Gopher traps

Remember those gopher traps I had bought at the auction a few weeks ago? I have used them. You probably realized that if you seen the new column in my blog's sidebar where I list the regular gophers I have trapped so far. Eighteen in less than a week - not bad!

At the auction I had gotten 3 conibear traps and 5 leg hold traps. I used the conibear traps first.

I had to be careful setting the conibear traps as the spring is very strong. In the photo the conibear trap is set.

What holds the trap open is a "trigger" and a "key". Each is on a separate metal square and when set against each other hold the trap open.

The "trigger" is the two small metal tines in the center of the trap attached to the small solid metal square.

The "key" holds the trap open until the trigger is tripped. The "key's" top is barely visible above the trigger. The key has 3 notches. One chooses which notch will go against the notch in the trigger. (So far I have always used the middle of the three notches). The trigger's notch is in the small square metal to which the two thin tines are attached.

When the trigger's tine is moved, the trigger's metal square is moved and the key will slide out of the trigger's notch. The key then no longer holds the two metal rods close together. The spring's arms will expand from being held-in-the-middle to each going-to-a-corner. The spring's movement causes the two metal rods to flip around with the opposite ends coming together.

If the trap was a circle and not a square, then think of the motion of the trap's rods going from set to tripped as creating a sphere. Any object inside and outside the sphere is caught and squeezed tightly by the metal rods.

The key and trigger both slide along the rods so one can position them at either end instead of the middle. Sometimes I place the trap partially in a gopher hole. Then I slide the trigger and key to one side of the trap to be where I think the gopher will come against it.

The spring is very strong and is hard to squeeze together. The spring snaps the trap shut quickly. I am careful when setting the trap so as not to have it trip and get my fingers inside. I have heard of fingers getting broken by one of these traps. Any gophers caught in the trap do not get out if the trap doesn't kill them instantly.

I have had only one trap trigger with no gopher caught. The tine is on one arm and when the trap is set the tine tends to be closer to one side (up or down) of the trap. Now I make sure to lay the trap so the tine is on the upper side of the trap so the gopher is more inside the trap and it's "sphere" when he/she moves the tine to trigger the trap. A second attempt caught a smaller sized gopher.

I decided to set the traps in the middle pasture as the cattle still are in the north pasture and I didn't want them stepping on the traps and either triggering them or bending or breaking them. It is one thing if they trigger the trap with their hooves. It is another matter if they trigger the trap by sniffing or licking it. I also warned Mr. D about the traps and suggested he keep his dogs out of my pasture for the time being.

The first time I set my conibear traps: after setting all three traps I then checked three of my gopher traps. Then I checked the first conibear trap. I had caught my first gopher.

I have found that after releasing the dead gopher from the trap the gopher will disappear entirely. Sometimes it is gone in less than a half an hour. I know it didn't walk off.

The chain and ring attached to the trap are apparently so another animal doesn't drag off the gopher and trap as I can't imagine a gopher moving much, unless only it's leg was caught. Even then the trap is larger than most gopher holes so it wouldn't disappear underground.

I have lost two of my three traps the past few days. I debated whether to explain the missing traps now or when I later write about a jailbreak by a few cattle as those were quite some days (one of several reasons I am behind in my blogging).

Here goes...

The evening of the jailbreak I also noticed a gopher was caught in one of my traps. I guess it came up to see what the commotion was about. As I had more important things to do, and seeing it was caught in it's middle and not going anywhere, I concentrated on the cattle.

The next morning when using my binoculars to check on the two escapees down near the river an eagle flew across my view of the middle pasture. It landed in the pine tree near the bee hives. Cool! I haven't seen any eagles in a while.

I am not sure what kind of eagle it was. It was a large bird. It has a lighter color head and neck than the darker brown body. The tail feathers were also lighter. I don't remember any feathers on the legs.

I am not a bird expert by any means but the bird appears closer in looks to a bald eagle than a golden eagle. I'm not sure if there are any other kinds of eagles in Montana.

After the grass dried from the previous night's rain I went to check on the escapees. Walking by the gopher trap I noticed the gopher was gone - and so was the trap! What?!

The trap's chain and ring had been around a short (2 ft high) metal rod, and that was still in the ground but at an angle. I searched around the tall grass but could not find either the trap or the gopher. I believe the eagle or some other large bird flew off with my gopher and trap. It had to be a big bird as most gophers I had caught were a good size.

My other two traps were there. One was still set and empty; the other had a recently caught gopher which I finished off. Later that afternoon when in my garden I heard a commotion in the air. I looked up to see an eagle flying east across my hayfield then east across the road. A crow was following and harassing the eagle. The eagle was carrying in its claws a large limp gopher. I figured it found the dead gopher I recently tossed aside from my trap.

The next morning I checked my two remaining traps. One trap was gone. NO!!! The rod I had holding the chain was slightly at an angle but mainly upright. The rod was a yard tall and was in the shape of a cane (an inverted "J" at the top). To get the trap off one had to maneuver the chain ring up then down through the inverted "J". Other than man the only animal I know that may be able to do this is a large bird. The gophers in this area were on the smaller size so that may have helped the bird.

*Augh!*

Two traps lost in two days!! I removed the dead gopher from my final conibear trap then set the trap over a gopher hole under a tree. I also placed the tall "J" rod and a stick in the chain. Nothing was getting the chain off without removing both the rod and stick from the ground!

I have since found different rods with large ends or objects attached to the ends. The only way to remove the traps from the rod is to pull the rod out of the ground. Let's see that stupid eagle fly off with my traps now! Darn wildlife!

As I had seen the eagle fly east I gave up hope of finding the traps under one of my pasture trees. No wonder I started to see the eagle after I started trapping gophers. I read that eagles are not big on eating carrion unless they have to. I bet this eagle has babies and mouths to feed and could use the extra meat. It probably circles overhead waiting for me to set the traps. I have seen the eagle a few more times, each time several smaller birds were chasing and harassing the eagle as it flew over my pasture.

I have lots of gophers left to trap. I took a look at the remaining five traps I had bought at the auction: the leg hold traps. They didn't look like they would hold a gopher. Most of these gophers are plenty big and strong.

I also wasn't too excited by this trap as its spring isn't as powerful as the spring on the conibear traps. Still I tried the trap. I put all five out last night and found I had two gophers when I first checked the traps today.

This photo shows the trap closed. The spring on these traps is the long rectangle on the right side. I step on the spring pushing the top of it down to the bottom. Then I can separate the two half circles to lay flat.

The trigger is the round metal circle under the two half circles. It has a notch on one side. The long thin piece of metal at the top of the photo goes over one of the half circles and goes into the notch to hold the trap open. When the gopher steps on the round circle the circle goes down and metal catch falls backward and away from the circle. The pressure is released on the half circle and it goes up to standing position as the spring expands and moves up. When the spring is down the other half circle easily moves up or down. When the spring moves up it forces the two half circles together.

A gopher leg is what triggers the trap and the leg is caught between the two half circles. The last gopher I caught had both front legs in the trap. Of the other gophers some had a front leg in the trap; others had a back leg trapped.

A downside of this trap is that it doesn't kill the gophers so I had to do the dirty deed. Also the chain and ring are important as this trap is smaller than a conibear trap and when closed some traps could fit into a large sized gopher hole. With three legs free I found the trap only remained in place because of the rods I had in the ground to hold the trap. In most cases the gopher pulled the chain tight and was partially in the hole and I had to pull it out. Needless to say the gophers were not pleased. One verbally chewed me out as I pulled it and the trap from the hole. Another thrashed around trying to get me as it swung from the chain until I could dispatch it.

