Bobcat Escapades And Other Adventures

 A bobcat did show up on camera again this week.

 It was nice of him to show up during daylight.

 Same photo - cropped a little bit for a better look.

But the real adventures were with this bobcat.  I was doing some trail maintenance, pushing some brush piles around and I got it well and truly stuck. Spinning in the mud, tree against the back, wouldn't move.  I shut it down to take a look and then I couldn't get it restarted.  It was one of those days.  I gave up and left it overnight.

 The next morning, I figured out the glow plug timer that was keeping me from starting.  Once it was running, I got the bucket up and found this stump under the frame.  Luckily it was loose enough that I could get it out by hand.  Once the stump was out of the way, I managed to walk it up the slippery hill.  Whew!  I had visions of calling the bobcat dealer and saying "do you rescue machines stuck in the woods?"

 I saw a Facebook post from ODNR saying that there are Private Lands Consulting Biologists available.  The one for my area was Emily Archibald.  I eventually contacted her and she convinced me to mow 1/3 of the prairie plot each winter.

I hope to meet her at the farm one of these days to see what else she suggests.  The mowing is sort of an alternative to burning.  Burning takes a bunch of permits and isn't easy for your basic landowner to do.  And I have experience with a little fire getting away from me.

As long as I was out mowing, I decided to do battle with the black locusts that are always invading.

They want to take over the fields and they have thorns that will puncture a tire.

Not a very good picture of the thorns.  Anyway, I cleaned up some field edges since the weather was cooperating so nicely.  I also got the bobcat around some of the atv trails and I managed to avoid getting it stuck again.

 There is wind damage all over the farm.  I cleaned a lot of that up too.

 Sometimes just branches, sometimes whole trees.

 Up by the roots.

Blocking trails.

While BBQ'ing, I had a crowd out in a fallow food plot.  I'm not sure what they're eating but they're pretty desperate right now. Greenup can't be soon enough for them.

On another night, they almost came in the dining room.  Notice the bird feeder - it was opened like that each morning.  Were the deer nosing around in the feeders at night?
Videos of them frolicking Deer Frolic   Deer Frolic 2

 There are buds in the orchard - even on this cherry tree that is on its last legs.

Pear tree has been under attack too - woodpeckers I assume.

Poop of the week.

Another example of human artifacts on field edges - tires.

I flew the drone again this week.

 I was up to the 400' limit for private drones.

 This is a fairly long tour video.  Drone tour

Straight down like a satellite view.

Another shorter video Drone 2

 And another Drone 3

 Still no turkeys on camera (other than this one).

I'm not sure where they went.  Maybe as the clover greens up they'll find their way back.

I had a little bit of ear corn out last week.  It was popular.

Getting a little testy over it.

Fisticuffs.

It attracted all kinds.

 One buck left still wearing his antlers.

Most have dropped like these guys.

The usual predator suspects.  Coyote.

 Fox.

And then there are the domestics.