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Post by manygoatsnmore on Mar 18, 2016 19:23:20 GMT
gracielagata, "the cat was not impressed" - lol, I bet! I would have paid cash money to have seen that happen. My cat is best buds with Muttley, but generally stays out of the way of Winnie. So funny that the coyotes stole the hat and scarf, plus the ball. I could see the ball, but you'd think the human scent on the hat and scarf would deter them. We have a clearcut right across the property line on one side, and that's where the coyotes tend to hang out. I don't bother with them unless they are really close. Then I fire off a few shots and things go silent for a bit. Then I hear them start yipping again....from the far side of the clearcut. They evidently do know that gunshots are dangerous.
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Post by gracielagata on Mar 19, 2016 1:38:16 GMT
manygoatsnmore, Yep, she was most certainly not impressed. And my poor Sonata did not have a clue what was wrong. She just snorted and pulled her head back as the cat squealed and ran. When we moved here, we had my bajillion year old indoor cat I had had since I was 11 or so- she was my baby- did every military move with us, cross country moves multiple times, up and down both coasts on camping vacations because if she was gonna die, she was dying with me towards the end, ya know? We move here, she was 20ish? She had never seen a horse, and my horse wasn't super familiar with cats. So for fun I brought my little Toonces cat outside to meet Sonata the horse. Sonata was very interested and came over to see her and take great big horsey sniffs of this new and foreign species. One of our dogs was *not* happy about that and immediately jumped between the horse and cat and lunged with teeth snapping in warning to protect the cat we had evidently put in his charge. Poor Sonata didn't have a clue what she did wrong. I wasn't happy with how he reacted, but at the same time found it sweet that he thought my decrepit old cat was in danger and he had need to protect her. Coyotes- so yours only react to the bullets whizzing overhead?! Ours seem to know what exactly each gun model sounds like when being cocked or such and the distance away needed for each- i.e. the BB gun elicits no response, they just stand and stare. The 22 or other shotguns? They tuck tail and get a bit farther away. But we can't even pump the shotgun outside. It has to be ready in the house, then you quietly go on the porch, or they will start taking off, which totally takes the fun out of my target practice! Yes, I love that hat and scarf and was very happy to have been able to find it laying there very easily seen 100s of yards up the darn hill! The snowmen were about 2 feet from the cars, which are 15 feet from the house maybe? And they had to cross right by the house to get to the snowmen- so they were gutsy when we first moved here. I think because our house sat empty almost a year, they thought they could move in. And before that, I don't think the dogs could get out of the fencing (electric fence collars), so the coyotes knew they had range of the place. We purposely let the dogs have a large range in the open areas behind us to prevent coyotes thinking they can move in. Anyhoo.
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Post by mollymckee on Mar 19, 2016 4:44:12 GMT
We shoot a tree because it's dark and a good sized tree trunk is easier to see in low light--of course we don't shoot if it isn't safe. They seem to know what the bang means, they quiet down and leave. We haven't used a shotgun, DH shot one out of the window once and never again- at least when I'm home! So it's either a 22 or 44 , it doesn't seem to matter, the coyotes go away.
I was in the barn one morning watering while the horses ate their grain. Some turkeys came in and wanted the grain. They dried to chase the horses away. The horses didn't move so one nasty turkey started pecking at my mare's muzzle. I yelled at the turkey and tried to make it move so it came at me, thinking I was going to move. I had a hose in my hand and turned it on the turkey and it still didn't stop. It got within two feet from me, getting a cold shower every minute. It finally gave up, but was back the next day. Did I mention I hate turkeys?
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Post by gracielagata on Mar 19, 2016 14:20:08 GMT
mollymckee, Seriously?! A turkey was that bold and annoying?! Your poor mare didn't stomp it? I don't think any of my horses would have tolerated a smaller animal doing that! They won't even purposely share their bowls with the dogs. I am hoping you had turkey to eat that next day, considering I assume that you would be well within your right to kill it, as it could hurt your horse. As for the shooting of coyotes- we have only about 5 smallish trees in the 20+ acre swath where coyotes tend to come down- kinda nice because there is no hiding, thought they have some large boulders and the ground itself is uneven and has bushy grass. Shooting from within the house. No thank you! I like my hearing, and I am fairly certain I would be cleaning up dog poop afterwards as they would likely get it scared out of them lol. We can't even hold a gun in our hands without the dogs pacing and trying to hide. One even gets bothered by just the smell of ammo.