I am happy these leg hold traps work, but I prefer the conibear traps as that trap literally took the life and fight out of the gophers. In one day with the leg hold traps I caught 5 gophers with the five traps. Several traps/gopher holes had no activity so the five caught were because I checked the traps three times today.

I have found - unlike pocket gophers that are solitary animals unless it is the breeding season - multiple gophers live in the holes. Usually there are a number of holes in a short area. When setting the trap I try to fill/close the surrounding holes. After dispatching the dead gopher I fill this hole in. Always by the next day this and most of the surrounding holes are open and free of dirt. I place the trap there again and get another gopher, then another one. For each trap I have been switching back and forth between several holes in trapping gophers.

I wonder if the gophers are catching on that I am a "bad" guy. Lately they have been chirping warnings when I am further away than in the past.

Those pesky pocket gophers are still around. I trapped a gopher early this afternoon and by evening found fresh pocket gophers dirt mounds nearby as one quickly moved into the neighborhood now that the gopher was gone. The pocket gopher's mistake as I got it before I quit for the night. Looked to be a "teenager" just out on its own judging from the smaller size.

And yes, my count of trapped gophers includes the two missing traps and gophers.

Primary election judge

I haven't posted in a while... I know. I've been busy! Tuesday, June 6, was Montana's primary election. I had volunteered to be an election judge. This was my first time as an election judge. As the day approached I had doubts about my decision as this meant I had to arrive at the polls by 6:15 am. 6:15 am... that's hours before I normally wake up! Could I even wake up that early?

I set my alarm clock for 4:45 am. And as usual I woke up before the alarm went off - even though this was far from my normal wake-up time. *shrug* I woke up almost a half hour before 4:45 am. I was very surprised that it was so light outside. No need to turn lights on. The sun hadn't risen over the mountains yet, but with all the light in the sky it would be a matter of time before the sun came up and over the Swan Mountain Range.

Since I wouldn't be crawling through barb wire fence this day I decided to wear clothes that weren't ripped, torn, or patched. Yes... I found some. I may have even looked respectable. Naturally these nice clothes were clothes given to me by former girlfriends as I have no fashion sense at all.

As I drove to Whitefish and the polling place it was so light outside I didn't need to turn my car's headlights on. During the drive the sun rose through the gap in the mountains. The gap is the way to Glacier Nat'l Park. I should have brought my sunglasses - who would have thought they'd be needed before 6 am?!

Not much traffic at this hour - which makes sense - who gets up so early?!! The morning was cool as the temperature was in the lower 40s F. Fog lay here and there east of the road in lower areas. Some hayfield irrigation sprinklers were going and I wondered if there was a connection to the nearby fog.

Other election workers were already at the Whitefish Armory when I arrived after 6 am. I noticed the parking lot was small, as almost a quarter of the parking spaces were filled with the election workers' vehicles. I parked at the far end of the parking lot. But not in the last parking space. Next to that space was a path that led to the new nearby skate park. No sense taking a chance with some kid veering off the path into my car.

The high was predicted to be in the 80s F so I put one of those folding window shades in my car's window. I had washed my car the previous day, and found, yes, it is still black. The better to absorb the sun's rays! And I have a few rust spots growing here and there - from my days living in "winter salt" Minnesota. I hardly see cars with window shades anymore. Does anyone use window shades in their car anymore? People with black cars must!

I grabbed from my car the bags of apples, grapes, and cantaloupe I brought for our group and headed inside. I had to rattle the door as it was still locked, Rene came over and let me in.

The rest of my team was there. Carmen, Pam, Tom, Rene, and a woman who substituted for our other team member who had gotten ill. I forgot this woman's name. Christine ...I think.

The armory had a small room with a refrigerator, sink and microwave. I stored my food in the refrigerator and headed to our area.

Three precincts were at the armory. We (precinct 20) were in the NE section, Precinct 47 was across from us in the NW section, and precinct 48 was in the SW section. People entered the armory from the SE.

Our equipment (computers, voting booths/stands, tables) was supposed to be set up on Monday, but because a dance was scheduled Monday evening in the armory our equipment wasn't set up until very early Tuesday morning. That meant we did not have Monday to do the rest of the setup. This entailed putting up all the signs indicating which precinct this was, the sample ballots, voting instructions, signs about "no cell phone use" (apparently the powers that be are leery of camera phones taking photos of how someone voted), etc. We also didn't have a chance to go over the materials for each judge. A few weeks ago when I had gotten my absentee ballot I had gotten a copy of the provisional judge's (that's me!) handbook and read through it. So that helped.

It was a busy chaos for approximately 45 minutes until the polls opened. Figuring out what needed to be done, what stuff we needed, where stuff was, putting up signs, getting the computerized voting machine ready, finding the material needed for each judge, what is in this and that folder, what this and that envelope is for, etc. I found which envelopes were for provisional ballots and then had to put labels on a few of them to be ready to use later if needed. We had to all stop and get officially sworn in to protect and defend the U.S. and Montana constitutions. Hectic.

As provisional judge I had the phone that would be used to call the election office to resolve issues. It was a track phone which I had never used. I couldn't figure it out - I couldn't even find the on button. I know, pathetic. I'm so not a hardware gadget guy.

I went over to precinct 47 and a light red haired woman there fiddled with it and we got it working. Playing around we determined what some of the buttons did. Before I left she asked my name which she wrote on her notepad. Later my team and I realized she was somewhat odd. During the setup period she was going around asking everyone's name and then writing it down on her notepad. Or at least the names she got as some of my team members wouldn't give this woman their name. "It is none of her business. Doesn't she have better things to do right now?!"

After I returned to my precinct with the track phone Tom found the sheet with instructions on how to use the track phone. Now he finds it!

About 10 minutes before the polls opened we powered up the computer voting machine. Nothing. Precinct 47 also had nothing, but the other precinct had their machine working. We determined that while our machine was plugged in, the surge protector's (?) switch wasn't turned on. I flipped it on. Success!

Precinct 47 had to operate their computer in "power out" mode which meant putting the ballots into a slot in front of the computer instead of feeding the ballot through the computer to be read. Later they figured out the problem and got their computer working. After the polls closed they had to scan their unscanned ballots to get a final vote count.

After the computer finished its initial "power on" printout, and we all verified the settings were all set to zero, we all had to sign the printout.

It was almost 7 pm and people were lined up outside the door. We were still setting up stuff. Then everyone realized no one had ballots. What?! A worker from another precinct borrowed our track phone (only one for all three precincts). A call to the election office and we learned the ballots were in the locked room at the SW end of the armory. The problem was no one had a key to that room. Apparently only a Whitefish city employee had a key. He never arrived till 7:20 am or so. That gave us time to organize further. We did emphasize with the voters outside waiting in line.

When the locked room finally was opened, we all got our precinct's locked box with the ballots for our precinct. We all had to witness the seals and the breaking of the seals on this metal box. Inside was the book with the registered names and ballot info for our precinct, and the official ballots. Our numbered ballots began with 76 as the first 75 numbers were reserved for absentee ballots. A special bar code on each ballot indicated to the computer that this ballot was for our precinct. That is how we were able to have a simple, low ballot number.

This being a primary, one group of ballots were for the Republican party and the other group of ballots were for the Democratic party. Where are ballots 76 and up? Found them.

