A Break In The Action

We escaped the Ohio winter for a little break in Florida.  The winter tried to follow us down here but it passed after a day or two.  We took a little excursion down to Everglades City.

This was the new National Park visitor center - the old one was lost in Hurricane Irma.

One of the reasons that we ventured over here was to visit the historic Rod & Gun Club.  It was owned by Baron Collier who developed most of southwest Florida and he hosted US Presidents and other famous people here.

When we got there, it appeared abandoned and there was a little "Closed" sign stuck in the door.

Some of the local fauna that I encountered.  I believe that's a "palmetto rat".

Meanwhile, back at the farm, propane deliveries have been necessary and frequent this year.  But the snow has melted off.

I thought that you might be interested in these recent videos posted by my African outfitter and professional hunter - Arnold Claassen. Here's his link. Arnold's Outfit

Recent videos:

Eastern Cape

2026 Video

Kudu

At the farm, the activity has been minimal.

Coyotes

And a few deer moving.

I'm looking forward to doing some forest stand improvement in March.

The Slow Season

We've had a pretty tough winter so far.  Deer season is over and it's a long haul to green-up and turkey season.  The highlight of this time of year is shed antlers. As of yesterday, this guy is still wearing his.

But Dusty found these on a neighboring property.  I usually expect them all to be on the ground in March.

I thought this was interesting - I visitor to my smart bird feeder.

And the next image was this - is that an action shot of a murder?

Here's some shots of the deer herd attempting to fend with the harsh winter.

I don't think that they moved much when it was single digit cold.

But it looks like they're still munching on the brassica and bulbs up in the main field.

Thee coyotes are still on the prowl.

And somehow, the turkeys survive these conditions too.

At least the snow cover is gone for a few days and the highs look to be in the 60's.

Arctic Blast Worries

We got over a foot of snow in Mason and temperatures have been below zero.  I had to wonder how things were faring at the farm.

This was the snow in Mason.  I started worrying about how much propane there was at the farm (for heat).  Then I started worrying about whether the propane delivery guy would go down the driveway if it wasn't plowed.  He won't.

Then I looked at the forecast and didn't see any melt forecast in the next 10 days.  Then I looked at the negative temperatures and wondered if the diesel fuel in my machines and in the bulk tank were turned to gel. Diesel gets cloudy around 20F, gels around 10F, and won't flow at all below 0.  Unless treated.  My tanks were filled in the summer and were likely untreated.

So I had Amazon deliver some anti-gel stuff and I made a plan to go out and plow the driveway.  But I wondered whether I could get the Yukon in before plowing or if I would have to walk in.  And then I wondered if I could get the Kubota or the Bobcat to start.  And if I did, and got them out on the driveway somewhere and then the fuel system clogged - what then?  Dead machine, blocked driveway, wait for warm weather?

So I did the best that I could preparing for the worst and I headed out that way.  Minus 9F on Friday morning. I stopped and bought more fuel additives, an electric heater, and a shovel for if I got stuck on the way in or had to clear snow to get the gate open.  And this is how it looked on arrival.

The gate swung clear and I drove straight into the barn. Less snow than at home.

Even the diesel in the outside storage tank looked clear.

There was less snow than in Mason.  Maybe 6 or 8 inches versus 12 or 14.

The back blade worked fine on this amount of snow.

I got the driveway good and clear.

Propane level had gone down about 8% in the week of frigid temperatures.  I probably could have waited for the melt.

Since I was there and had a few minutes before dark, I made a partial camera tour.

The tracks are always fun after a snow.  This went right down my trail.  I assume bobcat.

And it went right past one of my cameras.  But nothing showed up on it.

I just checked the easy to reach cameras.  I wanted to get out before dark.

I had battery maintainers on all of the machines that I don't run every week.  

But I went ahead and picked up 3 more to cover the new Polaris machines and the Kubota.

This is the driveway on the way out.  Turned out to be no drama - easy peasy.

I don't usually share the squirrel photos but this one was fun.

It has been surprising how long this food block has been lasting.  The crows have no trouble feasting on it at 4F.

This camera got a hawk capture too.

These shots give you the feel for the winter out there.

The deer eat the pine buds in winter.

I don't know how they survive.

Out feeding even at these temps.

And the "clean up crew" is always waiting for weaklings.