I got to spend several weeks out in the woods at night, catching bats. The photo above is a federally endangered gray bat. Despite their endangered status, in certain parts of Kentucky and Tennessee where there are lots of caves, we regularly catch gray bats. In this photo you can see the little metal bracelet that I put on his forearm. This tag has a number that will be entered into a database, and if anyone in the future finds this bat hanging in a cave, or tangled in their mist-net, they will report the number and we will learn about how far this bat travels. I think the bats get used the bracelet pretty quick, but I always feel a little guilty about making them wear one.
Despite being very busy with travel for work, things have been happening back at the farm. We have sheep! This is our new ewe, named Lamb Chop. How did we get into the sheep business? Our experience butchering one of our goats taught us two things. One, we can definitely butcher an animal and make meat, and two, it would be more worth the effort if the animal was meatier. Katahdin sheep were recommended by our vet because they shed their wool, usually give birth out on the field with no problems, and aren't prone to parasite problems. Plus they are little butterballs and make good meat.
This is our ram, Pistol Pete. He's a big boy already, at only five months old. He and Lamb Chop are hopefully the foundation of our flock.
I have always been the driving force behind the goats. Brandon is tolerant and supportive - building fences and shelter and taking care of them while I'm gone, but he has never thought they were worth the effort if it wasn't for my enjoyment of having them. The sheep are different. Brandon has an enthusiasm for these sheep that he never had for the goats. He made all the arrangement for getting them, subdivided the pasture with electric fencing so he can rotate their grazing, buys and mixes grain to supplement their feed, and checks on them daily. He's the shepherd and I'm the goatherd.
We've been hiking every chance we can get. We're practicing for some serious overnight hikes we plan to take every month starting in January. Since June, we've hiked approximately 47 miles.
It's been so nice to have something to do with our friends that is outside, where we can keep our distance from each other.
Kentucky has so many great hiking trails. Some of them have pretty stone arches.
And mushrooms! Hiking with mushroom hunting enthusiasts means we get to see lots of pretty fungi.
Chicken of the woods.
Cauliflower mushroom.
Trails near swimming holes are perfect during the summer. Laurel Lake always feels like home to me.
Although hiking in my bathing suit resulted in poison ivy on my leg. Between the time spent outside for work, hiking in the forests on the weekends, and fighting through the weeds in the garden, my skin has been itchy from bug bites or poison ivy all summer!
This year was the first zucchini and spaghetti squash harvest since we've been at the farm. The weeds and the squash vine borers have taken their tole, but not before I was able to get a harvest. There are green beans on the vine, waiting to be picked.
We sold some of the goats, including Little Buck. It was hardest to part with him, but I needed to reduce the herd size and I didn't like making little inbred babies. Little Buck was purchased by a local man who is starting a herd and was grateful to find a nice buck. Donnie is now my only buck, and he is with Peaches and Little Buck's daughter, Newnoo, so they can make more kids. I still have the River Brothers too. Brandon was amazed that anyone wanted to buy the goats he put on craigslist. They sold within the day, especially Peaches' little bucklings, that were only two months old. After making enough money selling the goats to buy his new ram lamb, Brandon was suddenly more enthusiastic about the goats too!
The goats have been relocated to the new fence down in the woods. Brandon built them a small shelter. Five goats is easier for me to manage on walks. With my set up, the goats stay healthiest if I let them out of their small pasture regularly so they can browse.
The new goat pasture is full of honeysuckle vines and shrubs, and they are quickly eating every leaf. When I let them out for their daily walk, they eat my green bean vines. Doh!
1 comment:
Wonderful! Beautiful photos.
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