I had no sooner gotten the ballots out on the table in front of me than the doors were opened to let the voters in. It was 7:30 am now. A half hour late. The first three voters in the door came straight to our precinct.

Our entire team was new. That is no one had ever worked as an election judge before. Out of all the precincts at the armory, only two members of precinct 48 had been an election judge before. Later they complimented us that we were doing a good job and never panicked in the early morning chaos. They liked how we were so happy throughout the day. They had even expected us to break out in song at some point. We never did sing. Precinct 47... on the other hand... more on them later!

Later in the day Carmen recognized a former election judge for our precinct. The earlier scuttlebutt was that this entire group of judges refused to work election this year, and were quite vocal in their refusal when asked to do so by the election office. We wanted to know why? Something happen? Personality conflict? Carmen learned the former judges were unhappy with the new changes; the computers, the new way of doing things, the new location with the concrete floors. They didn't see the need for change. Therefore they quit working as judges.

In our precinct Rene was the greeter by the door. The greeter would steer the voter to the correct precinct - or attempt to. Christine was the person who looked up the voter's name in the registry and had them sign it. Pam was next and wrote the voter's name down and their ballot number. Tom helped the voter feed their ballot into the computer. Carmen was the chief judge and filled in whenever when someone needed a break, or checked with another precinct for answers when we had questions. I even asked Carmen to check the other precinct's vote totals to see if we were ahead. (Nope). I was the provisional judge, but we also needed a person who stamped the ballot with the official stamp, tell Pam the ballots number, give the voter the ballots, instruct them how to handle the ballots and which booths they could use to vote in. Hmmm... who could do that?

Now at the training session when we divided up roles I had thought the ballot judge was a separate judge, but was told the computer voting machine judge would handle it as it was part of their duties. But here and now we realized this would be too much as Tom would be busy helping the voter get their ballot into the computer. The hard plastic privacy sleeve did not fit the computer's slot so the voter (as the judge cannot handle the ballot after the voter has marked it) would have to slide their ballot from the sleeve into the computer until the computer grabbed it.

I didn't mind doing the ballot judge's job in addition to the provisional judge's job as I didn't expect the provisional judge to be busy. I actually liked being ballot judge as it kept me busy. I also didn't mind having to repeat the same thing over and over (and over!), though every one else said I and they would be hearing my spiel in their dreams later that night.

First I would stamp each Republican and Democratic ballot. As the day wore on my fingers were getting very red from the ink. It didn't wash off, but today it is gone. Then I would tell Pam the ballot number. Once in a while the person next in line was done registering before the prior person as he or she was taking a moment to fill out a change of address card. Pam and I would coordinate the ballot numbers for these people who jumped ahead so that the numbers in her book always increased correctly.

"You have 2 ballots. One for the Republican party and one for the Democrats. You can only vote for one party. Before you vote, take the ballot you will not be voting with, fold it up, and place it into this envelope." I would then show them the envelope that said "Place your NONVOTING ballot in here". Once in a while someone would say 'That's for the ballot I don't use?", or ask if they hadn't noticed the words "NONVOTING" on the envelope, "I put the ballot I fill out in here?" No, no, no!

Then I'd say, "Then you fill out your ballot. Once you have finishing filling out your ballot, take your ballot and slide it into the privacy sleeve so we can't see how you voted." I would move the ballots across the top of the brown hard plastic container so they could see the opening at the bottom and how to slide the ballot into it.

"The bottom of the ballot - the tab - will hang out the sleeve. Bring all of this, the envelope and the sleeve, to this gentleman by this machine." I would point at Tom and the computer. "He will take your envelope, tear off your tab from your ballot, and help you enter your ballot into the computer."

"You can vote at these booths along the wall or these over here. If you have any questions come back and ask."


Later I had the idea that some people may forget to turn the ballot over to vote on the back, even though the ballot said both to turn the ballot over, and to vote both sides of the ballot. My idea came after a few spoiled ballots where people didn't pay attention to the front side for other ballot issues.

By the afternoon I had added to my spiel for the people to turn the ballot over, and I would flip the ballot over to show them the back.

After the polls closed and we printed the final printout I noticed it listed some non votes for entries that I knew were on the back of the ballot. Darn.

A number of people commented that this all seemed so complicated and I wish we could vote how we used to. Some people told me they only wanted one ballot, and then tell me which party. I told them - with a smile - that I had to give them both ballots and make them do the work of folding the unused ballot and putting it in the envelope.

Some people were unhappy they couldn't vote for certain races on both ballots. Usually these people were Democrats as our sheriff's race only had Republican candidates (three) as no Democrats are running for sheriff. Therefore it is almost certain the Republican primary winner would become sheriff in November.

Usually people commented about the sheriff's race when getting their ballots. One attractive woman came to me to make this comment after she voted. I sympathized. Later I thought... was she providing feedback or flirting or both? The problem is that I get so task oriented I totally miss when women flirt.

Of course during lulls I noticed the attractive women. They seemed to mainly go to the other precincts. *waaah!* Tom commented on one woman in 3 inch stiletto heels and a short cowgirl skirt. Unfortunately by the time he commented she was hidden behind the voting stands. Of our eight stands, four were along the north wall and four were to our left. These last four partially blocked the view to precinct 48. I could only see below the stands. I was able to see her legs and her high heels. Nice. Very, very nice! I wanted to see more but couldn't. *waaah!*

The view to precinct 47 was unobstructed. We all saw and commented on the young woman in the platform high heeled shoes. She had a short white skirt and a black spaghetti-straps blouse. Fantastic legs! Wow!

We did get a few attractive nicely dressed women voting in our precinct. One woman had a wedding ring "rock" so large that it almost blinded me. "Does she have a hand under that rock? I can't see. The light bouncing off it is blinding me!"

For other women I wondered if their arm didn't get tired from carrying such a large and heavy wedding ring "rock". And while the majority of voters were older, a few younger people voted. One young woman had a small nose ring. I thought, "I don't even subject my cattle to having a nose ring!" Another woman had ear rings and also pierced the tops of her ears and put "bar-bell" plugs through her ear. Ok... lots of metal on her ears!

Later one of the crabby election judges from precinct 47 complained that some of our voters were using their election stands in which to mark their ballot. One older fellow apparently tried to then vote at their computer (one of the few voters who I did not give instructions to as I was on a bathroom break). Their computer judge caught the error before he voted. Not that it mattered as the computers were programmed to reject ballots not for that precinct. Their judge had not followed procedure and already slid the voter's unmarked ballot in the extra lock box. It didn't matter as the voter filled out his ballot correctly and our machine took it.

Anyway, the precinct 47 judge had asked us to move our four stands on our left and put them in the middle of the room between our precincts. Earlier I had moved one of our stands on the left further west and away from our tables as I had noticed some people would walk west around them even though they did not need to do so as there was room between our table and the stands.

Carmen by now was annoyed (like the rest of us) by the precinct 47 judges and didn't want to move the stands. I was all for moving our four stands as I noticed many people would forget the stands were there as they were at the voters back after I gave them their ballots. And if I moved the stands I could see over to precinct 48 (and any attractive women) and we would block some of the view of the crabby precinct 47 judges.

Against Carmen's wishes I moved two stands to the middle between us and precinct 47. One leg from a stand fell off with a clatter and Tom came over to put it back on. Later as the voters using the remaining stands finished Tom moved them also. It was a better situation for all involved. Carmen got over it and agreed it was the right thing to do. And we partially blocked the sour faces of precinct 47.

