Either A Protest Or Just Guarding

We were enjoying a day of bright spring sunlight, blue sky and warming where one could stay out of the breeze.

Jackson, the farm dog, was busy with some very important bones (a gift of a rib cage from a recent elk harvest) while Butler was on duty at the Gator. Even though the Gator was parked for the day in the shop, Butler would not leave the area. He settled in the nest he had made in the driveway right behind the Gator and flattened himself down for a rest or maybe a protest that the Gator was not moving.

He stayed that way most of the day until time for feeding that evening. His time of sticking right near the Gator kept the cats from putting their footy prints on the seats, the birds from dropping their calling cards and anyone from unauthorized usage of the vehicle.

You gotta see the pictures! They are posted with this story on SchmidlinAngusFarms.com. While you are there, if there is any online shopping you plan on doing, please go through my picture links. By doing so, I may make a small commission without a charge to you! The commissions help pay for my user charges for this site, Thank You for supporting the farm

Riding High

The Gator is our basic means of transportation around the farm. To the farm dogs, Butler and Jackson, the Gator is much more. To them the Gator is home base, a safe place when a cow gets irritated at them for being in their field, or when the calves gang up to ‘play’, or when the chain saw is running.

When we have the Gator parked while we are working on a project, the rig becomes a good napping spot for the dogs. Jackson tends to sleep in the bed while Butler prefers to curl up in the footwell on the passenger side, unless I have some chains or other equipment in the way, then he sleeps around the pedals on the driver side.

When there is a load of hay on the Gator, Jackson wants to be on top of the highest bale. To him, it doesn’t matter if it is one bale or ten stacked into the bed, he wants to be at the top and rides there until we tell him to get off or until he sees something fun that interests him. Squirrels, mud puddles and stray cats come to mind.

Many times a day, Jackson can be found riding on top of bales, in what I refer to as land-surfing. I am sure he would be able to ride a gnarly wave, dude!

You gotta see the pictures! They are posted with this story on SchmidlinAngusFarms.com. While you are there, if there is any online shopping you plan on doing, please go through my picture links. By doing so, I may make a small commission without a charge to you! The commissions help pay for my user charges for this site, Thank You for supporting the farm

A Dog Story

Jackson, the impulsive, carefree, wildly enthusiastic one out of our two farm dogs was acting so silly the other day we just had to take a few pictures to document the event.

I had four barrel tubs that were filled with bark and small wood pieces that break off as we are using the splitter to split the wood down into manageable firewood pieces. The tubs barely fit into the bed of the Gator, which is also the bed that Jackson has claimed as his own and he requires that he ride back there whenever possible. We did not think that this time he would be able to ride back there since the bed was full corner to corner.

When Jackson realized we were cleaning up and ready to move over to the house side of the river, he jumped on the front of the Gator, made a quick leap on the seats and up into the bed on top of the barrels. He looked like he was trying to win a game of TWISTER since he had two feet in one barrel and the other two feet were in a couple of other barrels. That looked pretty funny all by itself, but as we began the drive, the filled barrels started to compact. By the time we got over to the house, Jackson was sunk up to his belly and with his feet in separate barrels could not lift a leg to get unstuck.

The excursion didn’t seem to bother Jackson at all and he waited patiently for me to lift him out of two of the barrels before he get the traction he needed to jump off the Gator.

Since mrssusanschmidlin.wordpress.com is nearly out of data, the complete story can be found at SchmidlinAngusFarms.com. I encourage you to check it out, get your information in on the FOLLOW button spot, and get every story in full color. I would be grateful if you did want to do any cyber shopping to use my links on the stories on that site. By using my links, I get credit for directing people to shop and may make a small commission without any cost to you! Your support helps support the website to be available for the daily stories. Thank you for supporting SchmidlinAngusFarms.com

Canine Interruptions

During the summer time when daybreak begins before 5am, it is easy to get an hour or two of work in before its time for the morning chores. This time of year it is harder to get out real early because more time is spent fumbling around in the dark than getting any decent work accomplished. The dogs would much rather I stuck to the early morning schedule because they use this time away from the dangers of the county road as their personal fun time. Even with a later start time, the dogs are happy any time they get to run off leash. They watch the hillside for coyotes, they run hither and yon across the pastures, sniff for moles and gophers at every mound, and are basically on their own to keep busy.

