New Fawns and New Vehicles

Our fleet of ATVs and SXSs is aging.  Three of the four are 2001 models - that's 24 years old.  So Joan and I went shopping for some updates.  And a delivery happened as a result.

We got a 2025 Ranger XP 1000 Crew and a spicy little 2024 General 1000 XP.

Joan really liked the General - it has GPS, sound system, front and back cameras, winch, etc.

We reluctantly got it dirty.

Joan likes to drive it.

But I got a turn too.

We also got the red one out for a spin.  It has the nets in the doorways.  The General has doors.

Comparison of 2011 Ranger 700 Crew with 2025 Ranger XP 1000 Crew.  I'm supposed to keep the red one nice for touring and continue to use the old one as my work machine.

We noticed a couple of annoyances.  Of course they arrived with empty gas tanks.  And they really weren't clean.  That didn't bother me much since I immediately got them muddy.  But the driver's seat on the red one doesn't appear to be properly installed.  Tabs on seat are supposed to fit in slots on the frame.

And bolts in the back are missing.

We drove the General for about an hour and then put it to bed for the night.  When I got in it the next morning, the battery was dead.  I'm not sure what that's about but it charged right back up and ran fine. I will be following up with the dealer.  We love them but are a little annoyed.  They drive great.

We sat down to dinner Friday night and this pair came walking in toward the bird feeder. The fawn seemed just days old.

I went out Saturday to check the electric fence, manage weeds and check on the late planting of a peach tree.  The seven trees that came in my early shipment are all leafed out and doing well.

The one that came late isn't looking good.  The branches look like they are dying at the ends. None of the branches have leaves. There's one spot of leaves on the trunk.

While I was working on this stuff inside the fence, I looked up and this was staring at me from 20 yards.

I think that he was bedded in the grass inside the live electric fence.  He seemed older than the one we saw the night before.  Do you think Mom stowed him in there for safety?  Or did he wander in without getting zapped?

Anyway, it was so wet that I was doing the chores that I could.  I really wanted to be planting but the fields were too wet.  So I cut down these two dead apple trees from the original orchard.

I also trimmed branches along the driveway.  I got a recognizable smell from these branches - it was a tree of heaven (ailanthus).  That's an invasive that I thought I had eradicated years ago.  And here was a 20 footer along the driveway hiding among the sumac and walnut trees.

I did spread some seed on this one plot that I am trying to recover after spraying the wrong stuff on it.  It was my highest and driest plot and I didn't break ground.  I just spread seed and rolled it.  It's a desperation move.

There were two inches in the gauge when we arrived.

The driveway was holding water and we have a failed culvert.  I met with a guy to work on repairing some of this stuff.

On the cameras, fawns were everywhere.

But there are still does looking very pregnant.

And the coyotes are lurking.

It's a cicada year and it's loud in the woods.

This was a fun 3 shot sequence of a hawk.

My best clover at the driveway is getting a lot of action.

It seems that after a rain, everybody comes out in the fields.

The turkeys are still strutting but I think the hens have already nested.

Lots of strutting though.

Some shots from last week.

Tommy driving.

And Elliott driving.

I made a temporary patch of the gaping hole in the driveway.

Hoping for weather dry enough this week to break ground in my fields.