Tuesday, February 7

the afternoon sun and a whispering (UPDATE & a Question)

it was not the noise of the dogs barking that was loud but the eerie silence that had come
from outdoors. i stepped outside and walked to the forest line, i stood still trying to recognize
the unfamiliar. the afternoon sun gently highlighting the giant oaks, maples and pines that kept watch over the house, all this yet i felt a chill pass over me. he made his way quietly,  the sun cast a shadow on tree trunks showing his silhouette as he crept towards what he was after. still i stood silently, betrayed by what i thought was a secret understanding between me and them and now i think to myself how silly of me to have romanticized and believe a wish , a whisper and hope will always come true. the coyote made no pact with me i had only hoped that he would take my offering of a hundred acres for his hunt an exchange for not taking what  i care for. as i could sense him getting closer i disrupted the eerie silence with loud claps and shouts and i felt as if i also broke our pact, that is if he had ever contemplated  my offer....

* few picture taken yesterday and the rest when my sister claudine visited last fall.
* dear Sweet Life farm, i wondered if you had an email or blog i can visit and write you. I am so sorry for the  loss of your two companions.

*update yesterday afternoon after having run to the market to gather things for a friend that was dropping by. after putting  the banana bread in the oven and preparing a cheese plate, while concentrating to hard on a letter i was writing i heard the chicken & ducks go crazy.  i ran to the window and saw a coyote with a grey cochin in his mouth, i tapped on the window like mad enough to put my hand right through the glass( yes the same arm)( corine they are coming to fix it ) then i ran outside and chased it, it dropped the cochin. i gathered all the birds and put them in the fenced area and did the count 1,2 3, 4.... 27...39, 39 39 wait i need the number forty i ran to look for the chicken that was missing with big tears and my cut hand. my thought at the time was there must have been the red coyote there as well and it took one. i cried , no i bawled but my gut said she was not dead, so i grabbed my Newfoundland  grace who can sniff anything out and there we found the hen healthy in tacked under the wood pile.  dear farm friends who read this blog- have you had coyote problems what do you do- i do not have a gun, i choose not to physical harm any animal but perhaps you know away i can make the coyote believe that i could.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Lovely pics..you always make me dream and love about life :) Thank you, Ste

Ecotruism said...

Would a llama help?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0610_030610_llamashepherds.html

From Scratch said...

The lighting on these pics is amazing.

Anonymous said...

Wow, majestic is really the only word to describe the black beauty in the last photo.
Domenico

Feeling better, I hope.

cloudgathererholdmedown said...

ah, the fight and balance, the complex(?) relationship between man and nature.



your pictures,as always, are gorgeous.

Lucia said...

The wind whispers, the sun whispers. We only have to listen for them.

corine said...

Poor Nadia! Poor hen!

We have coyote right in our backyard in Los Angeles, despite houses and streets all around. My cat survived two attacks. Once I ran outside and surprised the coyote long enough for him to lose grip and my cat ran up a tree where he stayed for hours with a perforated lung and abdomen. I could not get him to trust me and come down and was hysterical as he was bleeding and howling.

Maybe you could put an electric fence around the coop but even then, those guys can jump incredibly high.

loverly_daisy said...

How frightening! My heart was in my throat when you were describing what was going on!
I unfortunately do not have any experience with this, but will keep you and all the animals in my thoughts. Take care of that arm also!

Jane Flanagan said...

How nerve-wrecking. I would feel a similar tug-of-war, not wishing to fight nature but wanting to protect all those I know and love. I have no sage wisdom, but I hope you find a way.

Les is more said...

I'm sorry, I didn't find your e-mail address, otherwise I would have written you via that... because this question has NOTHING to do with your heartfelt post.

I was wondering how do you get to load your photos in such a huge format onto blogger? And to line them up next to each other?
my e-mail address is leslietoth24@gmail.com and my niks nooks of a blog is
www.thebungalowpost.blogspot.com.
Thanks for any help!

Imagine you will fly... said...

... we do have an electric fence ... it was not completely tight ... a coyote (or fox) came early evening and stole a male duck. we have now tightened up the fence but i wouldn't completely rely on it... we now close the duck's house at night.
... llamas are good protectors for sheep, but i doubt, they would watch over poultry ... ?
...we bought a cage to catch the coyote ... with the intention to bring him over the Richelieu river and to let him loose there in the woods ...

Lorraine said...

I have an easy and natural answer for you! A donkey! Donkeys are surprisingly aggressive towards coyotes, and are often kept on farms to keep coyotes away. We have done this at our farm to protect cats, dogs, and chickens, with great success. this is why they keep donkeys with sheep, also. good luck!

Daniella said...

Oh no! I just read you're update... that would make me feel so helpless! I don't know of an answer for you, but hopefully someone will know of something that works! The donkey recommendation makes me very curious!

Melissa said...

I used to live where there was coyotes. Sometimes I would here them yipping and screaming because they nabbed someones cat or chihuahua. The only way we could keep them out was with 6 ft chain link. Not pretty. Maybe a pellet gun? It wont hurt him but might scare him off.