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Post by mollymckee on Mar 19, 2016 16:00:33 GMT
The mare knew that if she took her head out of the bucket the turkeys would be in it. She did stomp her feet but keep eating! We didn't kill it, if you kill it around here you clean and eat a it. The eating part is fine but no one wants to pluck! One of our friends suggested wearing a gun to protect myself, and I think it would have been legal but I hate plucking turkeys! I did encourage the dogs to chase them out of the yard and barnyard. We have convinced the turkeys that the dogs will chase them if they come around and some of the neighbor's feed them so they pretty much stay away, the dogs would prefer they came by every day!
One of DD's friends raises German Shepherds for police work and search and rescue. Idaho also allowed the dog club to plant turkeys and they were becoming a real problem for her. She called and asked the game department to come and get them. They came out and looked at the problem and explained to Elizabeth they had no way to capture the turkeys, but said they would come get them if all they had to do was load them up. They thought they were done but they didn't know Elizabeth. She cleaned out a shed and started a feed trail to it. She had the turkeys eating in the shed in about a week, then called the game department to come get them. They did remove them, and Elizabeth trained a couple of her dogs to chase turkeys away from the buildings so the problem was solved.
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Post by gracielagata on Mar 19, 2016 19:44:38 GMT
mollymckee, Your friend sounds awesome!! How many did she end up baiting into the shed like that?! Training the dogs... with our two it is more the opposite- train them to not chase! The younger one will chase a deer even when he knows he has no chance. As long as he stays on the open hill behind the house, I say go get some exercise, boy! I try to remember to always carry a gun, but thankfully haven't had to possibly use it on a turkey lol
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Post by mollymckee on Mar 20, 2016 3:14:13 GMT
I think she caught 16 turkeys! The state people hauled them off in a horse trailer. Her dogs are very well trained, she is the one that does search and rescue and she has at least one cadaver dog. She not only is on the local search and rescue, she has worked several national disasters. Its kind of funny, she is very pretty, looks about 20years younger than she is and looks much more like a debutante than someone that can spend days with working dogs searching in the mountains for someone that is lost. I'm sure the state guys thought she wouldn't say boo to a turkey instead of the really strong person she is.
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Mar 20, 2016 6:33:15 GMT
The solution to the turkey plucking is to SKIN THEM! That was one tough turkey - I haven't seen them get that aggressive at my brother's place yet. They have a lot of wild turkeys.
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Post by gracielagata on Mar 20, 2016 12:47:57 GMT
mollymckee, She sounds like my kind of person! We joke that our younger dog would be a good search and rescue dog of some sort. He is downright smart and learns very quick, and when I come home loves to go find my slippers wherever he hid them while I was gone. He honestly is not getting the mental stimulation from us he could get lol. I have never been one to trick train a dog. I do the basic commands and that is about it. But 16 turkeys! Goodness!
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Post by mollymckee on Mar 20, 2016 13:41:23 GMT
I have heard that the turkeys they planted were not the kind that were native, so maybe the hybrid birds are more aggressive? People feed them as well, so some of them feel entitled to grain. I lost count of one flock that came up our driveway and continued up the mountain when I got to 80--there were at least twice that number. A sea of turkeys, the thing horror movies are made of!
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Post by gracielagata on Mar 20, 2016 15:16:35 GMT
mollymckee, Geez (again lol)! I didn't even know that they planted turkeys before you posted that. Much less that they possibly were hybrids. I assume they are to be hunted?
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Post by mollymckee on Mar 20, 2016 23:34:20 GMT
gracielagata,A hunting club, the name ive forgotten, got permission from someone to plant them about 15 years ago. They wanted more turkeys to hunt. Then the state raised the turkey license price to $22.00 for one turkey. A lot of people decided that store turkeys were cheaper, better tasting and came plucked. Turkey hunting lost a lot of appeal even tho I think you get three turkeys for each license now. It seems to me most types of hunting have lost a lot of interest here. We used to see cars all over during hunting season, now there are very few. It's expensive with no guarantee you get anything and people are so busy they have little time to spend a whole day hunting. Or something. We stopped riding during hunting season because of the hunters. I'm not sure that is necessary now. Much of the land above us is either state park or lumber and paper company. There was a road that went all the way to Idaho, past the lower side of the park. It was a very pretty drive but nothing but trouble for the park and the paper company that had to clean up after after them. So the county quit maintaining it and this year gave the right of way back to the paper company. They promptly put huge tank traps in and you can't get up there in a car anymore. It may make riding much nicer if you know your way up there and know people that will let you cross their land. manygoatsnmore, I'll have to keep skinning turkeys in mind if we should ever have to shoot one! Plucking birds is not something I like to do!
