HORSES AND COWS AND RATTLERS, OH MY!

 

This wheat on the road is riper than ours.

The scene changes everyday as the grain silently bakes in the sun.

Wednesday morning, Mike said that the calling cards at the pond just didn’t look like horse. More like cows, he said.

Wednesday evening, as I was opening windows upstairs to let in the delightful evening breeze, I saw moving spots off to the south. I dashed downstairs and grabbed the binoculars, and by that time they were close enough to see three or four black cows heading our way.

About 8:00, Bess set up a ruckus out front. It’s wise to pay attention when Bess is upset. Sure enough, she and a rattlesnake were taking issue with each other right there off the front steps. I put Bess in the house and watched the snake while Mike got his tongs and pail. As he was handling the snake, three black cows took the opportunity to scurry towards June’s place across the far end of the pond. I could almost imagine that they were tiptoeing, like a cartoon. “Let’s go now. If we’re quiet, maybe they won’t see us.”  

Taken at the corner (not our barn)

When I was a youngster, I didn’t sleep outside. It was just me, and it didn’t sound like fun to sleep out by myself. I think I was right about that. But back in the day when my older half-siblings were young, I think they did sleep outside some during warm summer nights. My mother was concerned about snake activity in the evening / night and insisted that everyone sleep on a cot rather than on the ground. And all sleeping bags / bedding had to be picked up and stored during the day to be sure no snake was lurking.

I hadn’t seen bunnies this year until the other morning when I spied one near Mike's shed. It subsequently disappeared under the shed.

About 6:00 Thursday evening, Bess began barking from her perch on the porch, and so I checked. A horse had entered the yard and stood at the foot of my fenced compound. I hushed Bess and called for Mike, but by the time he arrived on scene, the horse had turned tail and was moving southerly, skirting the pond by some distance.

Looks like a snake -- gives me a start

“Wait! Come back,” I called. “Don’t you want to visit.”

Was it the same horse that visited previously? That other horse had a white face. I didn’t think it had a white face, and I didn’t think it was as big a horse.

Then, as I was finishing my shower – it was again approaching 8:00 – Bess was outside barking agitatedly, and I could hear the rattler. I threw a towel around my wet self and ran downstairs to alert Mike, who was watching tv and blissfully unaware that danger lurked. Once again, he picked up the snake and hauled it off.

The white-faced horse

And then this morning before 6:00, I looked out the window to see the white-faced horse munching weeds behind Mike’s shed. Then he moved out into the yard, and I managed to quietly get a picture of him. When he saw me, he bolted, running behind the woodshed, through the grove, and up into the west field behind the house.

Well, I’ll tell ya. A rattler will alert you to its presence and is usually not aggressive, but the yellowjackets, now – that’s another story. They ARE aggressive and territorial. Mike has been stung several times, and they make my gardening unpleasant. KW