The red headed woman from precinct 47 had her nose in other people's business. She came over several times to us give advice on how to run our precinct. During the lunch rush we had a little line when a group came all at once and the line was slowed when a few voters needed to fill out change-of-address or change-of-name cards. The red haired woman rushed over and in front of everyone started telling Christine and Pam how to run our precinct. Christine and Pam were busy right then with voters. No one on our team cared for this woman and how she handled things.

As I mentioned earlier, everyone on our team brought food to share among the team. Once you are sworn in as judge before 7 am you cannot leave the building until after the polls close at 8 pm. A long day. Tom said he was going to bring buffalo stew but brought seasoned chicken breasts and noodles instead. He caught crap from all of us as we were looking forward to the buffalo stew. The chicken was very good. Other people brought rolls, muffins, hummus. Christine brought a coffee maker and coffee. One woman baked a very large pan cake (I didn't know they made pans that big). The cake was very good and still moist at the end of the day even without a cover over the cake. The frosting was fantastic. All hand made. I brought fruit.

The two other precinct teams didn't bring any food, other than perhaps some personal food. As the day wore on we noticed they visited the food room and helped themselves to our food. A few nice women from precinct 48 donated a few dollars to Christine for the coffee. Once when I was in the food room the red haired woman was standing and eating out of the cake pan. She was by the refrigerator so I asked her to move so I could get inside. Instead of getting embarrassed at stealing our food she scrunched up against the counter so I could open the refrigerator door and she could keep feeding her face with our cake. Hmph!

Remember the man who, at the training session, asked all the questions over and over and was so concerned about fraud and following the rules? He was a member of precinct 48. They solved that problem by making him the greeter so he sat at the table at the front door. He may be a nice guy but he had burned some bridges by his training session questions and comments. A few hours into the day we noticed he was standing outside the door talking to someone. A no-no. And here he wasn't following the rules. After the second time Carmen went over and reminded him and the other greeters of the rules. We cackled and waited for him to go outside again so we could enter a complaint and maybe get him tossed out. He never did. We were a fun and happy team but at times could be a little mean. We decided after watching him schmooze the voters coming in and the voters leaving that he must either be a used car salesman or a shoe salesman. He certainly had the gift of gab. For a 50ish starting-to-bald man he certainly charmed the young women. Grrr!

Of course we had our complaints with the greeters. It seemed as if they didn't know what precinct the voter was in, the greeter would sent them our way when the voter's precinct was one of the other two. But then, we don't know how many voters came to us after being to another precinct.

In fact the very first two voters in the building when we opened at 7:30 am were sent our way. We couldn't find them in our registered voters list and thought, uh-oh, the provisional judge (me) had to get it sorted out. But then another team member asked their address, and as all the other judges were from the Whitefish area and not me - and Carmen and Christine lived in our precinct, they realized the voters were sent to the wrong precinct and we sent them to precinct 47. *whew!*

All in all I didn't have to act as provisional judge. Most times the other precincts had the track phone as they had questions for the election office. We all agreed that if any of us needed to make a provisional judge call to the election office all three provisional judges would make the call so we all got experience. I don't know if any of the other precincts made a provisional judge call.

Our team did make a few - what I consider - provisional judge calls to the election department and never got the other provisional judges to join in the call. I didn't get to make the calls as Carmen wanted to do something, and as I was busy handing out ballots, she got the phone and made the call. One was for a young woman about 18 yrs old (with a short blouse, low rise jeans, and ...is that a belly button ring?) who had a registration card but never got around to mailing it in. But Montana doesn't allow same day registration and she couldn't vote. We took her card to give it to the election office so she could vote this fall. Another guy wasn't in the voter registry even though his wife was listed. He claimed they lived at the same address. Carmen called the election office but it was no go.

The computer is a good thing. It caught ballots where the voter voted for more than one candidate or inserted completely blank ballots.

We found that the county commissioner’s race caused problems. There were nine Republican candidates and many people would vote for three candidates. Huh? It said to vote for one candidate. Then I noticed above that it said “District 3”. So that is where the “three” came from!

A few voters were very old and asked to sit at a table to vote. A few asked us to carry their ballots and the privacy sleeve for them. Carmen and I usually did this as Carmen insisted two judges accompanied the voter so it didn’t appear that an election judge was up to no good with a voter. Not that would be possible in a busy open room like we were in.

Even before noon Pam was getting a little antsy. During the lulls she’d look at the clock and announce how many hours we had left. The closer it got to the election closing time of 8 pm, the morePam would look at the clock. She was more than ready for the election to be over. If she wasn’t looking at the clock another of her looks was to give me a look which meant, “you forgot to tell me the ballot number!” Oh... Oopps.

Our group was the fun group. I don’t know if we’d last if we had to work together several days in a row, but we had fun and everyone said they wanted to stay together for the November election. Carmen wasn’t sure if the election office would keep us as a team in November. We asked her to lobby for us to remain as a team.

Carmen, our chief judge, seemed like a nice sweet retired woman. By the end of the day we learned she had been kicked out of Catholic school in the 7th grade. “Details! Details! We want details!”

Apparently one of her female teachers was very mean and would pick on the quiet girls. Carmen said she was a quiet girl who one day had enough. She stood up and told the teacher what she thought of her and more. That led other girls to join in. They all were all sent to the principal’s office and all the other girls apologized. Carmen refused as she said she meant every word she said. So she was kicked out of school. Eventually they let her return to school.

Carmen lived in this district so we met some of her - now very old - school teachers when they came to vote. We also met a man who Carmen confided to us that she had a huge crush on when she was a teenager. “He was so handsome and such a stud.” She and her best friend knew when he would walk by their street each day and they would time their walk in order to meet him. That was many years ago as he now wheels a small oxygen tank along with him.

Christine was moving in a few weeks over to the east side (of the mountains) to Choteau, MT. She had bought a house originally built in 1914 which was remodeled after it had been moved from a ranch into town. The house had the typical small town’s large lot size for the yard. Even though she is retirement age Christine makes and sells stained glass windows. I forgot to get her web address.

Tom last lived in Florida before packing up and moving to Montana a few years ago. He is a independent physical therapist. Tom was a bundle of energy and free with his opinions. He was sometimes funny and sometimes abrasive. He claimed to be a conservative Republican but I doubt it. He also claimed to be the world biggest cynic and that was closer to the vibe he gave off. We all heard about the 2000 Florida election. He also was found of saying “Vote early and vote often”.

Tom was married three times and in the process of getting a divorce from his third wife, an airline attendant. She is Norwegian and apparently never adjusted to being out in the boonies. New York and the East Coast is more what she prefers. She and Tom own 40 acres way out of town near Star Meadows. We all think that with Tom'’s energy and talking he wore his wives out and that is why he got divorced each time.

Tom also liked to extol the virtues of out of state people moving to Montana and how he feels they improve the life here. He liked to make inflammatory comments about Montanans and life here. I think just to get a reaction from the other judges.

Pam was a retired navy wife and lived all over the world before returning to Montana. She defends Montana from those outsiders and she and Tom had a “friendly” banter going on throughout the day, each finding something to make their point and needle the other. Fortunately it didn’t get nasty as I was in the middle between the two.

Rene was the greeter at the front door so we didn’t see her much or get a chance to talk much with her.

