayfield is gopher free. Maybe there is hope of ridding the hayfield of pocket gophers this year?
I am so far ahead of the game with gophers this year I can't believe it. I must be missing something.
I also put out my seven pocket gopher traps. Since I have harrowed the hayfield it is much easier to find new dirt mounds. With this recent warm weather the grass finally has started growing, but it is still short.
I started from the hayfield's north end and worked my way back and forth across the field to the south, and this took a while to do. I was a little surprised not to find any new dirt mounds until I got to where I had left off trapping last year. This is great but I had expected the gophers to have spread back to the north. So it appears three fourths of the hayfield is gopher free. Maybe there is hope of ridding the hayfield of pocket gophers this year?
I am so far ahead of the game with gophers this year I can't believe it. I must be missing something.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
New old hay
Friday I got more hay for my cattle. My neighbors gave me their old hay. They don't plan to get any horses or cattle this year. Debbie recently turned down the offer of two free miniature horses as she is still affected by the mountain lion that killed her two miniature horses last Fall.
The hay consisted of sixty to seventy bales and one large round bale. None of the hay was covered from the elements and since last year it has been out in the rain and snow. Yeah... the hay quality wasn't the greatest. Some of it was black and/or moldy. But cattle aren't too picky and will go through the hay and eat some of it. Sometimes I've found they ate the hay I tossed aside when I thought they wouldn't eat it.
I disturbed plenty of mice. A number of fat mice ran both from the small bales and from the round bale when I worked on them. A number of baby mice I found in the hay did not survive as I am a mean ol' rancher.
The neighbors also had a round metal feeder they let me borrow.
The hay in the small bales used to be good hay until it got wet. The round bale naturally was more protected from the elements and pretty much only the top and the bottom were spoiled. But the original quality of the round bale's hay was not the best. But it was all free so I can't complain.
The round bale was far too large for me to move and I don't have a tractor. So using a hay pitchfork I tore and unraveled half the bale and tossed the now loose hay into the pickup for transport. The cattle ate some of the hay I tossed into the metal feeder so I got another pickup load. I ended up moving half the large bale and piled the hay high above the top of the feeder. This morning the hay level is down to the top of the feeder.
It was tricky getting the pickup in and out of the corral to unload the loose hay as I had to watch that the cattle didn't make a break for it as I quickly drove in and out of the corral. A second person to watch the gate would have been very helpful. But none of the cattle made a break for it. *whew!*
I had a pickup load of what I thought was really bad hay. I tossed it over the corral fence so it lay along the fence. If the cattle ate it, fine. If they used the hay to lay on, fine. The cattle did both. At least they picked through and ate some of the hay before laying on it.
And with the hay laying right next to the fence you'd think that would protect it from being walked on? Nope. A few cattle walked parallel to the fence when eating and walked on the hay.
It was a great day - finally. The temperature was in the mid 60s, the sky was mostly clear, and there was no wind. And the grass looked to be growing. I had my pickup's radio tuned to my favorite radio station while loading and unloading the hay. I was feeling good though by the end of the day I was tired. I slept 10 hours that night.
The cattle eat the hay but I feel guilty feeding it to them when I still have almost twenty bales of my good hay in the barn. I want the best for my 'girls'. But the cattle do seem content and this will finally get rid of this old hay. Whether or not it is my hay, I hate to see hay uncovered and unprotected from the elements and it bugged me every day to see my neighbor's hay unprotected.
The hay consisted of sixty to seventy bales and one large round bale. None of the hay was covered from the elements and since last year it has been out in the rain and snow. Yeah... the hay quality wasn't the greatest. Some of it was black and/or moldy. But cattle aren't too picky and will go through the hay and eat some of it. Sometimes I've found they ate the hay I tossed aside when I thought they wouldn't eat it.
I disturbed plenty of mice. A number of fat mice ran both from the small bales and from the round bale when I worked on them. A number of baby mice I found in the hay did not survive as I am a mean ol' rancher.
The neighbors also had a round metal feeder they let me borrow.
The hay in the small bales used to be good hay until it got wet. The round bale naturally was more protected from the elements and pretty much only the top and the bottom were spoiled. But the original quality of the round bale's hay was not the best. But it was all free so I can't complain.
The round bale was far too large for me to move and I don't have a tractor. So using a hay pitchfork I tore and unraveled half the bale and tossed the now loose hay into the pickup for transport. The cattle ate some of the hay I tossed into the metal feeder so I got another pickup load. I ended up moving half the large bale and piled the hay high above the top of the feeder. This morning the hay level is down to the top of the feeder.