Self-Imposed Jail Time

Jackson and Butler, the two farm dogs, keep us company while we are working. They complain and pout if we go across the river for any reason and don’t take them along. The John Deere Gator is a sure fire clue to the dogs that someone is about to go somewhere. If we head toward the Gator, the dogs perk up and begin to anticipate the next adventure.

On this day, Mike had just completed another crib to hold firewood. This crib was fashioned with a regular sized pallet for the base and salvaged wood from the house that we tore down about 10 years ago.

It fits nicely into the bed of the Gator so it can be hauled across the river where a stack of wood is waiting to brought inside before the rains begin that are expected to last a week.

If Only We Looked East First

We had a little fence fixing to do before we are planning to move the cows from the far, far field back to this side of the river. A little over an hour, a few t-posts, a dozen wire clips and several scratches from barb wire was all it took to reinforce a couple of spots where the cows have been reaching over, around and through the established fence line.

Once that task was completed, we had just enough time to take the Gator up the hill to check our seedlings before the sun set for the day. The evening was pleasant, the dogs were having a great time and the baby trees seemed to be undisturbed. That is when we started seeing elk tracks in the road. They had been scrimmaging and scuffling around in the dirt, it looked like they were having a regular, home style, hoe-down. From what we could tell the tracks were not very old because we had a heavy dew that morning and these had to have been left after that moisture.

When A Tree Falls In The Woods

Have have several, no that is not right. We have lots of spots in the woods that are in need of thinning. Some were planted forty-some years ago and others sprouted from seeds that were flung far and wide by Douglas Fir, White fir and cedar trees. Many areas are too thick to grow to their potential and some trees are getting snuffed out by the larger trees around them.

Two Dogs In A Small Space

The John Deere Gator is home base for the two farm dogs, Jackson and Butler. They know that if the Gator is not parked in the shop, there is a good chance that a farm task will be worked on soon and the Gator will be part of that task. Neither dog wants to be the last one one the Gator.

On this day, the bed of the Gator was filled with large tubs of kindling for our firewood project.

Neither dog was able to get into the bed with it already being full, so they did the next best thing and made do with the smaller space on the front where the passenger legs area are supposed to go. Once on board, these two stood stock-still for about 10 minutes while patiently waiting for a driver, neither one attempted to sit on the seat because they know that the bench is off limits.

When the dogs were little they both would fit in this space easily with still enough room for a human. Now that they are full grown it is a little tougher, but they are not about to lose the chance to go to work. And just who needs another human passenger anyway?

Now I Can Whistle A Tune

One of my devoted and extremely special followers (don’t get fooled, every one of my followers are devoted and extremely special to me), took my ranting over a simple whistle to heart and went in search of one since I was unable and a little lazy getting one on my own. That is me in a nutshell, quick to rant and slower to act, but I digress from the story.

My friend found a single whistle while visiting the nearby ACE Hardware store. I never expected that they would carry that product and I can’t fathom why a hardware store would carry a whistle. Perhaps there is a need for one to get the attention of a spouse that is re-attaching a gutter atop a ladder on the second story dormer gutter, or a handy person that has only his/her behind sticking out as they repair the leaky drain under the sink. Somehow a whistle does not seem appropriate in those instances, but I am thrilled that my follower found one in the unlikely hardware store!

In a place of honor, the shrill bobby whistle now swings happily side to side from the roll bar of the Gator as we traverse the forest in search of our nuisance seedling munchers. Yes, deer and elk, I’m talking about you. Be aware, me and my trusty whistle are on the lookout.

TWEEEEEEET!

Home Base

Pulling the Gator into the driveway after the morning chores across the river, Butler the dog was sure that there was more work to do since we did not park inside the shop.

For the next two hours he stayed vigilant (as he napped) so we didn’t drive off without him.

Both dogs consider the Gator to be home base no matter where we are or what we are doing. We could be in the riparian zone along the river, out in the hay field, in the deep woods of the hillside, or fixing fence along the perimeter, the Gator is their ticket to adventure and they will not wander far from their home base.