Animals Have Much To Teach Us

 I marvel at how quickly inter-species relationships form here on the farm.  Animals, who in the wild would be mortal enemies, can form bonds that last with just a little encouragement.

Yesterday morning, the sun rose on a cold, crisp 44 degree land.

  It didn't take long to warm up to a comfortable 60 degrees as everyone scampered around busy in their normal morning routine.

You might remember me mentioning that there is a doe (white-tailed deer) that lives close to our house , between the woods above the pond and the woods beside our driveway.  We see her almost daily.  For the early part of the summer, we would see her, alone, grazing in our yard.  Then as summer progressed and her fawns were big enough to be adventurous, we would see all three of them - Mama (who I call Beauty) and her two spotted babes.  Although she hastens into the woods when she sees us, I think she is quite used to our presence after these past few years.  

Yesterday morning, she and her fawns were alongside the driveway as we headed back to the house from morning chores.  Upon seeing us, she led her twins down into the shelter of our lower yard.  We stopped the gator on the driveway, directly above her and I began to talk to her in a soft voice.  The dogs were with us, but we told them to "leave it" - so they stayed at the gator with us.

"Good morning, Beauty," I called softly.  She turned and looked our way, then as I kept talking to her, began to walk towards us with her twins in tow.  They kept a safe distance, but were intrigued with the conversation.  She stood there, contemplating us for a couple of minutes.  Then, another doe entered the yard from the woods...

and they all took off running into the woods together.  It was quite a magical moment!

We have quite a robust deer herd in the woods surrounding us, and I never tire of seeing them.  They are beautiful, graceful, and peaceful creatures.  It is mating season for the deer, however, which makes them a hazard on the roads.  At dusk and dawn they tend to be on the move - so we stay very vigilant when behind the wheel of the car.

By mid morning it was time to bring the horses in from the pasture and scoop the morning's droppings.

With Moll cat as my co-pilot, I systematically searched the pasture for manure.  

When we reached the gate into the pig yard, I opened it so that the sheep and pigs could graze.  The sheep immediately begin eating.

The pigs, however, have to inspect the gator and use the tires as butt-scratchers.

We said our hellos and I got back to work. 

By the time I finished, MaryAnn had reached the dry-lot and was trying her best to engage Chloe in conversation. 

 Using that grunt that she reserves for those whom she is truly excited to see, MaryAnn was trying her best to get through the fence to Chloe.

Chloe was slightly less enthused, but engaged, none-the-less.  Luckily, I caught much of it on video to share with you.... 

Pete got in a few good sniffs and, I think, finally realized that even though the pigs look intimidating (especially MaryAnn with her scary under-bite), that they are actually quite friendly and nothing to fear.

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