It was tricky getting the pickup in and out of the corral to unload the loose hay as I had to watch that the cattle didn't make a break for it as I quickly drove in and out of the corral. A second person to watch the gate would have been very helpful. But none of the cattle made a break for it. *whew!*
I had a pickup load of what I thought was really bad hay. I tossed it over the corral fence so it lay along the fence. If the cattle ate it, fine. If they used the hay to lay on, fine. The cattle did both. At least they picked through and ate some of the hay before laying on it.
And with the hay laying right next to the fence you'd think that would protect it from being walked on? Nope. A few cattle walked parallel to the fence when eating and walked on the hay.
It was a great day - finally. The temperature was in the mid 60s, the sky was mostly clear, and there was no wind. And the grass looked to be growing. I had my pickup's radio tuned to my favorite radio station while loading and unloading the hay. I was feeling good though by the end of the day I was tired. I slept 10 hours that night.
The cattle eat the hay but I feel guilty feeding it to them when I still have almost twenty bales of my good hay in the barn. I want the best for my 'girls'. But the cattle do seem content and this will finally get rid of this old hay. Whether or not it is my hay, I hate to see hay uncovered and unprotected from the elements and it bugged me every day to see my neighbor's hay unprotected.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Dan's new calf
Dan has a new calf. Remember last year when one of his heifers got enamored with the neighbor's bull across the river and made her way through all those obstacles to be with him? (females-do-crazy-things-when-in-lust) When we were at the livestock auction a few weeks ago I asked Dan how his heifer was doing and Dan had forgot about her being with the bull, and that she probably was pregnant.
Dan hadn't noticed if she was carrying a calf as his heifers all were fat and round. But lo-and-behold he discovered a newborn red heifer last week. The mom is black. Apparently she had no problem with delivery and is making an excellent mom. Dan said the calf is about 40 to 50 lbs and is very cute. So something good came out of all the trouble that heifer caused me last Summer.
She is on the young side to be having a calf as most ranchers wait till they are older to breed them. The bull was a red Maine-Anjou and was massive. It is a little surprising she could bear his weight when he mounted her.
Isn't he such a handsome fellow?
Dan hadn't noticed if she was carrying a calf as his heifers all were fat and round. But lo-and-behold he discovered a newborn red heifer last week. The mom is black. Apparently she had no problem with delivery and is making an excellent mom. Dan said the calf is about 40 to 50 lbs and is very cute. So something good came out of all the trouble that heifer caused me last Summer.
She is on the young side to be having a calf as most ranchers wait till they are older to breed them. The bull was a red Maine-Anjou and was massive. It is a little surprising she could bear his weight when he mounted her.
Isn't he such a handsome fellow?
Friday, May 15, 2009
I got more girls
I got more cattle. The guy who has pastured some of his cattle at my place ran into financial problems this year and won't be renting pasture as he has to sell his cattle to raise money. I bought six of his heifers to help him out and to make my herd size twenty in total. I can handle that many and still cut my hayfield for hay. And he has excellent cattle. They are already getting sleek and have shed most of their winter coat.
He brought the heifers over this morning. My cattle were sitting around the loafing shed relaxing but when he came with the heifers my cattle got all excited. It didn't help that his heifers were mooing from the stock trailer as they entered the corral.
He had to drive through the corral to the north pasture to turn around and then reenter the corral. I handled the gates. Usually I don't have a problem with this as the cattle usually are wary of the trailer and keep their distance as they watch. This time the herd ran after the trailer and I had to cut them off and quickly shut the gate.
When the new heifers were released into the corral everyone ran around to get to know one another as the new heifers ran around to check out their new home.
My cattle don't seem to be to pleased with these new interlopers. My cattle were a tight cohesive herd. A few cattle I hadn't noticed in the past are getting my attention as they are 'fighting' with some of the new cattle. Heifer 513 especially seems to have it in for one of the new heifers and follows and harasses her all around the corral. Usually tossing out hay gets their mind off fighting/socializing but 513 still focuses on this other heifer and I have to go over to separate them and get 513 distracted onto eating hay.
I think in a few days they will settle down. But as they are females this may take longer than usual. In the past I've noticed my heifers hold grudges far longer than the steers do.
There also seems to be a competition over the food. I have a third more cattle and they seem to be eating twice as much. They still have hay in their feeder but whenever I put out fresh hay there is a frenzy over it and I notice it is eaten much quicker than before. I barely had enough hay before these new cattle and now I need to get more hay to get me through the end of the month.
Dan still has hay left and he said he can sell me a round bale. Then this afternoon I ran across my neighbor Debbie while at the bank. She is the one whose horses were killed by the mountain lion last Fall. They have some hay left from last year. It may be okay for cattle. They never covered the hay and it has gotten rained and snowed on. They also have a round bale feeder I can borrow to feed my cattle. My two wooden feeders can handle my 20 cattle but it gets crowded.
Debbie also told me she thought she saw another mountain lion in their yard a few nights ago when she had gotten up in the middle of the night. She didn't see the entire animal as it walked among their vehicles but what she did see had the shape of a lion and moved cat like.