The computer showed the count of voters and throughout the day during lulls Tom and I would calculate what percentage of eligible voters had voted. We had a total of 975 voters in our precinct. Tom was fond of saying “When we reach 20%, that'’s it. We’ll close everything down and go home.” We exceeded 20% mid afternoon and I predicted we would reach 33 1/3 percent. We were 8 votes short when the polls closed. Darn.

A few minutes before the polls closed a man came in, and as he registered he mentioned his wife was in the car with the kids and would come in after he voted. There was very little time left so we told him to go out and get his wife and kids and bring them in and we’ll watch the kids as they vote. This wouldn’t be the first time we had kids as their parents voted. Tom made sure the kids got a big "I voted" sticker after the kid's parent voted. This guy ran out to get his wife and kids but came back alone. He said one child was sleeping and his wife didn’t want to wake him. She never made it inside before the polls closed.

Our precinct got the last two voters before the polls closed. This was fitting as we had gotten the first two voters that morning. A young couple in good spirits. It seemed as if he had accompanied her to vote as she was more open and fun and he was more reserved about voting.

After the polls closed I got more food as I hadn't eaten in a while. Then we all took down the stuff. Tom and I folded up our voting booths and packed them into their individual suitcases.

Lots of other stuff had to be put away. The computer had to be deactivated and the printout with the vote totals printed. A long strip of paper with all the ballot totals for each party and the vote totals for each race. We all had to sign the paper in several spots. The paper trail and the computer’s memory card had to be removed and taken to the election office that night along with the ballots that had write-in votes. The computer detected the write-in votes and sorted the ballots into the bin on one side of the computer. The rest of the ballots went into the bin on the other side of the computer. Other stuff had to be taken to the election office. It all went into a large plastic bag that was sealed. Then all that went into a large brown envelope. This envelope and a number of other boxes and stuff had to have seals. We then all had to sign the seals. Lots of signing!

We didn’t finish packing and signing everything until 9:30 pm. Whew! A long day. We were all fading now. Some people - Tom - still had a long drive home. It was still light out as the sun had just set. In the MN winter I often never saw the sun as I was deep inside an IBM building all day away from a window. On this day I never saw the dark as it was light all day.

Carmen and Christine still had to drive to Kalispell to deliver to the election office the printout, computer memory cards, and other stuff we had sealed into the envelope.

During the day people gathering signatures for ballot issues for the November election were outside the building. I wanted to see what ballot issues they were for and perhaps sign the petitions. But by the time we all finished packing they were long gone.

I went to bed “early” (for me) that night and slept over 10 hours. What a day! But I’d do it again (as long as I wasn'’t assigned to the crabby team of precinct 47!)

Western salsify

They're back...!! Yup, my hated "milkweed" plants are again growing this year. Only now I know their true name. They are called western salsify, or western goat's beard.

I haven't settled on what I'll call these plants: western salsify or western goat's beard? I don't get the connection to the name "goat's beard". I do understand how people who told me these plants were milkweeds got confused.

Also called goat's beard, due to the shape of the hair-like bristles at the top of each achene (one seeded fruit).

Oh. Okay...

There is yellow salsify (yellow goat's beard), and I notice some web sites confuse the two, but I believe the yellow salsify is slightly different from the western variety. According to the Illinois wildflowers web site,

Western Goat's Beard appears to prefer drier habitats than Goat's Beards. These two species have a very similar appearance and can be difficult to tell apart. However, Yellow Goat's Beard has floral bracts that are shorter and fewer in number (there are about 8 bracts that extend to the outer margin of the ray florets, but usually not beyond), and its foliage tends to be less pale than the foliage of Western Goat's Beard.

While some web sites lump all plants with salsify in their name together as the same, I guess my weeds are not meadow salsify.

Western salsify and meadow salsify appear similar except western salsify has hollow stems that are inflated below the flower head while meadow salsify has solid stems that are not inflated below the flower but rather uniformly tapered. Meadow salsify leaf tips are usually curled or curved and the edges of its phyllaries are purplish.

Some web sites says this is a biennial, but from my experience I have my doubts. I have seen plants grow from nothing and go all the way to producing seeds in one season, sometimes in a matter of a day if it is July and it is time for the seeds to be spread. I have never seen one of my salsify plants that does not produce flowers and goes to seed the same year it comes above the ground.

Another web site says it can be a "short-lived perennial". That doesn't sound right either as perennial means: "a plant lasting for three seasons or more." Once "my" plant's seeds are dispersed the plant dies. Doesn't "short lived" and "perennial" sound like an oxymoron?

Also,

The blooming period occurs from late spring to mid-summer and lasts about 1‚–1½ months. The flowerheads open during the early morning, but become closed by the afternoon.

I have found the flowers here start closing around 10:30 am and only a few are left open by noon. When picking these plants I could tell time by the flower's closing. As I rarely get up early I am not sure how long after sunrise the flowers open. The one time I was up at sunrise I noticed the flowers didn't open till a half hour or so after the sun appeared.

If we had several overcast, or rainy, days in a row I found the flowers would stay open till 2 pm or even 3 pm. Apparently the flowers need a certain amount of sunlight before finally closing to convert to a seed ball. By July one day of sunlight is all some flowers require before closing for their conversion.

I have found the plants here mainly grow from the last week of May to mid-July. June is the time most grow, although I have seen isolated plants pop up as late as September. Even if the flower has turned to seed, the bud will remain closed until the right time which is usually the first to second week of July. A combination of daylight and temperature (hot) must trigger the plant's opening of the seed ball to allow the breeze to scatter the seeds.

As I mentioned plants remain closed until July even if the flower has already converted to seeds - but early plants will use this time to form more stalks with flowers and seeds. The closer it is time to open the seeds the faster the young plants will grow. New plants that grow when the seeds are being scattered in July can grow from barely visible above ground to scattering seeds in two days. One day to grow and flower, the other day for the flower to convert and then open as seeds. These later plants will consist of a single stalk.

I counted 64 seeds in one ball of seeds. As all they open around the same time, propagation to the next generation is done en mass. 64 seeds if only one flower, 64 multiplied by numerous stalks on one plant ensures at least one seed will make it for another generation.

The stem is hollow and filled with a milky white latex sap that is sticky. The plants grow so fast they leak this latex sap from the plant's joints. When picking many plants I would get a layer of this latex on my hands that took some effort to scrub off. Even the tap root has this sap.

"The milky stem latex has been chewed as gum in the past."

Yuck! This latex sap tastes bitter!

The salsify plant senses the height of the surrounding grass and will grow accordingly to be a little higher. I believe the height is to better catch a breeze and be able to disperse the seeds a distance from the plant. I found plants several inches tall to three feet tall. Naturally the late plants in July that must go from "zero to 60" to disperse their seed along with the other plants sometimes can't grow higher than the surrounding grass. The early plants grow well higher than the surrounding grass to enable the plant to remain taller while it stops growing in height to flower and convert to seed.

The plant has a large long taproot. One must get all of the root when pulling the plant from the ground else the plant will regrow. Only after the seed ball has opened and the seeds have dispersed will the plant die, never to grow again.

If the plant has flowered pulling the plant will not stop the flower from converting into a seed ball. One must pull/cut the flower from the stalk. The more stalk attached to the flower the greater the probability of seed conversion. By the end of June even this is not enough to stop the conversion. Then I place all the flowers I have removed from the plant into a bag for the garbage. Even then the flower will convert into seeds, though the seed ball that results is not so robust.

