I Miss My Old WatchDog

 

The poor Rooster is massively depressed now that he has lost all but one of his girls. I feel for him I really do. When I got home this afternoon the rooster and the last remaining hen were hanging out up by the front porch but by the time I went out to feed grain the rooster was no where to be found. That is very unusual and I looked all over for him. The hen was ready to be locked in the coop all by herself but looked so lonely and scared in there.

I was convinced the damned monster coon had once again struck in broad daylight but I finally found him on the sleeping shelf I built inside the goat condo. I have never seen him go in there like that except to get one or more of his girls when they are missing and I think he was hanging out in there hoping they would return.

I carried him back to the coop and I think tomorrow I am going to leave him and the one remaining hen in the coop all day why I seriously brain storm what to do. I have spent most of the evening looking out a dark window that over looks the coop watching but have seen nothing but a barn cat or two. Those bastard cats aren't giving me any info on this monster coon either.

I counted three separate incidences of sirens going off around the place tonight. Off in the distance but I did see one set of lights down towards the subdivision. I guess this is the new norm of life now that I am within a stones throw of suburban culture. Predator vermin and noise pollution. Great.

Prior experience with coons tells me I won't see this guy again. An old boar like that is smart enough to know when he comes face to face with a human like he did they go elsewhere but there are sure to be some of his type still around.  It's been years since I stalked a coon around here and the last one I got cornered in the rafters of the barn and he was wedged in solid in an X support beam area. I had brought my .357 revolver with me along with my trusty 10/22 and finally said "screw it" and tried to bark that bastard with the .357. I failed, but I did take a good little wedge out of that 100+ year old oak and sent that coon falling. I had hoped it killed him or he would land on something hard but he hit the flooring and bedding in the barn and took off. We have not had any coon problems until now though.

What I really miss is my old night watchman. Nothing like this would happen when Miles was alive and whole. Miles was some old mixed breed mutt that showed up one day back around 2008. He was chipped, they told me when I took him to the vet in the next town over and his address had been only about 3 blocks from that very vet office. There had been a trailer there when they chipped him but it had been gone for years which was the last time they had saw him. The general consensus was that he had been a stray since the trailer had been removed and the way that dog acted he was scared of any human that came near him.

Except my son. Just by chance Miles had come across my son out in the field and formed some kind of friendship and followed him home. If I showed up the dog would hide at first but eventually he began to trust that I wasn't going to hurt him but I could not carry a flashlight or any type of weapon around that dog for years or he would disappear. Over the years the wife and the my son tried to bring that dog inside but the most he would do is come inside and lay right next to the door if the weather was extremely cold. He would whine the entire time when inside so I bought him one of those heated dog house and kept it inside the barn. At night Miles would patrol the entire place unless it was raining then he would patrol inside th ebarn and watch out from the doors. 

Miles did not suffer any varmints to live either.

About 2018 Miles had cataracts so bad we had to bring him inside for good and it took about a year before the local predator wannabe's figured out Miles was not out any longer. The new oaf I had dumped on me is nothing like Miles. This dog would get himself killed 20 minutes after I let him loose.

Nothing is better than a street savvy. intelligent dog that wants a home for himself and will make himself useful. Nothing.

Thanks everyone for you comments on yesterday's post   I will answer them as soon as I have some time. Work is still kinda hectic.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!