My new heifers weigh an average of 771 lbs so all my cattle tend to be large, and with a herd size of twenty, I am not too concerned about a mountain lion. A neighbor's dog had visited me last week and one heifer was not afraid of the dog at all.
Dan saw my cattle and this was the first he had seen them since I got them at the livestock auction. As I see them every day I can't tell if they are gaining weight but he said he can see that they are.
As you can see in the second photo one heifer (and surprisingly it is not 'Notch') had put her front legs in the small feeder next to the barn. *sigh*
Thursday was a mixed weather day. Rain and sun and rain and sun, etc. All these three photos were taken within 20 minutes of one another.
He brought the heifers over this morning. My cattle were sitting around the loafing shed relaxing but when he came with the heifers my cattle got all excited. It didn't help that his heifers were mooing from the stock trailer as they entered the corral.
He had to drive through the corral to the north pasture to turn around and then reenter the corral. I handled the gates. Usually I don't have a problem with this as the cattle usually are wary of the trailer and keep their distance as they watch. This time the herd ran after the trailer and I had to cut them off and quickly shut the gate.
When the new heifers were released into the corral everyone ran around to get to know one another as the new heifers ran around to check out their new home.
My cattle don't seem to be to pleased with these new interlopers. My cattle were a tight cohesive herd. A few cattle I hadn't noticed in the past are getting my attention as they are 'fighting' with some of the new cattle. Heifer 513 especially seems to have it in for one of the new heifers and follows and harasses her all around the corral. Usually tossing out hay gets their mind off fighting/socializing but 513 still focuses on this other heifer and I have to go over to separate them and get 513 distracted onto eating hay.
I think in a few days they will settle down. But as they are females this may take longer than usual.
In the past I've noticed my heifers hold grudges far longer than the steers do.There also seems to be a competition over the food. I have a third more cattle and they seem to be eating twice as much. They still have hay in their feeder but whenever I put out fresh hay there is a frenzy over it and I notice it is eaten much quicker than before. I barely had enough hay before these new cattle and now I need to get more hay to get me through the end of the month.
Dan still has hay left and he said he can sell me a round bale. Then this afternoon I ran across my neighbor Debbie while at the bank. She is the one whose horses were killed by the mountain lion last Fall. They have some hay left from last year. It may be okay for cattle. They never covered the hay and it has gotten rained and snowed on. They also have a round bale feeder I can borrow to feed my cattle. My two wooden feeders can handle my 20 cattle but it gets crowded.
Debbie also told me she thought she saw another mountain lion in their yard a few nights ago when she had gotten up in the middle of the night. She didn't see the entire animal as it walked among their vehicles but what she did see had the shape of a lion and moved cat like.
My new heifers weigh an average of 771 lbs so all my cattle tend to be large, and with a herd size of twenty, I am not too concerned about a mountain lion. A neighbor's dog had visited me last week and one heifer was not afraid of the dog at all.
Dan saw my cattle and this was the first he had seen them since I got them at the livestock auction. As I see them every day I can't tell if they are gaining weight but he said he can see that they are.
As you can see in the second photo one heifer (and surprisingly it is not 'Notch') had put her front legs in the small feeder next to the barn. *sigh*
Thursday was a mixed weather day. Rain and sun and rain and sun, etc. All these three photos were taken within 20 minutes of one another.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Mailbox and cattle
Tuesday morning I found my mailbox barely hanging on its post. It appears that during the night someone pulled it mostly off the post as the mailbox was hanging by one bent nail. I guess the person decided to leave it that way rather that removing the mailbox completely.I believe someone pulled the mailbox off as I had put a few small posts next to the mailbox to deter people driving along and bashing my mailbox with a baseball bat.
So I spent Tuesday morning fixing my mailbox. I added a board on each side of the mailbox as an extra attachment of the mailbox to the post. I won't say this will stop all future attempts on my mailbox, but it sure will make it difficult to pull it off again.
The cattle are doing well. Tuesday they had a case of the munchies as I ended up feeding them more hay than usual throughout the day. Wednesday morning they either satisfied their hunger else they are getting picky and only want new 'fresh' hay as they still had plenty of hay in their feeder. I did find another one of the feeder's floor supporting boards was partially off and a couple floor boards also were off.
I made a temporary fix for now.Heifer 449 still puts her front legs in the feeder while she eats. And now "Pink" had started taking after 449 as she was doing the same this morning. Tuesday night it was a test of wills between 449 and I. Every time I turned my back she would put her legs in the feeder. So I stood there and watched her. Every so often she would lift her head out of the hay and look above the others to see if I left. When she saw I was still there I could see her chew the hay more forcefully as she stared at me. Not happy with me.