The seeds are extemely light and their "parachute" shape ensure the slightest brreze will carry them away. That is, once the first few seeds have left the seed ball reducing the ball's integrity. I assume that is so the seeds will disperse over a wider area due to a stronger breeze neccessary to "break" the seed ball. Still I have found a pile of seeds around many plants as the breeze here is often variable. That is, a gust may break the ball but then little breeze thereafter.

Once the seed touches grass the parachute collapses so the seed may fall through the grass and reach the ground. Once that happens it is very hard to see the seed.

I have been picking these weeds for four years now, and while I have gathered 98% of the seeds each year, each year I have just as many plants that grow. Last year I sprayed the plants to eliminate the plants where I didn't get 100% of the root when pulling the plant. The herbicide I used killed the plant. I have found a number of plants growing again this summer. As it is isn't mid-June yet I am not sure how many plants there are this year so I can't determine if spraying made any difference. While I have even picked some of my neighbor's western salsify plants, I realize some of my plants are due to their seeds drifting onto my property. Still the concentrations of plants in certain areas make me wonder how long old seeds remain in the soil before germinating.

"this plant is usually avoided by livestock and other mammalian herbivores."

I have found this not to be true if the plant has flowers. Once it turns to seed the livestock will avoid the plant. But cattle - and I found deer - do like the flowers and will eat the plant halfway to the ground. Even so, when I have tasted the milky sap I found it to be very bitter.

Here are some photos, credited when I knew the source:

by Dave Powell and Michael Shephard, USDA Forest Service, www.forestryimages.org



This link is to three pretty photos by Carol Davis.

And last, some photograhers can even make these seed balls look pretty..


by amulon

My girls have company

Be careful what you wish for! I think my "girls" are learning this.

I had the impression my girls were getting a little bored with their routine as whenever I went in the pasture they would come to me and follow me around. Well, their world has turned upside down as they have company to share their pasture.

Thursday night Dan brought 9 of his cattle, a mix of steers and heifers. My girls were in the corral when Dan arrived and after seeing him they trotted out to the pasture. Wonder if they remember that he was the guy who grabbed their ear and punched a hole in it and fastened a tag?

After Dan unloaded his cattle in the north pasture mine came back to see who these new cattle were. After a little mingling around the stock trailer and pickup Dan's cattle wanted to explore their new home. My cattle joined them - whether as friends showing them the place, or tagging along to keep track of these new strangers, I don't know.

In the evening I walked to the river to see how the new cattle were adjusting, and handling the river. They seemed to have common sense with the river. They also didn't mind getting wet as a number of Dan's cattle walked in the small low area of my property underwater. While less than 10 feet across they walked all the way to the fence. On a few smaller cattle the water almost reached their belly. *sigh* You don't have to walk in the middle of the water to drink it!

This morning Dan brought another 7 cattle, including 2 Holsteins. Dan's cattle are a mixed lot as he has Holsteins, black Angus, Herefords, black baldies, and one Angus/Holstein cross. It is kind of nice to see more colors than just basic black in cattle.

Dan brought the cattle before I got up - which wasn't early. Dan left all the cattle in the corral until a potential buyer came later this morning to look at the Herefords. The cattle were all pretty calm and as we talked most sat down and chewed their cud. I noticed my cattle were the last to sit as they kept their distance and some seemed to be giving Dan the evil eye.

After the buyer and his wife left I opened the corral to let the cattle go into the pasture. I took Dan to the river and showed him where my heifer almost fell in. It gave Dan the willies, especially with how high the river is and how fast it is moving. Dan agreed that if the heifer had fallen in it was most likely a goner.

When we returned to the corral half of the cattle were in the corral section south of the barn and needed to come east around the barn to go out the west gate. Three of my heifers were in this section and the rest were Dan's cattle. The rest of my cattle along with a few of Dan's cattle hung around the barn then left through the gate giving Dan wide berth.

The rest of the cattle watched and wondered how these were able to get out the gate. As the other cattle made their way to mid pasture the ones left in the corral started calling out to them. I eventually went into the corral and they all came to me and followed me around the barn. I stepped aside and when they saw the open gate they took off to join the others.

I don't think my cattle aren't too happy with all these newcomers. Even after Dan left, my heifers tended to stay near each other in the herd, except for one or two who started hanging out with some of Dan's cattle. Not that the other cattle shun the Holsteins, but the Holsteins tended to stick together.

Maybe my cattle are annoyed as it is no longer a "girls only" club. There are now boys sharing their pasture. At least these boys are all fixed so none of my girls will get into "trouble".

The new cattle probably disturbed my cattle's routine as the new cattle are still in the constantly roam and check things out mode. I think my cattle are caught between the remain-with-the-herd instinct and wanting to do things how they did them before. They look at me accusingly as, why did I let this riff-raff in?

Early this evening I saw one heifer was in the middle pasture across the fence from the herd. What?! *sigh* I walked out and found it was one of my hiefers. Can you guess which one? If you read my earlier post about the river excitement you have a 50/50 chance of guessing which heifer. No, not the one who almost fell into the river. Heifer 30 who gazed at the property across the river. The one who I thought might be trouble in the future.

I shooed the herd away from the gate and then herded my heifer back into the north pasture. I checked the fence and found a broken wire near their favorite siesta tree midway and along the fence in the north pasture. *sigh* Guess she wasn't content to take a siesta and fooled around and broke the wire. The grass is young, green, and tall in the north pasture, but you know "The grass is always greener...". Else she had enough of these newcomers and wanted her "space" away from them. None of the rest of the herd followed her through the fence.

After I got tools and wire and fixed the fence the herd came back to see what I was up to. Near this spot was a hole from a tree stump I had burnt this spring. I notice that the cattle enjoy wallowing in the three burnt out tree stumps holes in the north pasture. I took the shovel and filled the dirt back into this hole - all to an audience of 28 who lined up along the fence to watch me.

Numbers 30 and 40 stood by where the wire had been broken and watched me intently. Even after the herd lost interest and drifted off number 30 was the last to leave. Yup, she will be trouble later. I'm going to have to come up with a name for her.

With 28 my counting has gotten harder. More cattle to hide behind each other, else move around disrupting my counting causing me to start over. *sigh* That's life as a cattle baron.

Friday auction

I almost missed this auction. It was held on a Friday! Auctions almost are always on a Saturday with a few exceptions for a Sunday. I don't know why the sale was on a Friday, but it was.

9 am start time. Also unusual as the start times tend to be 10 am or 11 am. But a 9 am time is good so that the auction doesn't drag on till 5 pm or later. Now as all of you know I am not a morning person, but I still believe 9 am is a good start time. Not that I arrived there at 9 am...

It was after 11 am when I arrived. Usually I am not interested in the odds & ends they sell at an auction's start. Too much of a temptation to buy junk I don't need. As you know I am looking for fencing, gates, posts: stuff they sell in the second half of an auction.

The auction's address was on Columbia Falls Stage Road. I like roads with the name "stage road" in them. It provides a link with the past and reminds people of how people traveled prior to cars and highways. This road apparently was the route between Kalispell and Columbia Falls in the old days.

The auction was conducted by Bobby Roshon, who is one of my favorite auctioneers. Today he had a backup to give him an occasional break. Gideon, an Amish fellow complete with straw hat, Abe Lincoln beard, plain clothes (light green) and pants with suspenders and no belt. Gideon was a good auctioneer also.

