Am I the only one who does this?

[serenityNH]

Boy do I feel like a suburbanite! If I shot our gun off in the backyard the cops would be here handcuffing me in 3 minutes, but then again the biggest predator we have is a chipmunk. I need to get into the country!

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
this is precisely why we moved to MO... because in CA when my hubby shot a gopher that was decimating my garden, we had a visit from the SWAT team. complete with 6 guys creeping around our house in flack jackets and multiple helicopters.

seriously, that was the world's most expensive gopher.
and can I just say I

Missouri? people *get* it here about protecting yourself and what's yours.

 

[Fawkes]

Wow, remind me not to trespass on people's property if I move out to the country

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
now you know why country folk are generally so polite!

 

[bfrancis]

Quote:
now you know why country folk are generally so polite!

Grew up in North west MO, living in Oklahoma now...way out in the country....they have two true laws here, "Make my day" and "Stand your ground", really encourages the politeness and discourages trespassers...both two and four footed!

Which part of the fine state did you move to?

 

[Caat]

I have two Alaskan Malamutes that are less than 20 feet from the chicken coop! I don't need a riffle or shot gun, the dogs will sound the alarm. Further to that, my chickens are enclosed in a chainlink fenced yard which is wrapped in 1" chicken wire. and there are the dogs...

 

[serenityNH]

Quote:
this is precisely why we moved to MO... because in CA when my hubby shot a gopher that was decimating my garden, we had a visit from the SWAT team. complete with 6 guys creeping around our house in flack jackets and multiple helicopters.

seriously, that was the world's most expensive gopher.
and can I just say I

Missouri? people *get* it here about protecting yourself and what's yours.

That's funny! Although I'm sure it wasn't at the time. Yes I think we would be much happier surrounded by country, we have beautiful property but it's still too much suburbia for me!

 

[Manningjw]

Quote:
Not usually when I am just checking on them. If I hear a noise I will grab my pistol and a mag-light together. The other night i almost brought out my rifle because one of our birds was missing and I was fearing it was because of a raccoon.

We accidentally left the coop door closed after dusk so they couldn't come in. When we opened it only 8 of our 9 chickens came inside. Looked everywhere, couldn't find our favorite chicken...

. Finally we spotted her roosting on top of a ~5'5" fence right next to the coop. She is quite the flier even though we clipped her wings!! One thing is for sure, if she ever goes missing I wont give up hope she may come back because I know she can get to a safe height when it gets dark.

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
now you know why country folk are generally so polite!

Grew up in North west MO, living in Oklahoma now...way out in the country....they have two true laws here, "Make my day" and "Stand your ground", really encourages the politeness and discourages trespassers...both two and four footed!

Which part of the fine state did you move to?

I'm in SW MO, a bit west of Springfield.
I'ts beautiful, and I've got 40 acres and excellent neighbors. this *is* where I should live. yep.

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
Not usually when I am just checking on them. If I hear a noise I will grab my pistol and a mag-light together. The other night i almost brought out my rifle because one of our birds was missing and I was fearing it was because of a raccoon.

We accidentally left the coop door closed after dusk so they couldn't come in. When we opened it only 8 of our 9 chickens came inside. Looked everywhere, couldn't find our favorite chicken...

. Finally we spotted her roosting on top of a ~5'5" fence right next to the coop. She is quite the flier even though we clipped her wings!! One thing is for sure, if she ever goes missing I wont give up hope she may come back because I know she can get to a safe height when it gets dark.

I free range all my birds during the day. we had a dog attack a little while back and it scattered my chickens, turkeys and guineas. the ducks and geese (those that weren't killed) were all hanging right close to the pen, but we had a number of chickens, all the guineas and several turkeys missing. I figured at least one turkey had gone off to die because of the amount of feathers I found, but within 4 days, all of them made a reappearance. I was pretty suprised because I did a thorough search the morning after the attack and didn't see *any* of the missing birds. I have no idea where they were hiding, but eventually they returned.

I can *hardly* wait for my guard pups to be old enough to be free ranging on the property when I'm not home.