Today Bebe encountered her first snapping turtle. I spotted this one crossing the grass near the kitchen garden and hurried inside for the camera, hoping the dogs wouldn’t notice it until I returned. No such luck. Blue and Ralphie, both older and turtle-wise, observed from a safe distance while Bebe investigated. She barked. She pounced.
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The goslings took their first swim this afternoon while I cleaned the brooder. Ralphie, our English Shepherd, stayed close and guarded them from the gang of bully roosters. He wouldn’t let the other dogs come near either.
Bebe’s chicken management duties interrupted our afternoon walk. We found this young hen huddled in the underbrush near the creek. I suspect she was hiding from those big bully roosters. Or pouting. It’s hard to tell, chickens not having lips and all.
Bebe’s six months old and has been bigger than Blue, the aussie, for a while. She excels at breaking up rooster fights, protecting the poultry, and sorting them at night to keep those bully bachelor roosters out of the henhouse. At night, she guards the yard and barn when the older dogs range further to
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Another skirmish today, and the armadillo lived to dig another day. The dogs spotted our resident armadillo early this evening when we headed out to escort the cow back to her stall in the barn. As usual, it leaped, bounced, zigged, zagged, then dived down the nearest burrow. Blue, the old Aussie, dug as fast
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The burrow. I could hear a ‘whump, whump’ sound from the armadillo when I leaned close, but it was too far down the hole to see it. For more about armadillos, click here and here. Or here for some intriguing pictures and roadkill humor.
The neighborhood pest visited the barn last night. Black body, white stripe, you know the type. It missed me and three of the four dogs. Poor Blue guarded our retreat and took a blast to the muzzle. Hence the doggie bath scene. Poor Blue.
Ralphie, taking a break on a hot afternoon. Photo by LauraP I looked up from weeding the perennial bed and caught Ralphie, the English Shepherd, doing his thing. He works nights, protecting the poultry and livestock from coyotes and various lesser predators. The older dogs still help, but over the last year, Ralphie has taken
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