Not a whole lot of people where there, which makes sense as - have I mentioned - this was Friday. Out of all the attendees less than 10 were women. I guess this was a male affair. Car parking was in a field cut by a swather - and the cut grass was not baled.

They were still selling stuff in front of the large metal building. After checking out the machinery and large items rows, and got my bidding number, I settled in watch the stuff being sold. Several large trees provided shade and I sat on the ground under a tree where they had cut the grass. It was a sunny and warm (81 F) day.

A number of old tools and such were being sold so this was somewhat of an educational experience for me. They sold two cattle dehorners, which I had never seen before. Before I could get my mind around them they were sold for $10.

The guy sitting near me bid unsuccessfully on a number of traps being sold. After a bit I asked him if he could tell me which trap would be good to catch prairie dog gophers. He didn't know as he trapped beaver and mink. But he knew someone who knew the answer and would introduce me later.

The unsuccessful bidder's name was Mark and he lived a little south of Somers off the highway. He has the look of a Montana cowboy, lean, ruggedly handsome, eyes squint from being out in the sun too much, bushy mustache, cowboy hat and boots. Sorry ladies, he's married as he mentioned his wife would have like to have attended this auction but had to work. Originally Mark came from east of the mountains but from a large family and his brother got the 10,000 acre ranch. Mark ended up here. Not a bad situation.

In addition to traps Mark was interested in a few of the old 1940s vehicles. He was unsuccessful with these items also. As he told me, "A guy can spend over a hundred dollars drinking, or on some other useless thing, but why not pay an extra $10 and buy the old pickup body for $135?" Did I tell you he invited me to stop by his place when I was next in Somers? "The road to my place is just past where the string of old cars are along the highway." Hmmm... a cowboy who likes old cars.

Mark and I had an interesting time chatting away. His neighbor - from California - seemed crazy at the time paying almost $100,000 for the land. The Californian split the land selling part to his sister. Then partially built a large log house. Then recently sold the land for about a million dollars. Crazy! But apparently not the Californian.

Later Mark introduced me to Lynn and we discussed ways to kill gophers. While both Mark and Lynn recommended a .22 gun I wanted other methods. We discussed poisons, smoke bombs, car exhaust, propane, and then Lynn showed me some unsold traps on the trailer. (The auction took a break from the trailer items and now had moved down the rows of machinery and large items).

Lynn showed me a trap that is perfect for gophers. I forgot the trap's name, and the internet is no help as gopher traps listed seem to be for pocket gophers and moles. A prairie dog trap search only turns up leg hold traps, which this is not one of them. This trap a square object that one spreads and sets with a catch.

Two thin metal tines (think of bobbie pins) are in the center of the trap. One lays this over the hole and the metal tines aren't that noticeable and when brushed against triggers the trap instantly killing the prairie dog/gopher.

I can't wait till tomorrow when I can try it. Naturally I will have to use it in a pasture without cattle as they could trigger the trap. I think the trap is too small to hurt their feet but it potentially could snap their nose.

Lynn and Mark did say that if I do use propane and then light it, let them know as they would like to watch.

When the auctioneer returned to the trailer to sell, it was later and over half the people had left. Still I had a competitor bidder against me on the traps. I was able to buy a group of 4 traps for $7.50. I got two of these square traps and two half circle leg traps.

This was another one of those auctions where the items I waited for sold to someone else and I ended up buying stuff I hadn't seen earlier or planned to buy. I was interested in a roll of tall chicken wire but dropped out of the bidding. Four rolls of half height fencing sold for $55 - far more than I was willing to pay. Three metal gates (one round pipe, one flat metal, and one half length flat metal) sold for $55 when I wouldn't bid $60. One can buy a new round pipe gate for $70. The two flat metal gates at this auction looked beat up, and my competitor seemed to really want the gates as he had no hesitation when bidding. Finally the old spike-tooth pasture harrow sold for $85, more than I was willing to bid. I didn't even get in a bid as two other bidders went at it.

I also was slow on cans of nails and a box of old candles. But then my heart wasn't really into buying these items. These items went for $1 each so they were a buy, and I should have bought them, but it was at the very end of the auction and buyer's fatigue had set in. The same was with the scavenge piles around the buildings. A few piles had an item or two I was interested in, but buying the whole pile was intimidating, even if the winning bid was only $5 in most cases.

The old buildings sold anywhere from $5 to $25 (when I paid attention). The large metal building sold for $800 - a bargain even if one had to dismantle the building within the month. A few of the old $5 buildings looked to be ready to topple over. They sold the contents (supposedly lots of tools) of the granary sight unseen for $25 as the auctioneer said the granary was "alive" with mice and he wouldn't open the door to the building preferring to sell the items sight unseen.

In amongst the buildings falling down was a house. It was so obscured by trees that I only knew it was a two story house after I entered it. Inside it felt noticeably cooler. All the furniture had been removed to sell at the auction (and didn't sell for much). I thought it was an old abandoned building the parents may have originally owned. To my shock the property's neighbor said the family lived in this house prior to the sale.

The first floor's ceiling was caving in and plywood sheets were nailed (and were bowed) to hold the ceiling up. I never went upstairs in fear of falling through the floor/ceiling. Plaster was off the wall in large areas. Nothing had been painted in decades. A hole was in a bedroom window. The owner merely put rags in the hole to plug it instead of replacing the window. A chest freezer was in the very small master bedroom. The bathroom... ugh! Even as a guy I thought it was disgusting.

Apparently the family raised 8 kids in this house. Amazing, utterly amazing. The house was so filthy only homeless hobos would consider living in it. It was the most disgusting house I have ever been in.

While waiting to pay I saw the guy who bought the group of boxes of books and the one box of candles. I asked if he wanted the box of candles as they were out of place with the books. He said he would have to check. I saw he spoke with the Amish guy then came back to tell me he would keep them. "Okay. I thought I'd ask seeing as how you were a guy and candles are a girl thing."

"I am recently single so I may give the candles to some girl I meet to impress her."

Umm... good luck buddy. Those candles were simple, white/translucent, were old, and had no smell. None of which women care for in their candles.

Oh yeah, I did buy a few more items earlier at the auction. In addition to the traps I bought a wooden long handled apple picker (a simple item as I once seen an apple picker with a sliding handle that squeezed shut the basket that picked the apple). An old guy was interested and got the auctioneer's helper to put it up for auction earlier than later. The auctioneer tossed in a long pole and a long tree trimming pole. I was also interested in the apple picker for my apple trees (one day I will fall out of my trees picking my apples!) The old guy bid $2. I bid $3. The old guy wouldn't bid more and I bought it.

I also got some shovels, crowbars, pitchforks, hoes, and a water cooler jug which I can use as a carboy to make wine. They sold the stuff in groups and I paid a dollar or two per group.

The hoes remind me: when the group of hoes and pitchforks were put out the Amish auctioneer said "And we got a nice selection of ho's for you." He had no idea what and how he said it. The guy next to me and I snickered as our minds were briefly in the gutter.

Heifer on riverbank edge

My previous post about relaxing and trusting my cattle know how to act around the river. Forget it!! I almost lost heifer #40 as she almost went over the riverbank early this afternoon. Ay-yi-yi!!!

Again today the cattle followed me across the north pasture to the river. They would all follow me as I walked. I stopped halfway to raise my hands and show them I had nothing for them. I stood and let them sniff and lick me hoping they would get bored and leave. Nope. I was their entertainment as they were bored.

