Feb 12-13, '10

Sally was in Pennsylvania for Rosen Movement training, so this was a boys weekend -- Tender and I.

Deer
There were three deer in the front yard upon arrival. Late that afternoon, I startled two more off when driving up the hill. They are definitely getting too comfortable around the house, where they will be a real nuisance once the fruit trees, baby trees, and garden start growing.

More Snow
We had gotten about 5 inches on Monday in town, but with the temperature at 33 degrees about half of it had melted. That didn't seem to be the case at the farm, where there was still lots of snow in spite of a couple of days with temps above freezing. This snow sliding off the roof drug the external cell phone antennae off, so I had to just stick it in the snow on the roof.

Beaver
I could immediately tell that the pond was not full and overflowing, which delighted me. After filling the bird feeders, Tender and I drove down the hill to check it out. I stopped on this side of the creeks, since the rest of the road had been so muddy the week before -- I knew it wouldn't be any better this weekend. We hiked across the pasture and found the culverts completely clear -- not a stick, or twigg, or grass, or any mud clogging them. I was so happy. We then hiked around to check out the burned out den, and no sign of beaver activity there either. I could actually tell that they had not been dragging their bodies up and down the trails they had leading up the hill into the woods (and fresh trees). I later realized I need to check up the creek to ensure they are not still on my property -- but water was flowing good into the pond (and out). I don't know why the trapper discouraged my burning the den idea, since it seemed to work and was so easy.

Lopped Cedars
I brought my loppers, so decided to continue this never ending task. Working the field just north of plume creek above where I had parked, I lopped just over 900 trees. There were more, which I came back and got the next morning -- another 500. Other than the big ones, that area is now pretty clean.

Hickory Limbs
I also had my Stihl chain saw in the truck, since I didn't know if I would need to cut more cedars as fuel to burn out another beaver den. Looking at the downed limbs from the huge hickory there on my eastern property line, I decided to go ahead and clean them up. I figure this tree is at least 200 years old. Ben said all the big trees are on the property lines because neither owner knew if it belonged to them or not and didn't cut them. I hope this giant survives, as it lost lots of limbs in our Jan, 2009 ice storm. I just cut the ones that fell on my side of the fence, thinking the Clark's may want the others -- but I really doubt it. The fence is a mess. I hope his cows don't come across. Guess I'll need to patch it up as best I can.

This pile of limbs turned out to be two thirds of a truck load. Saturday morning I hauled them out of this pen thinking I would move them to the barn another day. But the ground there was solid, so I just backed the truck up, loaded the limbs, and took them up to the barn . After unloading them, I loaded the truck with dry wood to take to Lou and Joe in Tulsa -- since I'm flying out of there Wednesday to visit Amanda.

Poulan
Saturday I brought the Poulan saw. Seeing the broken limbs on the Walnut opposite the pen from the hickory, I decided to get them cut. I've tried to adjust the carburator twice, and obviously still haven't gotten it right since it would lose power. Some day I hope to get this art down. I got the limbs cut but didn't pile them up. After lunch I went ahead and sharpened the Poulan and the Stihl.

More Cedars
Before heading home, I decided to take a walk up to the top with Tender. Of course I took my loppers, and ended up whacking another 400 cedars up there. Tender didn't mind the leisurely pace.

Feb 6-7, '10

It was raining Friday afternoon and Dramis was still finishing up the installation of our new hickory floors in the living room/dining room, so I decided to come out on Saturday. Sally's schedule didn't permit her to come, so she stayed home with Tender.

We had gotten 6 inches of snow the previous Friday, so that kept me away the weekend before. And the weekend before that we had taken a mini vacation to soak in the hot water at Hot Springs, AR. So it had been 3 weeks and I was anxious to check on things. There were still spots of snow in Fayetteville, but I was shocked by the amount still on the ground in northern Madison County and Carroll County.

Deer

Other than the snow, the first thing I notices was that the deer had eaten the holly leaves in front of the house and the ivy on the fence in the front. Later I noticed they had also been eating the Nandina. They must be really hungry.

Pond/Beaver
The second thing I noticed was that the pond was obviously full and running over the dam. I was anxious to get down and clear the culverts -- those dam beaver. But I wanted some pictures and my phone needing charging. So I cracked a box of walnuts while my phone charged.

I had talked to the only beaver trapper in the two county area listed on the AGFC web site during the week. I was ready to hire him, but it was obvious he really didn't need or want the work. He ended up just giving advice. One thing he said that I hung on to was that if I kept harassing them they would move out -- especially considering we were so close to the Kings River and other habitat. He didn't seem to think much of my idea of burning their den, but I figured that would be a pretty good annoyance.

I'm really worried about the continuing damage to the dam with the constant over topping. With the heavy snow melting, water was running everywhere, so there was lots coming into the pond and thus lots going over the top. I drove down, but kept the truck on top of the hill above the pond fearing I might get stuck (even with 4WD) due to soft ground and mud.

The other issue is the trees they are cutting. That really gets my dander up. Heck, I have spent lots of time and energy trying to plant and get trees to grow. You can see the size of the trees they are killing in this photo.
So Friday I busted up their dam in front of the culverts. Then I went over to the their den and began scrapping the mud and leaves off the top and pulling sticks out. I got to where I could see the cavity which I presumed was their home. I then took a piss into it just to piss them off. This was the only time I had any sign of their presence, as I heard some grunts down below.

Next I went back and got my chain saw and spent the rest of the afternoon cutting up the downed and broken cedars in the area (result of the previous year's ice storm). This was going to be the fuel for the following day's bonfire.

Sunday morning they had already dammed up the culverts about 6 inches, and had recovered their den. I cleared their damn dam, and then with one match and some newspaper began the burn. I think it went really well and cannot imagine them using that spot again. I can't wait to come back the next week and see what they have done, and if necessary do it all again.

Firewood
On the way back to the house I loaded the truck with dry fire wood from the barn. We'd already burned almost two chords at the house. I still have the big ash cut and stacked, but it is down the hill and in the snow so I was pleased to take back this dry oak and hickory ice damage firewood.

Lopped Cedars
After the burn, I still had time to lop 1040 cedars in the pasture East of the road heading down the hill (where the deer feeder still hangs, though it never gets filled anymore).

Heaters
The pilots stayed lite the whole weekend, although I didn't crank them up much. I think the house got up to about 64. I did some research and better understand the issue, I believe. They have oxygen depletion sensor (OSD) pilots. I never could understand how they could have an oxygen sensor without electricity. Well, the pilot is very precisely made such that it will go out if the oxygen level is low. But, they will also go out if they just get dusty. The owners manual I downloaded said they should be blown out with compressed air (30 lbs) every year, or more often. I guess I need to get a compressor.