Saturday, June 6, 2015

B Day - Bees, Buckwheat and Bobcats





The Buckwheat is now really blooming. It has been showing white heads for the last week or so but until this morning I had not really seen any honey bees working the blooms. I guess it finally popped out enough for the girls to take notice and they were all over it this morning.

Now that I have the tiller issue resolved and since the useless old nag numbers are now low enough they no longer make full use of the pasture for grazing I am going to open up a new Buckwheat plot here in the next week or so.




This is a small open area on the edge of the woodlot I been letting grow. It is right next to the hives in the back of the property and should make an excellent spot for another Buckwheat plot. I will put a temporary fence around it to let the Buckwheat grow and then take it down before first frost to allow it to be grazed.

The last few weeks I have been noticing some new scat showing up on the path leading down to the back apiary. It really caught my attention because it was always right in the middle of the path I mow which is unusual. I first thought it was coyote droppings and paid little heed to it but every week or so a new pile would show up and always right in the middle of the mowed path.


Well yesterday morning just after dawn my son was out on one of his Mulberry forage expeditions and he came running back into the house to inform me he had just seen a Bobcat crouching down in the edible hedge. He described a Bobcat perfectly but honestly I have never seen one this far North in Missouri nor have I noticed any tracks for one around the Small-Hold. Of course tracks this time of year with everything covered in grass or weeds are pretty hard to find but it got me thinking about a few things.

Lately the outside dog has been going ballistic during the night but I can never figure out why. It isn't his standard deer or coyote bark but seems more urgent but when I check I can never find anything. I did a bit more research and discovered that Bobcats typically leave droppings in the middle of paths and roads to mark their territory and now I am wondering if we don't have a new resident around the place.

If so I am going to keep a close eye on this because a Bobcat would take down a lamb if it got the opportunity. As long as it sticks to controlling the local booming rabbit population I have no issue with it but lamb better never make it onto his or her menu. I am also thinking about putting up a couple of game cameras just to start keeping better track of what I have prowling around.

Ya just never know.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!

 

8 comments:

  1. game cameras good idea.
    hope it isn't fond of cats.

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  2. PP - your dogs are definitely being scared of bobcats. we have neighbours on both sides of us who have several dogs each...the dogs act abnormally only when bobcats have been around. keep your ears open and sleep with one eye open...you may have to take a bobcat out. you know how i feel about animals but if one bobcat thinks there is easy food on your land - it will bring back several more. i like to leave them in the wild and to the wild. if they start coming on your land - all bets are off with me. same with coyotes and wolves.

    your friend,
    kymber

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  3. Might be a hell hound, you never can tell. There are bob cats around here but they are never seen except by hunters who are concealed like for turkey hunting. They say there are no cougars but I have talked to several people who definitely saw one.

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  4. We lack such predators here PP and I feel the land is lesser for it, it would great if you could get some game camera shots of the wee beastie.

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  5. The bobcat was supposed to have been eliminated from Arkansas in 1948, according to the Game and Fish Commission. After my many years of backpacking wilderness areas in Arkansas, I know for a fact that they are deep in the Ozark/Boston mountains. A game camera is a great idea. It's always fun to see whats around the house, and maybe a few surprises...

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  6. We've never had problems with Bobcats taking the kids, but they DID take the chickens. I eventually got tired of them and staked a rooster out on the edge of the woods, sat in a blind, and plinked one off. It was an amazing site to behold. The bobcat was on top of the rooster and it practically EXPLODED - feathers everywhere, lightning fast. I'm not one to go killing predators unless they become a real problem, but fortunately the Giant Sloppy Dog has been keeping everything except armadillos at bay, not so much by guarding or running the predators down, but I think from the huge piles of steamers and pee he marks the property with.

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  7. My parents have them in the Sierra Nevadas, which I imagine are not all that farther North than you. I have seen one once - it was much smaller than I imagined. Interesting that they seem to be returning - I wonder if this is a result of more land being less lived on or developed?

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  8. PP,

    We have bobcats, and with all this strange weather he may have walked out of his common area and feels comfy at your place. Be careful! Usually they'll be afraid of you however if you walk up on him not expecting a cat he/she will become territorial.
    I'm wondering if you have a mom and her babies......a game cam would help identify the animal and possibly how many.

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