Finally! We’re getting some cooler weather here in this part of the Ozarks! Been in the high nineties, even got over a hundred for a few days over the last five or six weeks and nary a bit of rain during that time either. Several trees died in the heat and drought, but I guess that’s the way nature works. Since the onset of the cooler air, we’ve actually gotten a few inches of precious rain, and you could almost hear the big old oaks sighing with relief around here. I think all of us living creatures get a little giddy when autumn comes around. I also think the heat might be the reason we haven’t had a very bad tick problem around the woods this year, but I also have guineas patrolling and those birds eat a lot of ticks, I read somewhere that an adult guinea fowl can eat a few thousand ticks every day!
We’ve had a fox around the farm and some mysterious AWOL guinea fowls. Piles of feathers here and there attest to the fox scoring dinner once in a while. Guineas select really well-hidden spots to lay their eggs and several hens will lay in the same nest until some magic alarm bell goes off that only a select guinea hen can hear and she suddenly starts setting on the whole clutch. There may be as many as twenty-five eggs and the old girl really has to spread herself out to cover all of them, but I’ve never witnessed a more dedicated animal as the mother guinea when it comes time to hatch and raise her young. We only know someone has started setting when we round them up at night to coop them for bed and one of them fails to show up. This also can mean the fox has scored, so it’s kind of tricky to determine which has happened – has the fox eaten one, or has one of the hens decided to set? Most times the setting hen will show up at the run in the mornings to join her friends for breakfast during a short break in the setting duties. Otherwise, it would take a four-wheel-drive truck to pull her away from that nest – or a dedicated raccoon or fox that finds her on the nest, but that’s pretty unusual – they find good hiding places for the nest. Sometimes it takes us humans a long time to find a nest, but we try not to disturb it when we do, or not to give her away to any predators who might be in sight. In the last couple of years we have lost two setting girls and their eggs, but as often as not, they make it to the hatch and then it’s a battle with mama to catch all the babies and relocate them to a safe coop where they can survive until they get big enough to elude the four-legged critters, and that is surprisingly fast. Guinea babies – called keets – find their legs (and wings) in short order and are even hard to catch right out of the eggs. Right now we have a family of guinea babies that are about five weeks old and already can fly like quails.
When I say it’s a battle with Mama to collect the babies, I’m not kidding! Those gals are serious when it comes to protecting those little ones and will very gleefully leave nasty bruises and scratches anywhere on your body they can access if you grab one of the babies. They can beat you mercilessly with those wings too. She flies sorties at you while you’re trying to catch the little ones without hurting them, and she regularly lands punches and barbs – especially when you’re looking away at the baby. I remember on one occasion a couple of years ago when my daughter and I had fought the mother and had caught all the little ones and when I had the last one in my hand, she was standing facing me just a few feet from me. She had this totally rabid angry look on her face as she glared at me and it was like she was saying, “Okay, you got my babies, but now I’m gonna get you!” And she flew up straight into my face with her talons hitting first – I was able to turn aside somewhat, but she got my neck and left a couple of bloody canyons across it. What a maniac! She went for my face on purpose! I’m just thankful they don’t carry hellfire missiles! But that’s how mama guineas are, so if you ever have occasion to collect her keets, watch out! If they aren’t surprised and ambushed, I’m pretty sure they are quite capable of repelling a raccoon, and maybe even a fox too if he’s not starving and desperate.
We’ve been living here on this farm in the Ozarks for eight years now and we’ve only encountered a few copperheads but no other poisonous snakes. I’m sure there are some of those big old timber rattlers around, but so far, we’ve not ran across any. Someone smashed one on the road about a mile from here, so I know they’re around. We had a guinea hen get bitten by what I’m sure was one of those copperheads – we never saw the snake, but the guinea died with bite marks on her neck. From what I know about guineas, the crazy bird was probably pecking at the snake, that’s how they are. But I’ve only seen a couple or three copperheads around here. If the snake is near the house, I’ve been known to go to great lengths to catch it and take it off into the woods, but otherwise I usually dispose of it, if it’s in the woods, I leave it alone.
I had an encounter a couple of years back with a fairly big old black bear, right outside my back yard! The dogs were raising cane, and I went out to see what their problem was, and lo and behold, there was this black bear – standing on his hind legs looking at me like he expected me to bring him an order of chicken nuggets or a taco. He went to all fours and started traipsing off, not in a hurry whatsoever. I hustled into the house to grab my phone to try and get a pic, but with my typical 72-year-old fumbling and fidgeting to pull up the camera function and aim and shoot, he was so far out into the woods all I got was a big dark blob in the foliage, but what a rush! I have game cameras out in our woods and occasionally get a random black bear on video, but not all that often.