I had also put some hay in the small feeder next to the barn and eventually she went over there. But when I left she quickly went back to the big feeder and did you know what. Eventually I left as it was cold and dreary outside and the wind had a bite. I imagine she went back to her favored way of eating.
I am still settling on a name for her. I initially thought of "Stilts" but didn't care for it. Then I thought of "Goldie" because:
- Her id of 449 makes me think of the '49ers' from the California gold rush of 1849,
- Her id tag is colored yellow,
- Her determination/stubbornness makes me think of a stereotypical California gold rush dance hall girl - and aren't they usually called "Goldie"?
Wednesday morning after I fixed the feeder I stood there a while. The cattle weren't hungry and were more curious in me. I let them get more used to me and a number crowded around me to sniff me and my clothes. A few tugged on my coat or pants in an effort to taste me and one licked my right hand. It is also a way for me to see which cattle are bold and which are shy. Naturally "Notch" was one of the ones who came up to check me out.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Another contra dance
Saturday night I attended another contra dance. This time they got a 'professional' caller from Missoula and also hired "Grin and Bear It" a local music band. Before the main dancing started at 7 pm they had the caller teach a workshop for local people interested in learning how to call contra dances. The caller had a wireless microphone pack and wandered about the dance floor calling out the moves.
As usual I was running late. I had to take a little time to shoo a heifer out of the feeder as she had her whole body in the feeder. She also broke another board off the bottom and half the floor dropped down (that was Sunday morning's repair project).
They were in the middle of the first dance when I arrived. Other than one waltz later I danced all the remaining dances. The male/female ratio was tilted slightly towards more women than men which benefited the men who wanted to dance.
I ended up dancing from a little after 7 pm to a little after 10 pm when the dancing ended. I can now see why they suspend dancing in the summer - it wasn't that warm of weather yet I and others were working up a sweat from all the dancing.
Most of the contra dances this night were new ones to me. A few were real fun to dance and I learned more new moves. One dance had so much spinning and twirling that when the dance ended I was wobbly. My dance partner must have felt the same way as we held on to one another for a few minutes after the dance ended to get our balanced stabilized.
Another new move I learned was called the "mad robin" as the man did a do-si-do with his female neighbor walking in front of him all the while he locked eyes with his partner on the other side of the line.
Joyce - from hiking - came to this dance too. She is unfamiliar with contra dancing. I danced with her on one dance that was a little trickier than usual. She and I goofed up so badly that the caller actually stopped the dance to go over the steps we were screwing up. I think part of our problem was in that dance the caller showed the steps but didn't have everyone walk through at least one iteration of the dance.
We weren't the only people challenged as we encountered other couples in other dances who were confused as to what to do. Fortunately in most dances you move through sub groups of four people and usually one couple knows what to do if you forget a move.
I saw a number of people I know from folk dancing and other nights of contra dancing. Fran was there and when I mentioned I planned to take some dance classes at the local college she offered to be my partner for the classes if I needed a partner to sign up.
The Romanian woman with her 3 year old son was there. It was a problem at times as he and another very young kid wandered about the dance floor and we had to watch that we didn't step on them. I don't think she was able to dance as many dances as she would have liked as she had to watch him. The caller at times got a little annoyed at the kids and tried to get them to stay along the sides and out of the way of the dancers.
This time there were more people dancing than there were last month and part of the evening we had to form two lines as one line was too long for the room. I am not sure why but people drifted off before the night was through.
As usual I was running late. I had to take a little time to shoo a heifer out of the feeder as she had her whole body in the feeder. She also broke another board off the bottom and half the floor dropped down (that was Sunday morning's repair project).
They were in the middle of the first dance when I arrived. Other than one waltz later I danced all the remaining dances. The male/female ratio was tilted slightly towards more women than men which benefited the men who wanted to dance.
I ended up dancing from a little after 7 pm to a little after 10 pm when the dancing ended. I can now see why they suspend dancing in the summer - it wasn't that warm of weather yet I and others were working up a sweat from all the dancing.
Most of the contra dances this night were new ones to me. A few were real fun to dance and I learned more new moves. One dance had so much spinning and twirling that when the dance ended I was wobbly. My dance partner must have felt the same way as we held on to one another for a few minutes after the dance ended to get our balanced stabilized.
Another new move I learned was called the "mad robin" as the man did a do-si-do with his female neighbor walking in front of him all the while he locked eyes with his partner on the other side of the line.
Joyce - from hiking - came to this dance too. She is unfamiliar with contra dancing. I danced with her on one dance that was a little trickier than usual. She and I goofed up so badly that the caller actually stopped the dance to go over the steps we were screwing up. I think part of our problem was in that dance the caller showed the steps but didn't have everyone walk through at least one iteration of the dance.
We weren't the only people challenged as we encountered other couples in other dances who were confused as to what to do. Fortunately in most dances you move through sub groups of four people and usually one couple knows what to do if you forget a move.
