Late yesterday while I was out a hawk got one of my young girls. Very sad. The others are so scared that they haven't come out all day. I feel bad for them ' cause they definitely know what has happened.
I need a dog to keep in the yard.
So sorry to hear about the hawk raiding your flock. Awful!! The NorthEaster storm knocked down most of the shade-tree limbs that covered a big part of my backyard chicken-roaming area so the local hawks now have a pretty clear view of my girls. I'm thinking of getting a couple of helium balloons to tie to the boundary fence. One of those metallic shiny balloons. Maybe with big owl eyes on it! Hmmm, probably scare the heck out of my chickens, so not a good idea. Oh well... gotta think up something that will frighten an overhead hawk, but not scare a grounded pullet.
We're not dog people. Had a big, goofy, superfriendly black lab decades ago. Way more energy than either of us could match. He ran out the front door like he was shot from a cannon anytime it opened even an inch. Always came home. But came home stinking of all the dirty swimming pools and mud puddles he could jump into throughout the neighborhood. Knew all the obedience commands; we'd had him professionally schooled. But he laughed and thumbed his nose at all that; tossed his head and headed for the hills. We had to soak his feet and his ears in every antibiotic solution available, week after week; year after year. He remained a happy, adorable, good ole boy through it all. But, oy vey, it was SO tiresome. Bowls of iodine solution for his feet to stand in. Scratches on every inside door. Curtains ripped to shreds; windowsills etched with his nails. DH refused to have him neutered. [Talk about interspecies identification...] No way! Tut lived to be 13 and went out smiling. I had to put him down when his hind legs no longer could move. Hip problems. Carried him for days by walking behind him while I held the ends of a big towel supporting him like a sling around his lower belly and he walked using only his front legs. He was almost 100 pounds. Oy. I've no idea if I could have trained him to be feather friendly. But our dog days are over. Been there, done that. Now it's chickens and grandchildren.
We combined Thanksgiving this year with Chanukah-gift giving for the whole family. Sixteen of us for five days here. When they all left and flew or drove back to their respective homes/colleges/states, my husband and I surveyed the wreckage and grabbed the vaccum and the brooms and worked two days of eight straight hours each day just to clean up the mess. They really trashed my house. Wrapping paper everywhere, dishes everywhere, little kids handprints of cheese and pie on the chairs, the rugs, the walls. Linens to wash from so many beds. And the towels... And they left SO MUCH food behind. Whole milk for the littlest kids, two and a half dozen store-bought eggs for the recipes (just in case I didn't have any on hand). Toys and games and puzzles and crayons and colorforms and bits and pieces from every box.
We're blessed having such a warm loving family and the grandkids are a gift from Heaven that we treasure, but I think we're getting too old to host the get-togethers. Note: one daughter did all the cooking this year. So I was spared that, but mahmonyou, the state of the kitchen was not to be believed afterwards.
And I'm still feeding pumpkin pie to the chickens.
Thanks for tolerating my little rant. Seems so petty after the sufferings of the Newton CT murders. Ach. Heartwrenching. Can't even imagine the pain and sorrow there.
Went to shul Friday night. The Rabbi stopped the services right in the middle and looked at us all and sternly declared, "The Newton CT crime did NOT happen to you!" I was quite taken aback by that. I thought it was rather cold and unfeeling for him to say that. After all, are we not to see ourselves, all of us, as one large human family, as my "brother's keeper."
But the more he talked, the more I understood. This kind of horror goes on EVERY DAY somewhere in the world. Syria, Africa, Afghanistan, Israel, etc., etc. If we only knew about it and were to constantly react to each incidence, we'd have no life, no peace; unable to make a peaceful, happy life for our own families. So we send our condolences, show our support for the grieving families through whatever means we can or choose to use, and then wipe our tears and move on. Some of us will exert whatever pressure we can to make political waves and legislative changes as we see fit in our own neck of the woods, so that we can hope to eliminate the senseless, random, aggression at least somewhere on this planet that we all have to share.
Someone on Facebook wrote the following (I don't know if it's true or not): "In 1996, there was a shooting at a primary school in Scotland. Sixteen children ages 5-6 were killed, along with one teacher. The following year, the UK banned the private ownership of all cartridge ammunition handguns, regardless of caliber. There have been no school shootings since."
And another Facebook item (again, I don't know if it's true or not): "To get a gun in Japan, first, you have to attend an all-day class and pass a written test, which are held only once per month. You also must take and pass a shooting range class. Then, head over to a hospital for a mental test and drug test (Japan is unusual in that potential gun owners must affirm
atively prove their mental fitness), which you'll file with the police. Finally, pass a rigorous background check for any criminal record or association with criminal or extremist groups, and you will be the proud new owner of your shotgun or air rifle. Just don't forget to provide police with documentation on the specific location of the gun in your home, as well as the ammo, both of which must be locked and stored separately. And remember to have the police inspect the gun once per year and to re-take the class and exam every three years."
Not sure if I've violated any BYC rules by including those Facebook items. Hope not.
All best, in this season of hoping for peace, hope and freedom from fear,
-Carolyn
