(Riiiight...)
Had a bobcat get into the chicken pen, ate 5 total of my birds. The young ones. The layers. I now have about 2 that still are layers, and they are so shell shocked (so to speak), that I've only had 2 eggs in as many weeks. I was going to a spinning demonstration, and there he was, right in the middle of the hen yard, grabbing my best rooster. I started screaming "BOBCAT! NO!"
Said bobcat was unnerved by my continued shrieking, and dropped the rooster. I thought the rooster was dead for sure, but I was clean and dressed up, so Husband (bless him a lot!), walked out to get the rooster. Husband reached out, touched the rooster, and BLAMMO, rooster, off the ground like a shot! Poor Husband jumped back, and was so startled, he nearly fell on his tush!
But, Longtail the Rooster is okay, if still a bit nervous about any large 4 footer, like the dog or the llamas, but is getting better, and is crowing again, so I think the surviving group will be okay. Guess who needs to get more chicks come spring so I can continue my egg business? I have about 3 customers that buy from me, if I had to go through this, at least it was this time of year, when I generally tell them I need eggs for myself for baking... I hope I will have enough for my baking! Now I just need to call Oregon Fish and Wildlife to find out what options I have. I don't really want to kill said cat, just would like to have him find some other source of substance.
Somewhere else...
So, my blog title, temporarily, should read, "not so much crap on my shoes, very few eggs in my pocket, and rather a lot of yarn on the needles." (Because of Christmas knitting...)
I have 'graduated' from the Citizen's Academy, that was a terrific course, and wow, did it open my eyes. I can't believe how much is expected from one group! Our class agreed that we now understand why that no one wears 'just one hat' at the Sheriff's Office. They have to cover everything and anything, and have lots of items some of the other counties have to call on them for. There are lots of employees, but there are only (if I remember correctly) 55 deputies. And they respond to all calls. Now, it might not be as fast for a dog barking call as, say, a break-in, but they do. And that really says something about the commitment they have to the job.
I was pleased to take the course for my personal interest, (writing), but at the same time, I was astounded at how much I didn't know, and how much can be crammed into a course that is one day a week! (Oh, and you get a T-shirt when you graduate, which we were told to wear with pride, but... preferrably not in a bar.) I was teased about the bobcat incident, one of my classmates said I should have been shouting "ARMED CITIZEN, PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPON" to the bobcat. Um. I wasn't armed, and I don't think Mr. B. Cat would have paid me any mind that way as the other. Was good for a chuckle, though.
If you ever get the chance to take this, (or one in your area), grab it! I found out that CSI: has nothing on these guys. I met Deputies who perform Search and Rescue, Traffic, and Major Crimes. But I also met the Deputies and employees who work in the jail, who keep evidence, who handle drug dogs, (Hi, Zip!), as well as enforcement dogs, (Hi, Jari!), the employees who work on community service, and emergency preparedness... the list goes on, and I didn't even begin to cover all the topics.
Oh, and you get to DO things, it's interactive. Shooting a pistol at the shooting range, taking a 'Shoot, Don't Shoot' course at the Sheriff's Office to see how ungodly fast things happen when you have to make a decision, watching the drug and enforcement dogs at work (did I mention I thought the dogs were pretty cool?), seeing equipment the deputies use (Lidar, a speed enforcement tool, spike strip spikes, various of the items and equipment that is carried on the belt), a trip through the jail, (juuuust visiting...).
Well, you get the idea. I hope to do some volunteering there, in the future. (I have before, but in a different capacity...) But it's nice to know the folks that I see buzz by the house, and have a better idea of what they do and who they are.
And that leaves us with:
This white pair will be 'scuffer' socks. They started out as a gift. The yarn, however, wasn't very good, and so I will be sending smoke off my needles to get another pair finished, and just keep these. Eh. Live and learn.
On the other hand, I think these came out splendidly, they are some autumnal socks. Mom had mentioned she wanted some socks in an autumn color scheme, so I did up these. Colors are sort of dark wine, burgandy, yellows, browns and greens, unlike the dayglo stuff I am seeing on my monitor... (Can someone tell me why I take a nice picture, and it looks terrible on this machine? Odd...)
So, I will be knitting, and writing, and whatever else wanders into my path... Hopefully not bobcats again, however!
No comments:
Post a Comment