A close encounter with skunks

I was returning to the barn from the back field this evening when I spotted a pair of skunks in the field to the south of the barn. I quickly rushed to the truck to get my camera and headed for the south field. When I got within 20 yards of the skunks I could see it was a mother with a younger skunk and they were looking for food as they headed in my direction. I stopped and waited for the skunks to come closer. The younger skunk stopped to feed on something and the mother continued in my direction. The mother skunk in the following photo walked within two feet of me as it continued looking for food.



After the mother passed by the younger skunk was still busy working on his catch. I walked closer to the young skunk but when I got within 10 feet I could see him take a more defensive position. I held my distance but saw the skunk react each time the camera flash fired. After a couple of pictures I moved back to the location of my close encounter with the mother skunk and waited to see where the younger skunk would head. To my surprise the young skunk would sniff the ground and took the exact same path as the mother had taken. The young skunk was only a couple of feet away when the following photo was taken.


After the second skunk walked by I decided to see if I could get some more photos by getting ahead of him and waiting at a spot I had last seen the mother skunk. My plan worked, too good in fact. I had stood in the exact path the mother had taken and the young skunk had followed the tracks and stopped within 3 inches of my shoes. I was close enough to hear the skunk sniffing my shoes. I was going to take a picture of the skunk next to my feet but then remembered how the camera flash would make him jump each time it went off. It would have been a great picture but I didn't want to pay the price if I spooked the little guy.

I returned to the truck and spotted a third skunk but didn't want to press my luck.

Young animals everywhere

Jason sent me the following photo of a couple of young calves from his farm.



These two fawns were spotted on Joyce Road just above our farm.


A doe with a fawn in the field behind the barn.



Young turkey poults crossing Joyce Road near Harley Kay's mailbox.

What is more fun than a baby goat ...

How about two goats. Jason and Mary Abell got their first goat, Lucas, a couple of weeks ago and now they have a second goat. Two month old Sandy.



Jason and Mary's granddaughter Kenna with Sandy.



Ty and Kenna with Sandy.



The goats may be a new addition at the Abell's but Buster is still the "Top Dog".

More hay making at the farm

After so many rainy days this year it was nice to see some blue sky and sunshine. A view of the back field from the "Sniper's Nest" (upper loft) at the barn.



It was a beautiful day for cutting hay and after a few equipment problems were resolved David Abell was mowing the back field.

Early summer deer

David Abell provided some more digital game camera photos for the blog. The first photo is a doe with twin fawns.



Here's a shot of a young buck.

Another bear sighting

A bear with a cub was at Jason Abell's farm and a photo taken with a digital game camera. The photo was provided by Jason's son David.

Nice day for a ride

Visitors to the Joyce Road neighborhood, Mary and Lou, stop at Jason Abell's to ask for direction.

Brian's new "toy"

"The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys".



Brian Hopkins borrowed my trailer to haul his new tractor with backhoe home. Time to start planning projects.






Tish and Karson.

Make hay while the sun shines

As the old saying goes ... "Make hay while the sun shines". Jason Abell was taking advantage of the rare sunny weather this week to get some hay baled.









Even though we had some sun this week not all of the fields were dry enough to get on.



To get some of these photos I climbed to the top of the 50 foot silo at the barn and found this frog half way up the silo. Even the frogs have headed to high ground due to all of the rain.


Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor)

New "Kid" in the neighborhood

Jason and Mary Abell have a new "kid" (goat), three months old Lucas.

Visitor to neighborhood

We first saw the bear in the lawn behind the house at the north end of the raised bed garden. We were at Mary's raise bed flower garden less than 50 yards from the bear when we first spotted it. The bear then walked down along the garden, past the firewood logs and through the pines to the road. The bear stood in Joyce Road for a while to look at us before it crossed the road and walk through the field to Orion & Betty's (Burns) woods. The bear didn't seem to be very afraid and just walked around.

This bear had been at Paul Cook's and Aggi got pictures of it climbing onto their deck. The bear was also at Jim Kovel's just before it came to our place.

This looks to be the same bear that got in Gerry & Janet Miner's bird feeder twice last week.

Paul and Aggi's bear visit

Paul and Aggi Cook provided the following photos of a bear climbing onto their deck.

Century Farm

Jason and Mary Abell's new "Century Farm" sign.

New Construction in Neighborhood

Gerry (Miner) oversees the start of construction on Janet's new storage shed.





Gordon Secor and Janet

Fishing

Brian & Tish Hopkins' sons with a fish they caught in Miner's Pond.