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GentlewoodFarms
September 14, 2017

AGC #14 ~ Today's Small Pleasure

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I went out to the mail box a couple of days ago to mail my younger daughter's birthday card. I managed to get a card in the mail on time, so I was super happy about that!

On the way back to the house, I saw both my road runners - him and her - in my south pasture. The neighbor across the street's dogs are a menace, and I'd heard a huge commotion in the woods just south of my property line a couple of weeks ago. I haven't seen either bird since. I thought that those dogs had killed one or both of them. So I was delighted to see the pair of them looking no worse for the wear.

But I know that the commotion I heard was them. Road runners have a very distinctive chirring voice, so it's possible that the dogs got their chicks this year. The loss of a clutch of babies is heartbreaking, but it's not a tragedy. Road runners are monogamous - mating for life - so the death of one is usually the end of the family. This pair has been together about three years now - and I've really enjoyed seeing them raise chicks and be good parents.

Why do I care? Well, they're a big bonus on a farm. They're opportunistic hunters - mice are a favorite meal, as are gophers and insects. So they're good to have around, and as far as I'm concerned, the more of them I see, the happier I am. Since both survived the - whatever it was - there is hope for them. They'll rebreed and raise another clutch next year, I'm sure.

This is the same pack of dogs that killed my Corgi a few years ago. They just trolled into our pasture and when he tried to defend it, they attacked him and slaughtered him. Since then, they've been steadily encroaching into our territory. I ran them out of the back yard earlier this week when I got home from work. One of them is vicious nasty, so we're about to the "load the shot gun" point, and maybe this time next year there won't BE any dogs for this pair of birds to worry about. I'm planning to have yet ANOTHER conversation with my neighbor this week about penning his dogs up. They were definitely harassing my chickens yesterday....NOT acceptable. Pestering livestock is a killing offense in the country where dogs are concerned. It's just not something that is tolerated on ANY level.

Anyway - I was really hoping that my Road Runners would show up again so that I could get a photo of them together. It's not common for them to be in the same spot - they're usually spread out too far apart to get both of them in the same picture. But this morning, as I was sweeping the porch, they came darting out into the south pasture, chasing a small rodent or a lizard or something that was moving fast. They managed to catch it, and he let her have it. And then they hung out together in the pasture for a good half-hour together, giving me time to go inside, get my camera, set it up with my telephoto lens, and snap some good pictures.

That's him on the right in the back and her in the front on the left. And the pair of them together is Today's Small Pleasure.


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