I saw a number of people I know from folk dancing and other nights of contra dancing. Fran was there and when I mentioned I planned to take some dance classes at the local college she offered to be my partner for the classes if I needed a partner to sign up.
The Romanian woman with her 3 year old son was there. It was a problem at times as he and another very young kid wandered about the dance floor and we had to watch that we didn't step on them. I don't think she was able to dance as many dances as she would have liked as she had to watch him. The caller at times got a little annoyed at the kids and tried to get them to stay along the sides and out of the way of the dancers.
This time there were more people dancing than there were last month and part of the evening we had to form two lines as one line was too long for the room. I am not sure why but people drifted off before the night was through.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Tulips 2009
The tulips on the south side of my house are blooming. Here are photos I took on Saturday.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Working around the rain
The past several days have been rainy. Not all day rain, just off and on showers so I was still able to do outdoors work around the rain. It is good to get the rain as it is helping the grass grow.
Today dawned completely clear but as the day went on big fluffy clouds formed, then formed into rain clouds. No rain reached my part of the Valley even though in the second photo it appears I would soon have rain. Driving to contra dancing tonight it was neat to see various clouds here and there where the rain extended the cloud to the ground.
Today dawned completely clear but as the day went on big fluffy clouds formed, then formed into rain clouds. No rain reached my part of the Valley even though in the second photo it appears I would soon have rain. Driving to contra dancing tonight it was neat to see various clouds here and there where the rain extended the cloud to the ground.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Keep your feet out and off
I have one heifer who is naughty. Number 449. She likes to stand in the cattle feeder with her front legs. Now I know why the floor of one side of one end is broken. The past few days I have caught her a few times standing in the feeder. Last night I had to shoo her out several times.
Later as I was cutting up a small log I looked over and saw she was standing in the middle of the feeder. Front and back legs.
*augh!*
I don't like chasing her out as the other cattle get nervous at me shooing her out and then get a little anxious other times I approach them.
Tonight I seen that another heifer has learned from #449 and started to put her front legs into the feeder as I was spreading a fresh bale of hay in the feeder. Out!
I have now used up the old, old hay from two years ago and moved on to last year's hay which is better. The cattle agree as they eat more of it faster. This afternoon the hay level in the feeder was lower than usual and I could see the bottom in spots. I found three boards in the middle were off their supporting boards. The reason is that one of the supporting boards was a short board and the weight from the heifer in the feeder appears to have caused it to come off. I repaired it.
I also made a temporary fix to the end that was broken.
You can see #334 checking out my repair work. She seems to be one of the more intelligent heifers. It is still to be determined if she will use her intelligence for good or evil.
I usually keep the barn door closed at all times even though it is a pain to close it when holding a bale of hay. When working on my feeder repairs I forgot to close the door. The cattle had been sitting around the corral on their siesta. The next I knew a number of them were standing in the barn door and were eating a bale of hay I had just inside the door. Those sneaky ninja cattle! Out!
Between the cattle eating more, and my getting up late in the morning, each night I toss a fresh bale in the feeder at dark so they will have hay to eat in the morning. Tonight the cattle crowded around me as I spread the bale out in the feeder - you'd think they would be full as I had given them a full bale an hour and a half earlier
. One heifer stepped on my foot. 
Fortunately I was wearing my heavy boots. Still I felt her weight on my foot and between moving my foot and yelling I got it out from under her as quick as possible. A 660+ lb heifer is heavy!
Later as I was cutting up a small log I looked over and saw she was standing in the middle of the feeder. Front and back legs.*augh!*
I don't like chasing her out as the other cattle get nervous at me shooing her out and then get a little anxious other times I approach them.
Tonight I seen that another heifer has learned from #449 and started to put her front legs into the feeder as I was spreading a fresh bale of hay in the feeder. Out!
I have now used up the old, old hay from two years ago and moved on to last year's hay which is better. The cattle agree as they eat more of it faster. This afternoon the hay level in the feeder was lower than usual and I could see the bottom in spots. I found three boards in the middle were off their supporting boards. The reason is that one of the supporting boards was a short board and the weight from the heifer in the feeder appears to have caused it to come off. I repaired it.
I also made a temporary fix to the end that was broken.
You can see #334 checking out my repair work. She seems to be one of the more intelligent heifers. It is still to be determined if she will use her intelligence for good or evil.
I usually keep the barn door closed at all times even though it is a pain to close it when holding a bale of hay. When working on my feeder repairs I forgot to close the door. The cattle had been sitting around the corral on their siesta. The next I knew a number of them were standing in the barn door and were eating a bale of hay I had just inside the door. Those sneaky ninja cattle! Out!