We have mountain lions in this neck of the woods, but I don’t think they stay here. When someone sees one it’s just passing through. I’ve read where those cats range for hundreds of miles, so when one is spotted, it’s probably a young male just passing through or maybe he’s looking for a suitable area to hang out in. I was deer hunting one cold November morning and I heard one of them, probably a quarter to a half mile away from me, but it was a real treat to hear a big cat in the wild! The sound was halfway between a growl and a scream – it didn’t sound like it was really excited or angry, maybe it was calling for another cat. That said, it could have been a bobcat, but I’ve heard both of them, and I’m almost sure it was a cougar.
The first few years we were here, there were pretty regular coyote parties down the holler on a section of our farm we call the south 40. A neighbor fellow raised beef cattle, and he often had problems with them taking his newborn calves. He had a really good cattle dog – maybe she was mostly border collie, but she came dragging home one night and was so mangled from being attacked by coyotes that he had to put her down. It was a really sad occasion because she was a remarkably smart and loyal dog – I liked her almost as much as my own dogs; she was just a great, friendly girl, and she died trying to protect her cattle. Probably badly outnumbered. Realizing what those coyotes are capable of, I keep my two dogs penned up in my backyard unless I’m out with them – it would break my heart to lose either one of my girls. September 30 it will be exactly one year ago that I had to say goodbye to my old Dusty girl – my best friend and sidekick for fourteen years – I’m not over losing her and probably never will be; I was really attached to her. The two girls I have now were her gifts to me and I treasure them like I did her.
Soon there will be great flocks of snow geese high up in an azure sea of northern air honking away to let the world down here know we need to check our water pipes and if we haven’t already done so, to get some firewood cut and split. I’m way ahead on that account – I’ve actually been working in the terrible heat to get ahead of that north wind, but then I’m one of those old hillbillies that simply can’t stay out of the woods with a chainsaw. Early this summer I was walking down the wet-weather creek that runs down the east side of our property and lo and behold – there was a beautiful red oak that had fallen (green) straight across the creek from bank to bank. The creek was a good twenty-five feet wide, and the tree was a good two feet in diameter, so there was enough wood to last the whole winter! Where the tree was located, it looked to be on a neighbor’s property, and as I’d never met him but knew where he lives, I took the occasion to go and meet him and see if he’d mind me harvesting the log. Turns out, he’s one of the nicest guys I ever met, and he was more than willing to let me get the firewood. Made me sorry I’d not gone to meet him sooner, but such is life! Now the wood is cut and split and waiting for some serious north wind so I can get the wood stove going.
Summer is winding down and we’re headed into autumn and the world is getting crazier every day. I fear for a lot of folks who might end up on the short end of heating fuel with all the nonsense going on in the Mideast. I guess we have a lot to be thankful for out here where survival is achievable if not always easy. Folks in the big cities might wind up having to cut corners where it hurts and my prayers are with them – the Lord always waits to hear from us and not just when we have problems, and I’m serious as a heart attack when I say we all need to get – and stay – in touch with the Lord. I personally believe from the intensity of the problems in the whole world that we are living in the last days of this human experiment, and I also believe the end is not going to be pretty nor very enjoyable for a lot of us. Learn about Jesus Christ. Learn about the Almighty Father Who makes the beautiful autumn colorful and tends the hearts of those who are willing to listen to His wisdom. He’s the One who grew that big old tree that’s going to keep my house warm this winter. He’s the One in the heart of the wonderful neighbor who cheerfully allowed me access to the wood. He’s the One taking care of old Dusty for a wonderful reunion someday – just as an example of His incomparable love.
When things wind down in this old world and if you happen to be a survivor who makes it to that glorious day when Jesus returns, make sure you are one of those who will be filled with indescribable joy and not one whose heart will quail from terror of His wrath upon all who rejected Him, who chose to live in this life without Him. We who love Him will have much to look forward to and if you are still reading this, be aware that God is speaking to you as you read – do not wait until it is too late to come to Jesus. I’m serious – time is so short now that I may not have time to burn up that firewood before the end. I would not be surprised if that turns out to be the case – seriously.
Enjoy the autumn wood if you live where you can. If not, stay in touch with this site and check back in -I’ll try to get some of those beautiful fall pictures posted now and then. Meanwhile get out that old Bible and start learning what’s in it. It’ll keep you warm inside your heart when it’s cold outside and you don’t have anything better to do, but don’t let that be the only reason you decide to learn about Jesus. He’ll be your best friend – He even loves you enough to have died for you. Get to know Him so you can love Him back.
May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.
All fall images in this post are from earlier autumns – will soon have new ones
MK