Gophers, fox. dog. irrigation, lawn mower

Still trapping gophers.  I trapped three Columbia ground squirrels this year.  No more signs of any.  Since the irrigation is now in that area of the hayfield, and no signs, I removed the traps and filled dirt in the tunnel entrances to close them up.   I am still trapping pocket gophers.  Caught five today.  I am up to 48 for the year.  Some pocket gophers are very leery of the traps.   It can take a week to get them.  Often they just fill the traps with dirt.  And I have a few who then fill the tunnel with dirt.  I then have to dig again to find the tunnel that is open.  One spot I stopped for now as I could no longer find an open tunnel in the area. I'll try again in a week or two.  Every time I think I may be done in the hayfield I find another spot where a pocket gopher just started to make new tunnels and dirt mounds.

A few weeks ago, when walking out to check the pocket gopher traps in the hayfield I saw a fox in the hayfield.  It then took off to the south.  It was pretty.

Two days ago, in the afternoon when I was checking the traps in the south pasture two dogs came over towards me and started barking.  So that is why the cattle were bunched up the NE corner of the south pasture in the morning.  I then had let the cattle into the middle pasture.  It was time anyway to rotate.  I chased the dogs off.  Today I seen one of those dogs in my new neighbor's yard - Curtis's former place.  I had a talk with one of the new people this evening about the dogs.

We had rain the end of last week.  Enough rain so I took a two-day break from irrigating the hayfield.  I am back to moving irrigation pipes twice a day and irrigating again.

At the irrigation got to the yard I tried to get the lawn mowed before it was irrigated.  I first had to rake up the manure from the cattle who were there in the beginning of June.  Rake because the thick manure piles still could be moist underneath.  Some of the thin manure was raked to get it "up" so the lawn mower could then break it up.

I got a little over half the yard mowed before my lawn mower broke down.  The air cleaner is now getting oil in it.  I got this lawn mower back in 2008.   The lawn mower's time is done.  I'm not going to have it repaired.

The top part of my old lawn mower.

But to buy a new gas-powered push lawn mower.  Not as easy as it was back in 2008.   A number of them are now battery operated.  I don't what that.  More people want a self-propelled mower.  I don't.  Most people want a riding lawn mower.  I don't.

Yesterday morning after moving my irrigation pipes I went uptown to look for a new mower.  I went to: Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Cosco, Tractor Supply, Murdochs, both dependent Ace hardware stores, the Husqvarna store.  All the stores.  Not many gas-powered push lawn mowers.  Lots of empty shelves.  The few they had were the more expensive ones.  Husqvarna only had one.  It was a commercial model and cost $1500.  No thanks.  I guess I am going to have to find a lawn mower online and buy it there.

Therefore I didn't get the front half of the yard mowed.  The irrigation is watering it as I write this.

The south irrigation line today reached the east end of the hayfield.  Tomorrow the north line will reach the east end.  Then I start back.