As I continued to walk towards the river some of them would run ahead of me, turn to face me, then would bob up and down. Think of how a dog runs and bobs when it wants your attention and to play. Now apply that image to several 600+ lb heifers. Add in being closely followed by 8 or so other heifers.

As I got to the last stand of the trees before the river the lead heifers bolted to the river and the herd ran after them. They went to the NW corner. Fine, I'll go to the middle. They all clustered near the tree at the very NW corner.

After a bit... it looks like one heifer has slid under the simple 2 strand barb wire fence I had placed along the high riverbank. The fence is a yard in distance, give-or- take, from the river bank edge. Wide enough in many spots for a heifer to walk between the fence and riverbank.

I walked closer. Yup, one heifer slid under and lifted up the bottom barb wire strand. This was the very corner where the large tree is located. Against the riverbank a large old tree stump stuck out of the rushing water. This heifer was curious about the stump and would stand on the river bank (this section now underwater) to try to sniff the stump. Not quite, so another tentative step in the water. Sniff, sniff. Now what about the further out part of the stump?

Augh!

Her back end was still under the wire so she could back out. I stopped and waited for her to satisfy her curiosity and back up. No grass was here, just the stump and the river debris that caught in this spot. However she wouldn't give up and seemed determined to sniff the very end of the stump. *argh!*

I didn't want to panic the herd or startle her so she lost her footing or bolted forward. The problem is that several other heifers were crowding her from behind. "What ya looking at? What ya looking at?!" The rest of the herd stood and looked at me.

I couldn't stand it anymore and decided to shoo the herd away from the river and fence to give her room to back up under the fence. I did this quietly and in a low key manner but the herd bolted away.

Heifer 40 now had room but she saw the herd bolt and turned to join them. The problem is that she turned and didn't back up. She was now totally on the other side of the fence and didn't know how to get back. She was facing south and started to walk along the fence. The problem is that the area shrank as it went south. She tried backing up. After a little of this she tried turning around to get through the fence.

The bank started to give way and one, if not both, rear legs dropped over the side. This is a high river bank and the water below, on the bend, is deep and now fast moving. If she went over I am not sure she would make it. I can't lift a 600+ lb heifer, and any attempt to move towards her may panic her and she would drop over the edge. I couldn't do anything but helplessly watch.

She dug her front legs in and pulled herself back up on the river bank. Whew!

I moved towards the north end of the fence and tried to move the lower wire strand up - or off - or even tear the fence down. I had to act quickly before the riverbank gave way again.

She was panicking and pushing against the fence. Fortunately she was near a spot where I had joined two pieces of barb wire together on the top strand, and her efforts against the fence broke that wire apart. She was able to get over the lower strand and back to safety and rejoin the herd.

Whew! That was close! Talk about heart stopping!

I went home and got a post and a board, nails, and more wire and reinforced, as a quick fix, the fence where she originally slipped under. Hopefully that doesn't happen again!

When I finished the work the cattle came back. They had watched me, and being "more curious than a cat", they had to check it out. A number of them had to sniff the metal post - and one lick it to taste it - and check out all what I had done. The rest checked out my tools and me. I sat and let them sniff me until they got bored and moved on.

While they checked stuff out I watched who was doing what. Heifer 40 was among the most curious. Heifer 30 also. I remember when I had let them in the fruit tree and garden area these two were the most curious. I think it was one of these two that started eating the fruit tree leaves and got the whole herd kicked out of that area.

I noticed heifer 30 - having checked things out - stood and stared a long time across the river at the trees and tall grass on the other side. Great. When the river level drops later this summer I will have problems with her river-walking. *sigh*

Kids!

Taxes, stamp, cat, flowers, red glow

The last day of May was a nice day: sunny, 72 F, and little wind. Perfect weather. Tomorrow it is forecast to be 82 F. Too warm! I don't want it any warmer than today's temperature.

I paid the final part of the property taxes this afternoon. May 31 is the final day for payment. I, along with a number of other people, wait till the last minute (why pay early?) so I had to stand in a short line. The guy in front of me and I chatted about credit cards and how the county now charges you an extra 3% if you pay your bill with a credit card. He said he recently has encountered a few businesses that have also started charging for credit card use.

I stopped at the post office to buy a stamp to mail a letter for a rebate. The post office employee felt my envelope and felt the 4 small upc cardboard pieces inside and wanted to charge me an extra 13 cents for a total of 52 cents. "What!?" He said thicker, stiffer envelopes cause problems with their automatic sorting machines so they charge extra. "I never heard of this before! I mailed lots of rebate envelopes with no extra charge." He relented and sold me a 39 cent stamp. Hmph!

I bought a cat. No, not a real one; a garden cat. Made of metal. He is standing and playing a large guitar. I put him by my north flower bed near the house entrance. I also got a big rock and set on his pedestal as I am sure a gust of wind would blow him over. Wouldn't want him to break his guitar or his tail.

On my bicycle ride home (the long way) I found a thick piece of plywood lying on the side of the road, mostly in the ditch. The size was: 2' x 4.5'. I was able to fasten it onto my bicycle rack as I had a bungee cord along. It was like the back of my bicycle had a wing. That is why I know it was a little breezy today - I didn't think there was much wind until I had my "wing" on the bicycle. 5 miles and I was home - without taking flight.

I checked the north pasture to see how the cattle were eating the grass down. Plenty left. Even though they were taking a siesta in the middle of the pasture, they got up and followed me to the river. I told them I didn't have anything for them but they still all followed me as a group.

I think I know how I would be as a parent. When a few heifers walked to and into the river to take a drink I got a little concerned. Are you being careful? Is that the best place to drink from? Why not drink over here where the water isn't moving fast? Don't go into the water very far! They know what they're doing; they have had a few days now of doing this. Relax. Let them be.

The river level is dropping. The flow is down to 831 CFS; and I can see the water level is lower. Even with the lower level the water is still moving fast. I saw a large log rush by. The musical chairs are still going on: the last of the two tree stumps in the middle of the river is now gone.

I finally remembered to bring the ant poison when checking pocket gopher traps. I dusted the holes in the tree I seen the ants on a few weeks ago. Lots of ant crawling on that tree. It seems as if the ants are attempting to chew more holes into the bark.

Sometimes it feels as if I am losing the battle as I keep seeing more and more weeds, pocket gopher and prairie gopher tunnels, and ants.

I dug the flower bed west of the house and planted a few packets of flower seeds. They were dad's seeds and therefore old. Odds are they won't come up. I added in some flower seeds I bought last year. Then I dug the area against the water well shed. I won't plant any more tomato plants there as it is shaded half the day. I will try flowers this year to see if they do better than the tomato plants.

Later when I returned from checking the pocket gopher traps I noticed a robin hopping along my flower bed's wall. He wasn't too concerned about me. I believe there is a robin nest in one of the two large patio trees as I always see a robin around the area and he/she tends not to fly off when I am around. I wonder if the robin had seen me planting the flower seeds earlier?

The garden is coming up. I see radish, lettuce, corn, string beans and peas. No sign of onions, beets, carrots or potatoes.

Last weekend when it was colder I was riding my bicycle after sundown I noticed a reddish glow coming from near the trailer on the bend up the road. I rode over to find the glow coming from a small wooden building in a yard, the size of a large shed. The glow looked to be as from a large furnace, or coal-fired train locomotive. What it was, were heat lamps to keep chickens warm.