Between the cattle eating more, and my getting up late in the morning, each night I toss a fresh bale in the feeder at dark so they will have hay to eat in the morning. Tonight the cattle crowded around me as I spread the bale out in the feeder - you'd think they would be full as I had given them a full bale an hour and a half earlier
. One heifer stepped on my foot. 
Fortunately I was wearing my heavy boots. Still I felt her weight on my foot and between moving my foot and yelling I got it out from under her as quick as possible. A 660+ lb heifer is heavy!
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
More photos of my girls
I've been busy lately and haven't had time to write longer blogs posts.
Today I trapped my first pocket gopher in the hayfield since I harrowed it. Now that I have drug the harrow over the field it is easy to see new gopher mounds.
As to the regular gophers I am playing the game "Whack a Mole!" The few remaining gophers are leery of the traps. They keep moving from villages with traps on some of the holes to villages without traps to avoid the traps. Or open new or closed holes to avoid the traps. I move the traps around too and eventually I will get them. Maybe when the weather warms up again they will venture outside more and I'll get them then.
Here are a few photos of my cattle:
Today I trapped my first pocket gopher in the hayfield since I harrowed it. Now that I have drug the harrow over the field it is easy to see new gopher mounds.
As to the regular gophers I am playing the game "Whack a Mole!" The few remaining gophers are leery of the traps. They keep moving from villages with traps on some of the holes to villages without traps to avoid the traps. Or open new or closed holes to avoid the traps. I move the traps around too and eventually I will get them. Maybe when the weather warms up again they will venture outside more and I'll get them then.
Here are a few photos of my cattle:
Monday, May 04, 2009
My girls likes me
The cattle (my girls as they are all heifers) are settling in. Evan delivered them Friday afternoon on a beautiful sunny day. The cattle were happy to get out of the stock trailer and quickly got to work eating the green grass in the corral.
In the morning before the cattle arrived I did last minute chores to prepare for the cattle. I scrubbed and cleaned their water trough and filled it. I also nailed some odds and ends of small wire fence pieces to part of my corral fence on the east side. I covered part of the corral fence to prevent the cattle from sticking their head through to eat the grass in the yard. In the past I've seen some cattle twist their head to get it through the corral fence and I don't want to chance them pushing and breaking the corral fence. The fence is solid... but I've seen crazy things happen with cattle.
Here is a view of several cattle and the wire I added to the corral fence.
The first day the cattle were jumpy at any little sound - even cars driving by on the road in the distance - but they have become accustomed to their new home and are more relaxed now. Tonight one of them got in a squirrelly mood and began running around the corral and got the others worked up and soon the whole herd were running in circles around the barn. I had to go out and talk to them to get them to finally stop. But the goofy one then wanted to pick fights with other cattle. Finally she got it out of her system.
The corral grass is now eaten down short - golf putting green quality except for the cow pies.
I also feed the cattle a hay bale or two several times a day. They have quickly warmed up to me. I am already at the stage where they don't move much when I walk by them - especially when I am carrying hay. And they come over to check out what I am doing. Yesterday I improved a gate and they all came over to watch me work. All 14 were lined up along the fence intently watching me. I had to toss them some fresh hay to leave me alone.
I had Dan's two steers for a few hours until Dan could come over to pick them up. One could tell they were not part of the group. One went off to another part of the corral to be alone and sat down. The other one stayed with the group as they walked around checking out their new home, but he would bellow his displeasure every often. A few times he would butt heads with one of my heifers. My heifers gave as good as they got and pushed him back a number of times.
My heifers are very calm and mellow and seem to be a good group. However I can pick out personalities already. The shy ones and the bold ones and the intelligent ones. The intelligent ones are the ones to watch as after they figure out something they can be trouble. They are the ones that are very curious as to what is inside the barn. When getting a hay bale I have to make sure the barn door is closed as I fluff the hay bale out in their feeder - else I will have a heifer inside the barn.
These cattle are like ninjas. They can move fast and they move quietly. It is surprising considering their large size. One second they are here and the next I know they are over there.
All the cattle have ear tags and I will keep them and not go through the trouble of giving the cattle new tags. Even though they are from the same herd the tags are colored yellow, blue, green, orange and one is pink. I've already started calling the one with the pink tag "Pink". In time I'll see if she has a strong personality like the pop music star "Pink".
In the morning before the cattle arrived I did last minute chores to prepare for the cattle. I scrubbed and cleaned their water trough and filled it. I also nailed some odds and ends of small wire fence pieces to part of my corral fence on the east side. I covered part of the corral fence to prevent the cattle from sticking their head through to eat the grass in the yard. In the past I've seen some cattle twist their head to get it through the corral fence and I don't want to chance them pushing and breaking the corral fence. The fence is solid... but I've seen crazy things happen with cattle.
Here is a view of several cattle and the wire I added to the corral fence.
