Another little murder case
Jan. 29th, 2011 05:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoGary was headed off to some church event and I was going out to take care of the barn critters and shut things up for the night. He called out to me "We've got a duck out!" and though I tried to discourage him, he was off chasing the birdbrained critter through eight inch snow drifts in the woods. Eventually he caught it and I walked with him back to the duck pen where we learned the reason for its escape and distress. The poor thing's mate had been slaughtered and half-eaten. We put the drake into the house and shut him up, and I sent Gary off to his dinner. After feeding horses and sheep I came back to shovel up the mess and examine the tracks.
My first thought had been dogs. We have have far too many dogs that are allowed to run loose in this area, but it's also true that we've never lost a duck to dogs in ten years, nor a lamb. Closer examination of the tracks in the snow, though, made it clear that our fox was the culprit. The vixen's characteristic hunting habits were in evidence. Leap and land upon the prey from directly above was what she did again, climbing to the roof of the nesting boxes and jumping over the fence from there. Looks like she landed right first try, and there was no chase or struggle. There were, however, a lot of feathers. More feathers than I'd have thought the old hen had, in fact. I don't much begrudge a very hungry fox her meal. The hen was nearly ten years old and that's way beyond the normal lifespan of a domestic duck. It did give Gary second thoughts about his plan to get some new ducklings this spring. We'll have to improve the enclosure and run fence wire over the top of it if he does.
As I went about finishing my chores, once the grisly remains had been removed and the bloody snow shoveled away, I watched for fox tracks. Sure enough, they are all over. The clever thing has been walking in our tracks mostly, probably because it's easier to get through the deep snow. But she has been hunting birds and squirrels, and I found evidence of many failed attempts. She's hungry. Something did get a sparrow in the arena last Wednesday, because we found the pile of feathers, but the floor had been too trampled for me to be sure whether it was cat or something else. Now I suspect it was the fox, who can indeed grab a bird once in a while. A sparrow isn't much of a meal, though. There are fresh tracks north of the arena, around that old woodpile. Beyond that, out to the pasture and across it, there are only old tracks that have been filled in by the recent snow. Quite possibly the remaining duck is doomed unless we take drastic measures to protect him.
In other news, we went to the grocery store earlier this afternoon. Gary bought gas on the way in, for $3.119. When we came out just 45 minutes later, the price was $3.159. Here we go back up, courtesy no doubt of the Egyptian crisis. A price change at mid-day on Saturday is not typical at all. Generally those happen on Thursday or early Friday to suck money out of the weekend travelers' pockets.
Oh and an observation from the grocery store. Kraft and Hellmann's both reduced the size of their mayonnaise containers to 30 ounces more than a year ago. No fanfare, no price reduction. It was one of those sneaky stunts that are becoming all too common, disguising a price increase by shrinking the package. Well, apparently people must have noticed. Today there's a big display in the store of the "new" Hellmann's packaging, with screaming banners "Now 10% more." They just increased the size of the jar to 34 ounces. That's two ounces more than what it originally was. But how long will they keep the price where it is? Hellmann's is already expensive, definitely a premium price (though the quality is unquestionably high.)
My first thought had been dogs. We have have far too many dogs that are allowed to run loose in this area, but it's also true that we've never lost a duck to dogs in ten years, nor a lamb. Closer examination of the tracks in the snow, though, made it clear that our fox was the culprit. The vixen's characteristic hunting habits were in evidence. Leap and land upon the prey from directly above was what she did again, climbing to the roof of the nesting boxes and jumping over the fence from there. Looks like she landed right first try, and there was no chase or struggle. There were, however, a lot of feathers. More feathers than I'd have thought the old hen had, in fact. I don't much begrudge a very hungry fox her meal. The hen was nearly ten years old and that's way beyond the normal lifespan of a domestic duck. It did give Gary second thoughts about his plan to get some new ducklings this spring. We'll have to improve the enclosure and run fence wire over the top of it if he does.
As I went about finishing my chores, once the grisly remains had been removed and the bloody snow shoveled away, I watched for fox tracks. Sure enough, they are all over. The clever thing has been walking in our tracks mostly, probably because it's easier to get through the deep snow. But she has been hunting birds and squirrels, and I found evidence of many failed attempts. She's hungry. Something did get a sparrow in the arena last Wednesday, because we found the pile of feathers, but the floor had been too trampled for me to be sure whether it was cat or something else. Now I suspect it was the fox, who can indeed grab a bird once in a while. A sparrow isn't much of a meal, though. There are fresh tracks north of the arena, around that old woodpile. Beyond that, out to the pasture and across it, there are only old tracks that have been filled in by the recent snow. Quite possibly the remaining duck is doomed unless we take drastic measures to protect him.
In other news, we went to the grocery store earlier this afternoon. Gary bought gas on the way in, for $3.119. When we came out just 45 minutes later, the price was $3.159. Here we go back up, courtesy no doubt of the Egyptian crisis. A price change at mid-day on Saturday is not typical at all. Generally those happen on Thursday or early Friday to suck money out of the weekend travelers' pockets.
Oh and an observation from the grocery store. Kraft and Hellmann's both reduced the size of their mayonnaise containers to 30 ounces more than a year ago. No fanfare, no price reduction. It was one of those sneaky stunts that are becoming all too common, disguising a price increase by shrinking the package. Well, apparently people must have noticed. Today there's a big display in the store of the "new" Hellmann's packaging, with screaming banners "Now 10% more." They just increased the size of the jar to 34 ounces. That's two ounces more than what it originally was. But how long will they keep the price where it is? Hellmann's is already expensive, definitely a premium price (though the quality is unquestionably high.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-01-30 05:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 03:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-30 10:47 am (UTC)I hope the vixen's gonna make it, too.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 03:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 11:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-30 03:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 03:40 am (UTC)