Wednesday, September 14, 2016

More on the Peacock and Friends Mystery





It rained again today but luckily I was able to get another round of mowing done on our in town property before it started. I had to delay getting my dad's lawn done now until tomorrow however. My hope had been to get both places knocked out right after work and then get started on the fence project once again but of course the rain, as usual, put a stop to such notions.

I did manage to get a new set of points put into the little 8N tractor we picked up a few weeks ago. It's got an intermittent problem and just stops running on it's own sometimes. I tried a new coil and that didn't fix it so I am trying points now. If I can get it figured out my hope is to unload it before Winter gets here to help finance the next step in the fence project.

While working on the little tractor the Peacock and his two Guinea hen followers showed back up. We actually saw the two hens down by the loafing shed late yesterday evening but no Peacock so I had assumed the Peacock had either went off to die because it is obviously really old or got eaten but today it came back and hung out on the old John Deere manure spreader I have parked on the side of the barn. The trio left off and on all day. They would hang out for a while and then take off down the road or across the pasture to wherever but kept coming back. Not sure what is up with this little migrating group but they seem to think our barn is a good place to chill during the day.

I did find out the birds actually belong to my neighbor. I had to laugh since we often get many of his animals up here and ended up permanently adopting one of his stray dogs he brought back from Iowa a couple years ago. The little dog just kinda moved up here and made friends with our dog (who showed up himself a few years ago too) and never left. We briefly talked about catching them but since I don't care if they run around and keeping them penned up at his place isn't an option we decided to just let em do what they want.

I did tell him if one of his cows wanders up here though not to bother looking for it because I would make sure it was well process.... errr I mean taken care of :)

As night fell and we locked the chickens up there was no sign of the bird trio about so where they are roosting is anyone's guess right now. I suspect they have taken over the loafing shed but how long they will last down there is a big question. Not sure what made this peacock decide to set out for new territory. He is obviously molting right now and my neighbor claims the bird is at least 15 years old so who knows. He has another normal colored Blue Peacock and he suspects they may have been fighting so perhaps this older bird has been forced to leave?

Always something odd going on around here it seems.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!


15 comments:

  1. Be careful as some peacocks get into gardens and really ruin them. Ask my friend. She replanted her's 3 times last summer. Her neighbors 4 come down every day and at night seem to love to roost on her roof. My friend depends on her garden for her families yearly food and this was not funny. The neighbor who own the peacocks does nothing when confronted with the problem. I think they like that they are saving money on peacock food as they eat at someone else's house. Also they have Very Sharp nails and can really cut you deep. Never try to catch one. I saw the results of one person trying that..and this was a different friend. Yes their cry sounds like a women in distress and many people worry thinking someone is being hurt when it is just the peacocks doing they calls. They sure are pretty though. God outdid Himself when he created them. Sarah

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    1. "The neighbor who own the peacocks does nothing when confronted with the problem." That's what .22's and air rifles are for... for the interloping birds, that is...

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    2. Heh well the Peacock problem solved itself as I was sure it would if the bird stayed out on his own.

      He was killed by something the other night.

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  2. Similar things happen to model A motors and a coil is the first suspect but I have seen strange things happen. The other usual suspect is the condenser and the connections around the points as the insulation may crack. Also some times the gas cap stops venting and will pull a vacuum so that the fuel won't flow until air can seep in. It could be something strange causing it so you may need to put a meter on the various electrical contacts. The good thing is that you have a running 8N to compare the readings with.

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    1. I will need to check that out. Got the new points today as the first set I got were for a front mount not the side mount year.

      Thanks for the tip!!!!

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  3. I second Sunnybrook Farm's take on your tractor woes. Definitely change out the condenser. I had a '59 Ford that did the same thing; it would run fine, and then just stall out. A couple of minutes later, the thing would start right up as if nothing happened, only to stall a few miles down the road. I didn't suspect the condenser because it was new (I always changed the condenser when changing the points, because condensers degrade over time). I have a John Deere Lawn tractor that did the same thing; stalling at random. In this case, it was, as SF also mentioned, the vent on the gas cap being clogged. Try running the tractor with the cap off and the fillpipe covered with a rag. If the problem disappears, change the gas cap, or, if possible, clear the vent.

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  4. I had to laugh over your neighborly 'adoptions'. We have two animals that previously belonged to neighbors as well.

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    1. Heh well we take in all the strays it seems. These guys only came up during the day though they went off into the brush at night which is what did them in.

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  5. I would care to guess they feel safe at your farm.

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    1. Rob - If they had stayed here they may have made it but they left at night and got attacked.

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  6. I'm glad your neighbors have peafowl and not something more exotic...like cobras or tazmanian devils! :)

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    1. Cobras would be instant kills for me. I hate snakes.

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  7. What ever happened to the Donkey?

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    1. I agree, we need a donkey detective declaration.

      D

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    2. The donkey died of old age. She was ancient and she went back to a sheltered spot she frequented that was under a couple of Cedar trees and enclosed by wild rose bush. The scavengers then cleaned her remains up pretty well. I only found her because I spotted a coyote heading into the spot.

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