Garlic Planting Time, Part Two

Good weather means a day working on the garlic bed to prepare it for planting. Yesterday when the rain finally drove me front to dry off, I left things as you see them here. Today sunshine sent me back to continue on the garlic project. When I arrived at the wilderness garden I discovered that my ball of garden twine was unwound trailing up the path.  Since I pull the twine from the center of the ball, all my playful canine had to do was put the ball in its mouth and run off.  The twine unwound until the ball was exhausted.  I followed the twine trail across the lawn, up the path then down into the woods.    I returned back up the trail winding twine as I walked.  A flat stone now holds my twine ball where I want it to remain.

A neighbor has placed a hunting blind on the high meadow overlooking the wilderness garden.  I have given serious thought to spending an evening sitting in the blind.  If I did that, I might get to see and perhaps photograph my coyote.  But then the biting insects sent me front today by 4:30 pm.

Critter Clues

Ed has been using grass clippings to make new garden space back in the wilderness garden. It works really well although there is a slight aroma while the grass clippings dry out. The other day Ed drove his tractor back to the wilderness garden and discovered interesting holes in the  somewhat firm surface.

Divots were scattered in the grass. It made Ed think back to the day last fall when  he came eye to eye with a coyote. He thought perhaps  coyote or even fox  pups  were having fun tossing the clumps of grass in the air in harmless play. Several days went by and both of us forgot about these clues left by  our wild visitors.

Once again it's time to ready the wilderness garden to plant next year's garlic. Ed arrived at the wilderness garden to find it had been disturbed again.  This time the clues of wild visitors were a little more grizzly. Pieces of meat were found hidden in the grass mulch. Clearly we have a dispute about just who the owner of this space is. Ed moved the  meat cache out of the way. As far as he is concerned that garden space is reserved for his garlic. As Ed spends more time preparing the soil to plant his garlic in the garden, I expect the critters will back away. It's not because of the garlic, although it is supposed to keep werewolves at bay. I think Ed's presence will be enough to send our visitors to another part of their range.

These fresh footprints in the recently turned soil look large enough to have been made by a coyote.  Clumps of sod were strewn about as the animal retrieved its stored meat.   Ed usually leaves a kill site as the coyotes may be near by and ownership of the kill is clear.  But this is his garden.  A meeting of the minds will be reached and the fence will keep the coyotes out.  Coyotes may be clever but Ed is stubborn.  He will stay out of the woods near their den in case coyotes are vindictive.

Coffee Company

The garden was still tinted blue this morning, while I sipped that first cup of coffee. I was delighted to see the fox just up the hill from the garden. I watched as he stuck his nose under the surface of the snow, and then pounced like a cat in an attempt to catch whatever that delicious smelling creature might be hiding under the snow. Picture a fox leaping up, placing all four feet together and then landing with its nose and feet penetrating the snow. Sometimes it would still be sniffing as the nose disappeared in the snow because it would come up blowing to clear its nose. Perhaps he was tired from being up much of the night, because he pounced many times, coming up empty each time. Next he picked up the scent of something that had left footprints in the snow. I watched as he sniffed along the trail disappearing behind the bushes, and then caught a few glimpses of him climbing up the side hill into the pines. What a great way to start my day!




Thinking the morning couldn't get more interesting, about 5 minutes later, I was very surprised to see what I first thought to be another fox at the bottom of Ed's path. I soon realized it was not another fox, but a coyote. The difference in size and gait is unmistakable. Unlike the fox, who seems so at ease in the garden, the coyote headed directly up Ed's path and disappeared through the notch. If he knew he was being watched, he clearly didn't like it. I can't help wondering if these animals are ever in the same place at the same time. Now I'm not so sure about our midnight serenades. Is the singing the foxes or the coyotes? Is it possible that they get together and the coyote sings bass while the fox sings tenor? I'll never find out. Once it's "country dark" outside here, I don't venture outside, but listen from my window.

As is often the case , no pictures were taken while interesting things were going on in the garden. The pictures were taken after the company had left.I was way too enthralled while they were here, to even think about the camera.

Fresh Surprise

My outside walk took me to the back of the property. This area is in the shelter of a pine tree covered ridge. Daytime sunlight does not directly shine here. When walking across the meadow toward the area one reaches a point where the air is noticeably colder. The tracks in the snow suggest a fresh kill. The red stained snow supports that speculation. This was clearly the recent work of coyotes.

Near the area of the kill was a frozen venison steak. There were no bones anywhere in the area. Basic common sense dictates that one not linger at the site of a fresh kill. The new owners may be nearby. After a cursory inspection of the area I was gone from there. Scenes like this cause me to question the wisdom of walking about in this relative wilderness armed only with my wit and a smile. Any discussion of a weapon ends quickly. Becky is confident that the most likely outcome of me walking with a gun would be a self inflicted wound. I have to hope that these killers keep themselves well fed.