The first day the cattle were jumpy at any little sound - even cars driving by on the road in the distance - but they have become accustomed to their new home and are more relaxed now. Tonight one of them got in a squirrelly mood and began running around the corral and got the others worked up and soon the whole herd were running in circles around the barn. I had to go out and talk to them to get them to finally stop. But the goofy one then wanted to pick fights with other cattle. Finally she got it out of her system.
The corral grass is now eaten down short - golf putting green quality except for the cow pies.
I also feed the cattle a hay bale or two several times a day. They have quickly warmed up to me. I am already at the stage where they don't move much when I walk by them - especially when I am carrying hay. And they come over to check out what I am doing. Yesterday I improved a gate and they all came over to watch me work. All 14 were lined up along the fence intently watching me. I had to toss them some fresh hay to leave me alone.
I had Dan's two steers for a few hours until Dan could come over to pick them up. One could tell they were not part of the group. One went off to another part of the corral to be alone and sat down. The other one stayed with the group as they walked around checking out their new home, but he would bellow his displeasure every often. A few times he would butt heads with one of my heifers. My heifers gave as good as they got and pushed him back a number of times.
My heifers are very calm and mellow and seem to be a good group. However I can pick out personalities already. The shy ones and the bold ones and the intelligent ones. The intelligent ones are the ones to watch as after they figure out something they can be trouble. They are the ones that are very curious as to what is inside the barn. When getting a hay bale I have to make sure the barn door is closed as I fluff the hay bale out in their feeder - else I will have a heifer inside the barn.
These cattle are like ninjas. They can move fast and they move quietly. It is surprising considering their large size. One second they are here and the next I know they are over there.
All the cattle have ear tags and I will keep them and not go through the trouble of giving the cattle new tags. Even though they are from the same herd the tags are colored yellow, blue, green, orange and one is pink. I've already started calling the one with the pink tag "Pink". In time I'll see if she has a strong personality like the pop music star "Pink".
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Cattle search
This week I have been busy looking for cattle. Wednesday I visited the local cattle broker I have bought and sold from in the past. He had plenty of cattle in my weight range (600 lbs plus), though he mainly had heifers. They were good looking black cattle. They were skittish and ran to the far end of the large holding pen so I couldn't see them close.
The cattle were committed for a team penning competition this weekend and would not be available until next week.
Thursday I drove down to Missoula with Dan and we went to the livestock auction. It was their feeder sale - and that's what I wanted. So, they had more cattle than usual but much less than what I have seen back in Minot, ND at their livestock auction. Missoula's cattle numbered less than 500 while Minot's seemed to be a thousand or two when I have gone there.
We got there just before the auction started at 10 am and had a little time time to walk though the holding pens to see what they had.
There were some possibilities for what I wanted though the heifers far outnumbered the steers. I don't know why. Most people prefer steers as they supposedly gain weight more. In my experience I've had heifers and steers gain similar weight.
The auction started with the slaughter cow and bulls and that last most of the morning. There weren't a whole lot of people there but more came as the morning went on.
After lunch the auction had a few cow/calf pairs to sell then started with the feeders. The prices seemed decent. The problem was that the cattle either were 2 or 3 at a time, or were the wrong color (black is the color that gets the best price and are easiest to sell). I was looking for a dozen cattle and as I was going to hire Evan to haul them to Kalispell for me I needed all the cattle as it wouldn't pay to hire him to haul 2 or 3, or 6 if that was all I was able to buy.
Dan was looking for a few head also and was in the same situation. Then 35 head came through. That was too many. I had my eyes on 14 I had seen earlier in one holding pen, else there were seven in one pen and 4 in another that I could buy.
Finally 14 heifers came through. They weren't the 14 I had seen in the pen as that 14 included one with small horns and one whose left ear had a large notch where it appeared its ear tag had been ripped out.
But these 14 were real nice looking black cattle averaging 663 lbs. An ideal weight as after putting 200 lbs on them this summer they will be a weight that feedlots desire to finish off before slaughtering them.
Another plus were that these cattle all came from the same herd and were use to one another and were uniform in size. And they had all their shots so that would be one less thing for me to hassle with.
I joined the bidding. The other bidder was a cattle buyer and wouldn't give up. When I finally bid the highest I was willing to pay he gave up and I got the cattle. His wife turned over to me and told me I got some real nice cattle. I hope so as I believe I paid the highest price for any of the heifers sold that day.
Now that I got my cattle Dan ended up buying two steers at a good price. The second steer he bought was the last animal sold at the auction. One steer has horns but Dan has a horn remover and planned on cutting off the steer's small horns.
Evan had another load of cattle to haul that day so he planned on bringing our cattle here on Friday.
The drive back home was nice and the closer to home we got the less clouds we had and the warmer the temperature.
