Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Dealing With It


I've got all of the chickens in protective custody today, keeping them in the coop, and they are not happy about that. And it's probably ridiculous and the very definition of closing the barn door after the cows get out but while that dog is still in the neighborhood, I'm not taking a chance. He's supposedly enclosed again but I know dogs and I know that once they figure out they can get out and have great big fun killing chickens, there's very little stopping them from doing it again. The chains do not bind, the gates do not stay closed. My neighbor tells me that the owners are trying to re-home him. Not only did he kill at least four chickens yesterday, he's also nipped a child.

So. Three of those chickens were mine. When it came time for them to all go to roost, we did a headcount and two others were missing besides little Blossom whom we knew was dead. Mr. Moon did a search and found the body of a Barred Rock and Lisa Marie has not shown up and I fear that she, too, is gone. My neighbor lost one of her favorite hens, a special breed, and Elvis, Jr., her rooster, (she calls him Foghorn) was wounded, probably trying to defend his ladies.

Sad day in Lloyd today.

Anyway, we go on and I've walked down to the post office and come back but I'm not taking a real walk today. I just don't have it in me and Owen and Gibson and Magnolia are coming over this afternoon for a few hours and it would be best not to be completely exhausted when they get here. Perhaps Owen will finish cleaning the library. Or at least make the love couch available again for sitting.


Some of the okra plants look good but I am not getting blossoms on them and if it weren't for the zipper cream peas and the rattlesnake beans, the summer garden would be a complete bust. Well, the basil sure is doing nicely and I'm still picking volunteer zinnias to bring into the house.

It's summer. And as Garrison Keillor said in "Pontoon" it is paradise but there are mosquitoes.
I just finished listening to that book. I sure did enjoy it.
Mosquitos and yellow flies and roaches the size of hybrid vehicles and beetles big enough to fry and eat as a main course if that's your desire and crazy dogs on a killing frenzy and heat hot enough to cook your mind and scald the tomatoes on the vine and dry your clothes as soon as you get them on the line and I think I'll go put some more water in the kid pool.

Let's just keep on doing it, okay?

Love...Ms. Moon

15 comments:

  1. This heat (I'm in SC and feel your pain) makes dogs and humans act crazy and do violent things. Just yesterday I was hot in my car, and in pain from a recent root canal ordeal, and I was shocked to find myself cursing out other drivers and pedestrians. This heat makes me crazy sometimes. And from the looks of the news right now, I'm not the only one.

    May we all soon find some blessed coolness and peace and relief.

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  2. ....and I sure am sorry about your hens. :(

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  3. If you read that last paragraph in a certain way, it could be a rap.
    I'm sorry that the dog got your chickens. Try not to hold it against him/her, the owners are the ones who need a smack upside the head. As a dog owner with a dog who has a serious prey instinct, you have to be responsible that they don't get out and harm anyone or anything.
    I hope you get s break from the heat soon!

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  4. Jennifer- I'll amen you on that one. As I've often heard and do believe, when the temperature outside reaches human body temperature, we go crazy.
    And thank you about the hens.

    Heartinhand- Mermer's Summer Rap.
    We won't get a break from the heat until MAYBE September. This is Florida.
    I agree with you about the dog's owner but it doesn't mean I want the dog in the neighborhood.

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  5. The heat makes me a different person, that's for sure. I get panicky and distressed and really do not feel like a clear-thinking person. And that's only a few days or weeks of our summer. I can't imagine living in it for months on end.

    I agree with heartinhand that the dog is doing what is instinctive and the owner must take responsibility but if the owner won't do that, yes, the dog would be better off somewhere else - with someone else - and so would the local fowl and pets and children.

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  6. Everyone can tell me how wrong I am and hate me after this comment but in my world a dog that kills chickens and nips at a child gets put down. Unless the Dog Whisperer can do something with him.

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  7. i'm with you birdie- we had to have our foster put down after he bit my husband twice and had one of our cats in his mouth. we tried very hard to get a no kill shelter to take him, but once they heard he had seizures and bit, it was pretty much 'no we can't help you, so sorry'.

    i loved my dog, but i also couldn't take the risk of him hurting either of us, one of the other 6 pets, or someone in the neighborhood. i'm crying right now thinking about it and so sad that mrs. mary and a neighbor lost their chickens- what if it would of been one of the boys or sweet baby magnolia?

    xxalainaxx

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  8. jenny_o- The problem is, it's hard to find someone who will take a dog that is a known chicken killer because if it will kill chickens, it'll kill pets like cats. And if it bites children- well.

    Birdie- No. There is a level of reality which many people just have a hard time with. And a dog that kills for sport is a whole lot of reality. I'm sorry to say that but it's true. And I have no problem with what you said. I'd like to be all Zen about all life and stuff but in some cases- well. I hope that a solution can be found for this dog that doesn't involve him being put down but we can't tolerate a dog like this in the neighborhood.

    Mrs. A- Yep. See above. I'm sorry, so sorry that your dog had to be put down. I know you must have loved him and tried your hardest. Sometimes, there's just no other alternative. It is a sad situation.

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  9. Oh no, how awful. Bad, bad dog :(

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  10. I'm so so sorry about your chickens. I wonder what the solution is for that dog. I mean you can't keep your chicks cooped up indefinitely so I kinda feel that dog needs to go somewhere else where he won't be a danger to children and chicks. I hope its owner can manage to get there. So sad.

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  11. so sad to hear about your hens, Mary. Heck, they were your sweet friends and gardening partners and it is always so difficult and frustrating especially under those unpleasant circumstances (I'm being kind by not cursing THE dog). I hope the dog owner will understand the unacceptability of this and take speedy action to assure this does not occur again
    Susan M

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  12. Broke my heart to hear about your sweet girls, I'm sure the remaining hens hate being penned in... I hope the dog is moved far far away! I'm so sorry for your loss....
    Lori in Blue Ridge, GA

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  13. Big sighs and sorrows here for you and your chickens. I am so sorry.

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  14. yep, sounds like like in the country in the south. I finally got the pool up and started to fill it. it has a leak, two little pin hole that I repaired from inside and while I wasn't satisfied that it had stopped the leak I tried to add another one on the bottom which is in place but I don't know how much glue managed to go with it and in the process dislodged the patch on the inside. I went ahead and filled it up anyway. hopefully it won't loose all that much everyday.

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  15. Oh no. I'm so sorry to hear about the chickens. Still catching up...

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