Sunday, January 11, 2015

Sunday Reading - Beggers at the Door





Today I started making some progress on catching up the work I am behind in. It's been in the mid-30's temp-wise all day with a slowly falling mist and fog which has started thawing out the ground some but this morning the ground was still freeze dried and hard. Perfect January conditions for getting out to any of several standing dead trees I have to choose from that are back away from the roads.

I also forgot my logging chains because I left em hanging on the tractor. I need to remember they are not always going to be in my truck like they were before now I guess.

As luck would have it though I had the perfect candidate in mind for today. An old Elm that looked as if it would fill my truck bed up and had dried out enough to be a good compliment to all this split Oak I been burning. Elm doesn't put out as much heat as the Oak but it burns wonderfully and keeps a nice flame going even under low oxygen levels. The only complication I had was it looked like it might hang when I cut it. Luckily the felling went perfectly as well and she came down right were I wanted her to.

When I got home I found the neighbor's dogs had moved in once again. This is an on again off again problem we have had for years now. I am honestly not sure what the situation is down there. The guy who lives there is a farmer and seems like a nice fellow the few times I have talked with him but I think most of the land he farms is North of his actual house by a good bit. He isn't married but has had a couple of girl friends come and go over the years. As I said none of my business but I think he leaves for more than a couple of days at a time now and again and just dumps a big pile of food out for his dogs while he is gone.

This is pure speculation on my part mind you but I think the dogs eat all the food the first day or two and then come down here begging and longing for human contact. The cats of course hate them, our dog actually enjoys the company but the problem is if we start feeding these dogs they stay and then the guy's girl friend of the year will stop by kinda huffy like we are trying to steal their dogs.

Last Winter they got a great Pyrenees that I guess hated them and started spending the nights in our barn. I only figured it out after I kept finding it's nest next to the sheep area every morning. The dog would hear me coming and take off down into the field and I rarely saw it except in brief flashes but the neighbor's girlfriend was convinced we were trying to keep it, or at least kinda acted like we were. Not sure what happened to it but over the Summer I stopped seeing it.

They also had another giant dog that kinda looked like an Airedale but it only came visiting a few times. The three real problem dogs are one I call Moose because he is the size of one and about as clumsy in tight spaces and a little black and white dog I haven't bothered to name yet. There was also a little long haired hunter type female a few years back that did actually move in here for good for a few months until they came and got her and I never saw her again. She was a good dog but had a bad habit of rolling herself up in sheep wool like a burrito for some reason.



So that's the problem in a nut shell. If we feed them they won't ever leave and the neighbor will have to come up here and get them. Which could be weeks. If we don't feed em they hang out on the porch begging and whining hoping we will relent. The entire time I have the cats on my lap or in my face recommending I shoot the dogs and bury them in the back pasture while denying any knowledge of such an action.

The cats assure me they won't tell :)

Another words when the dogs show up there is no right move to make. Someone is going to be unhappy about the situation no matter what I do.

This afternoon the big one I call Moose got into the plastic barrel looking container that the peanut butter dog treats comes in we keep in the barn. He somehow managed to get his entire head stuck in the container and was running around the yard with it trying to shake it off. My son had to run him down and remove it. They have broken down entire shelves I had up int he barn to get to a bowl of cat food I had up there for the feral barn cat we have lurking around and will knock over the metal trash cans full of  dog and cat food too.

Won't do any good to load em up and take em back to their home they will cut across the fields and beat me back here anyway.

I guess rural life still has it's neighbor problems. They are just a bit different than the ones you face in the city. I think the rural ones are a bit easier to deal with all in all.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!


18 comments:

  1. Can you call the county animal control?? or you better off with putting up with them.?? Great work with the tree.

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    1. Rob - Only animal control we have out here is a 9mm if the sheriff deputy thinks he needs to dispatch the dogs for some reason. I wouldn't trust any government agency to get involved anyway as they just make things worse. They typically will go back home if I ignore them long enough but it's a hassle keeping the cats rounded up.

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  2. PP - i'm with Rob - good job on the tree! and thanks for being such a nice guy and taking care of those dogs. i think you are right - he leaves for a few days at a time and the dogs come to your house for food and companionship. do you think you can talk to him about the situation? much love always, buddy!

    your friend,
    kymber

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    1. Kymber - I have talked to him more than a few times over the years and usually after i do I don't see the dogs for a bit but eventually it always starts happening again.

      Ditto to you :)

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  3. We used to have problems with wondering dogs when our bitch was on heat. They'd all come from miles around looking for a bit. I also had some sheep attacked by one once as well.

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    1. Kev - Well that would do it :)

      We haven't had a non-fixed female dog in forever though. I think both these dogs are fixed to. I know the big one is. I have never had a stray or neighbor dog show a bit of interest in the sheep before but we do keep the lambs locked up until they get some size on em.

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  4. If it is like here, there are no laws that would do any good in your situation unless they were killing your animals. Not much to do other than run them away with something or have a dog that would run them away but that leads to other problems.
    I still had frozen ground yesterday so I hauled in another load of wood, freezing rain this morning or so they say.

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    1. Sf - Ya the only option I have in that department is shoot em myself (which would never happen) or call the sheriff who will do nothing but piss off my neighbor.

      We dropped back below freezing today and are suppose to have another cold night then a stretch of warming.

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  5. Maybe taking care of them is a sort pre-emptive strike: if they are fed and cared for they are less likely to chase things or be destructive? Just a thought. You have a good heart for doing so.

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    1. TB - Oh they are not destructive except to get to food I leave out. They will even try and eat the grain when they get too bad off. I really don't mind feeding them per se if they wouldn't just decide to stay after I do.

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  6. Get their cell phone number and call them every time they show up. Make it a hassle for them as much as it is for you. If they don't pick them up, threaten to take em to the shelter.

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    1. K - Well unless I lie or use the address for the house we own in town there is no where to take them. Isn't any kind of law out here about it short of them going after livestock. Not sure if it is enough of a hassle to piss off my neighbor though. I mean he is about a mile away so it isn't like we share living space though :)

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    1. Sandy - As I said there isn't any where to take them. No animal control for the county and no shelter that services the rural area.

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  8. K's idea is the best one. they are abandoned dogs so they should go to the shelter. Tell the shelter who owns them and why they are loose. he might just get a visit from the spca or whatever in your neighbourhood.

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    1. denis - Like I told K and Sandy there is nothing that covers this area or that problem. The county cops would get involved if I called them and I am not sure I want to make an enemy of the guy over it. Hopefully he will be back soon.

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  9. My problem in the city is people think their dog is perfect and will always come back when called. They think it's quite OK to not leash them. So, last night I'm walking Miss Izzy around the community and as I look ahead, here comes an unleashed black lab. So I high tail it back to where I came, and since I'm old and a clutz I hit a part of the pavement that was wet and had green mold growing on it so it was slippery. I was ass over end and ended up face down on the concrete. So needless to say, I have some choice words for the jerk that thinks his dog "has never done that before"!

    I now have a bad case of road rash, and need to ask God's forgiveness for my choice words. Next time I'm going to hit that piece of *^%$$#@ in the face with my new pink bottle of pepper spray!

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    1. Izzy - Ouch sorry to hear you took a spill. Pepper spray will do it. I also used to take a butane torch with me when I was surveying years ago. If a dog came at me like that I would blow a fireball at their face and it usually sent em packing. I also had a hammer on my belt if the flame didn't work.

      I am sure God understands :)

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