2004-01-05 - 10:48 a.m.
Well, we've started a new year here on the farm. We've been working on a lot of projects here like we do every winter. We've never had as much trouble with rats after the animal food as this year. The cats usually keep them under control and we rarely saw one. This year the cats can't keep up. The rats have been eating the rabbit food so I got some poision and a secure bait box to put it in. It's done the job and they're gone. The owner of the feed store where we get feed said he has also had an awful time with them this year. Maybe all the rain we had this summer caused a population explosion.
We really have more wildlife around here than in most rural areas. We went camping up in Northwest Georgia about a month ago. The place we camped in was quite a ways back in the woods in a pretty isolated spot. The whole time we were there I never saw even a squirrel. We camped near a creek and didn't even hear a coon or possum go by in the night. If one had gone by Molly our dog would have let us know but she was quiet as a mouse all night. Here at home it's nothing to see 5 or 6 squirrels playing in the trees just as you walk to the horse barn. A flock of 30 to 50 Canada Geese visit the pond all the time and we're forever having trouble with coons and possums getting into feed. Their foottracks can be seen in the mud by the creeks. We used to have fox and quail till the coyotes moved in but since then I've seen neither but we do spot coyote's pretty frequently.
