Our farm has had more than one shady character invite itself over in the middle of the night (most of the time when it is raining or storming). Before you worry, I will say that the 'shady character' was not a human. Anyways, enough with the mystery...for now.
Our first encounter was on a stormy night around 12:00. Our ducks were shoved back under a pine tree with a tarp over the cage to keep them dry.
- Rain pattered on the roof, lightning lit up the sky. A shadow slipped in and out of the dim light, watching, searching -
Sorry, I had to add a little drama...........................
I was sleeping and I was rudely awoken by my sister digging around for clothes to throw on.
"Whats going on?" I mumbled.
"Something got the ducks..." She replied. She looked sick.
"What???????!!!!! Are my rabbits ok?!"
"I don't know." Was all she said.
I traipsed out to see what the goings on were. It was dark and I was worried. Dad had the pellet gun out because we couldn't find the ammo for a bigger gun quickly enough. Two of the ducks had been gotten hold of and chewed on through the cage bars. Dad had to do-away with them :(
None of the flashlights had batteries and dad was getting upset, he wanted to get whatever had torn up our ducks. One of the brothers spotted eyes up in the pine tree. Muahah!
Dad pulled the van up on a rise in the yard and shone the high beams into the tree (what desperate measures we take!). It was a raccoon.
Anyways, the end of the story came with a really big bang...
That was two years ago. Since then, we have had opossums and fox carry off our chickens.
One event that we never have figured out was the brooding duck (Harriot) that we had who disappeared along with her mate (Ozzy) on the morning their eggs were supposed to hatch. That night it rained. Never a drop of blood or a feather was found. We would like to think that they were shirking their duties as parents and packed their bags for warmer parts. We did, however end up with their 14 babies!
Last night it was raining and my puppy started barking. She sleeps in a cage on our porch. Well, she must have to go pee or something, I thought. I let her out and she ran right to the door wanting to go in the house. That's funny, I thought. I did everything I could to get her off the porch. Nope. I put her back in the cage and went back to bed.
In the morning it all made sense.
My sister went out to take care of her rabbits. The male rabbit's cage was dragged from it's spot and he was found lying dead next to the driveway. Disturbing, yes? Betty's cage and stand was smashed to pieces and she was no where to be found. Basically, the rabbit community of ours has been shaken and left partly dead...
Big paw prints were found around the cages. No wonder the pup was scared! Well, it looks like we'll have to figure some things out. We think it was a big dog or maybe coyote. We just don't know.....
Learn from our mistakes! 1.) Be prepared 2.) Have your gun loaded 3.) Beware of rainy nights (don't be superstitious, I'm just saying, creatures like to eat other creatures on those nights.)
Post written by Rachel.
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