Snow and Cold and More Snow

No new sightings for Fat Holly. Andy and I walked the woods yesterday (Saturday) for about 45 minutes looking for her, during the snowstorm. We talked to Mrs. Patten, who was in the woods, and already had permission from Mr. Patten to set the live trap. Both are animal lovers and wished us good luck. They feed feral cats but have not seen Holly. I put small pieces of smoked sausage in areas where I saw her prints on Friday, but had to wait until their dog went back to the house or he would have made short work of the sausage! Andy set the live trap near the animal trail where Holly ran from him on Friday. We draped a worn shirt of mine over the trap, both to keep the falling snow from covering the sausage inside and to hopefully provide a familiar scent to entice Holly out of hiding. I walked most of the way back home in the ditch, looking for any sign of Holly. I put bites of sausage at both entrances of the two culverts in the ditch. Andy picked me up with his vehicle for the rest of the mile home. The snow continued to fall until around midnight, around seven inches in total, with lots of drifting from the high winds.

This morning (Sunday), Andy went to check the trap. He found lots of coyote prints, but no cat prints. He tripped the trap as it was bitterly cold today; the high was only 7 degrees Fahrenheit. We both worried that if Holly spent a few hours in the trap, she would freeze to death. Andy left an opened can of sardines near the trap. The deer hide was completely covered in snow and there was no evidence of any animal trying to forage on the carcass this morning. We will both go out again tomorrow to search for Holly and leave more food for her. Andy did not see any raccoon tracks today.

The outdoor poultry are all doing well in their respective buildings. On Thursday I put pine bedding in the garage goose pen, along with a heated water bucket and lots of food in the three feeders. I got the goose in their pen from outside and they will stay in the pen until tomorrow, when the temperature will rise to the 20's during the day. Andy topped off food and water for the geese yesterday and today I had the honor. The chickens have stayed in their coop (a converted one car garage). We open the door once a day to change the water in their heated waterer, and to add pellets to their feeder. Today I made a big rice slurry for the chickens, ten cups of mixed white and brown rice with a cup of vegetable oil and a teaspoon of salt. I brought the slurry to the coop while it was still warm, and the chickens were very excited to consume their treat. Their coop is unheated and all the chickens are cold hardy breeds. Heat lamps in coops are extremely dangerous and cause multiple fires every winter, killing countless chickens. Chickens deal with the cold much better than heat, and many breeds are especially tolerant of low temperatures. The chickens' gravity fed waterer is low voltage, not exceeding 10 volts, and propped on concrete blocks to keep it elevated above the bedding in the coop. If it runs out of water, it shuts off. It also has a thermostat to only operate below freezing temperatures.

The dogs love the arrival of winter and deep snow. It is too cold for Skadi and Bridget to want to remain outside for more than a few minutes. Celine is the next to want to go back in the house. I think that Prins, Dove and Lenka would stay outside as long as they were allowed. Lenka plays with the youngsters, then assumes a sentry position under the spruce tree, while Dove and Prins run and chase and have a blast. I limit their outdoor sessions to ten minutes and make them stay inside the house at least an hour afterwards before going back outside. I took some pictures yesterday. The snow was falling so they are a bit gray but otherwise cute.