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Post by gracielagata on Mar 21, 2016 2:07:33 GMT
mollymckee, Yeah, we are not from here originally, so still learning all that inside stuff. My husband has tried for deer a few times with no luck at the times he is able to around his work schedule... eventually. We had a female muley sharing off the horse trough this past summer. But now there's been a big die out over here on the east side, right- from blue tongue? What is a tank trap? As for skinning them- you could always feed them out to the dogs.. wait, does that still require a lack of feathers... I bet it does lol. Can't exactly swallow parts of a turkey like you can a small bird whole, huh?
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Post by mollymckee on Mar 21, 2016 6:08:57 GMT
gracielagata , a tank trap is what the military builds to stop tanks. It is deep, wide, and steep. They are impossible to drive anything through or ride a horse or bike to get on the other side. They didn't just put one in but several, really blocking the road. We didn't see much blue tongue up here but it was a problem last year. I think that normal rain will keep it under control. We just don't have bug problems and I think nats carry it.
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Post by gracielagata on Mar 21, 2016 13:50:55 GMT
mollymckee, Yeah, I should have known that lol. But my brain was stuck on the idea of water being involved - like a giant trough. And I only guess on the deer issue- I see plenty, but heard lots of people talking about how many died off this past summer. I know Long Lake/Lake Spokane had a lot of dead deer near/in it, from what people were saying... but who knows.
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Post by mollymckee on Mar 21, 2016 16:20:57 GMT
gracielagata,It could easily happen again this year, but my understanding is those nasty nats or some other insects carry blue tongue. Where is dry, even in a wet year we don't have swampy areas,where there are more lakes and ponds they will be very swampy around the edges and there will be more animals drinking from fewer watering places. So more chance dof disease spreading. I hope this isn't a buggy year. It's so much nicer for the horses and other animals when it's not. I wish I could convince my mare that bug stuff on her face is good. She lets me put it on but not too willingly all the time. Once she is in her stall there are no problems, but I like to walk up to them in the pastur and apply it.
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Post by gracielagata on Mar 21, 2016 16:50:55 GMT
mollymckee, Yeah, I don't know too much on the different deer killers. What I learn is from a deer hunter, and he has told me some falsely known stuff- such as that my horses can get one of them from shared water troghs. I researched all the deer diseases mentioned and haven't come up with anything so far. I hear you on the face application of stuff. Our daughter's gelding is a whited out grey appy, so he has all the wonderful mottled skin to go with it. Come summer I have to start chasing him down to rub his surfer-boy cream all over his poor pink face. I buy the store brand tub of the highest concentration of zinc I can find. It lasts a few days before I have to reapply in certain areas. And I so love seeing our bay gelding with the white cream on his butt where the appy rubbed him lol. How do you apply the fly spray? I like to wear those rubber coated stretch work gloves and spray the gloves, then rub the face. Works pretty good. And if you annoy me attempting to prevent my doing it, I push you from the hay pile you are eating until you stop being a butt lol. I don't get too much argument that way.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2016 13:48:30 GMT
How's your knee Molly? Are you riding again yet? I love it when horses get out and then just stick around Does she knock on your door looking for treats? That's absolutel nuts about those wild turkeys. I had a domestic turkey that was pretty aggressive but I couldn't get near the wild ones if I tried. Amy, that was one heck of an injury your mare got! Holy cow!
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Post by mollymckee on May 2, 2016 3:45:40 GMT
@fffarmergirl, I'm not supposed to ride for seven more weeks, just in case I fall off or get thrown. Dr said he'd feel better if I didn't ride for a year, by then I would be completely healed. Obviously doctor doesn't ride. We did agree on 12weeks from the second knee replacement. I wasn't expecting a very easily spring when I agreed to that so it has been hard.
The first knee was very easy and not too painful, the second has been harder. If the second had been as easy I would probably have ridden by now but I don't really don't want a revision so I'll be good. maybe.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2016 1:11:53 GMT
mollymckee,It's soooo hard to be good and it's jut not fair!!!
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