On the highway nearer my place we saw a half dozen cattle semi trucks and trailers from Saskatchewan. That is an unusual sight for here. Then I remembered that the prior three days there was a winter storm / blizzard on the east side of the mountains and it closed a number of highways. I think the trucks decided to travel west of the mountains for a change.
One weather forecaster said that St Mary in Glacier Park had 65 inches of snow. That seems to be a high amount and I wonder if that is the right number... even if the photos I seen showed lots of snow over there.
Here is a photo I took of our weather and the lake as we drove back to Kalispell.
The cattle were committed for a team penning competition this weekend and would not be available until next week.
Thursday I drove down to Missoula with Dan and we went to the livestock auction. It was their feeder sale - and that's what I wanted. So, they had more cattle than usual but much less than what I have seen back in Minot, ND at their livestock auction. Missoula's cattle numbered less than 500 while Minot's seemed to be a thousand or two when I have gone there.
We got there just before the auction started at 10 am and had a little time time to walk though the holding pens to see what they had.
There were some possibilities for what I wanted though the heifers far outnumbered the steers. I don't know why. Most people prefer steers as they supposedly gain weight more. In my experience I've had heifers and steers gain similar weight.
The auction started with the slaughter cow and bulls and that last most of the morning. There weren't a whole lot of people there but more came as the morning went on.
After lunch the auction had a few cow/calf pairs to sell then started with the feeders. The prices seemed decent. The problem was that the cattle either were 2 or 3 at a time, or were the wrong color (black is the color that gets the best price and are easiest to sell). I was looking for a dozen cattle and as I was going to hire Evan to haul them to Kalispell for me I needed all the cattle as it wouldn't pay to hire him to haul 2 or 3, or 6 if that was all I was able to buy.
Dan was looking for a few head also and was in the same situation. Then 35 head came through. That was too many. I had my eyes on 14 I had seen earlier in one holding pen, else there were seven in one pen and 4 in another that I could buy.
Finally 14 heifers came through. They weren't the 14 I had seen in the pen as that 14 included one with small horns and one whose left ear had a large notch where it appeared its ear tag had been ripped out.
But these 14 were real nice looking black cattle averaging 663 lbs. An ideal weight as after putting 200 lbs on them this summer they will be a weight that feedlots desire to finish off before slaughtering them.
Another plus were that these cattle all came from the same herd and were use to one another and were uniform in size. And they had all their shots so that would be one less thing for me to hassle with.
I joined the bidding. The other bidder was a cattle buyer and wouldn't give up. When I finally bid the highest I was willing to pay he gave up and I got the cattle. His wife turned over to me and told me I got some real nice cattle. I hope so as I believe I paid the highest price for any of the heifers sold that day.
Now that I got my cattle Dan ended up buying two steers at a good price. The second steer he bought was the last animal sold at the auction. One steer has horns but Dan has a horn remover and planned on cutting off the steer's small horns.
Evan had another load of cattle to haul that day so he planned on bringing our cattle here on Friday.
The drive back home was nice and the closer to home we got the less clouds we had and the warmer the temperature.
On the highway nearer my place we saw a half dozen cattle semi trucks and trailers from Saskatchewan. That is an unusual sight for here. Then I remembered that the prior three days there was a winter storm / blizzard on the east side of the mountains and it closed a number of highways. I think the trucks decided to travel west of the mountains for a change.
One weather forecaster said that St Mary in Glacier Park had 65 inches of snow. That seems to be a high amount and I wonder if that is the right number... even if the photos I seen showed lots of snow over there.
Here is a photo I took of our weather and the lake as we drove back to Kalispell.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Cattle feeder
A few days ago I finished fixing my cattle's feeder. When my uncles visited me a few years ago they helped me fix the feeder as it was in really sad shape from being abused by the cattle. We also put a floor in it to keep the hay off the ground. I found that some cattle like to stand with their front legs in the feeder. Over time they broke the floor.
I made a new floor and did not use plywood this time. This time I used 2x6 boards. The boards are heavier than plywood but if I ever want to move the feeder I can take the boards out. They are not nailed in as I built a supporting ledge all around the feeder's sides and cut the board lengths to fit relatively snug.
Photo 1 shows the bottom before I fixed it. (I already had removed the plywood boards.)
Photo 2 shows the new bottom. I removed a couple of boards for the photo to show how it looks.
I fixed the feeder just in time as I now am a cattle baron once again. I got the cattle today.
I made a new floor and did not use plywood this time. This time I used 2x6 boards. The boards are heavier than plywood but if I ever want to move the feeder I can take the boards out. They are not nailed in as I built a supporting ledge all around the feeder's sides and cut the board lengths to fit relatively snug.
Photo 1 shows the bottom before I fixed it. (I already had removed the plywood boards.)
Photo 2 shows the new bottom. I removed a couple of boards for the photo to show how it looks.
I fixed the feeder just in time as I now am a cattle baron once again. I got the cattle today.
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