I got home after dark tonight, but I was dedicated to putting in the new goldfish pond pump I bought late yesterday afternoon, and so the dark was not going to slow me down.
After wiring the pump base to a 5-gallon plastic bucket top, and cutting off the bottom of the bucket so the pump would sit at the right height on the submerged bucket top, I noticed that the dogs were barking up a frenetic storm in the back yard.
What the hell? It must be a fox, possum or raccoon.
I gathered up the pump and bucket and went down the dark path towards the pond, when a massive eight-point buck stormed me charging, antlers down, and the dogs hard behind him. There was a fence to the left and a steep rise of land on the right. The dogs and the little pond were behind, and only I was ahead of the deer, but there was nowhere else for me to go!.
Thank God, the deer decided I was scarier than the dogs, and he whirled in mid-air, leaped over the two dogs, and then cleared the back fence sight unseen in the dark. Jesus!
I will move the camera trap back to the pond area and see if I can get a few shots of my backyard bucks and does this time of year. They come around a lot, mostly to drink from the pond after the dogs have gone to bed. I might get some good shots later this week.
.
After wiring the pump base to a 5-gallon plastic bucket top, and cutting off the bottom of the bucket so the pump would sit at the right height on the submerged bucket top, I noticed that the dogs were barking up a frenetic storm in the back yard.
What the hell? It must be a fox, possum or raccoon.
I gathered up the pump and bucket and went down the dark path towards the pond, when a massive eight-point buck stormed me charging, antlers down, and the dogs hard behind him. There was a fence to the left and a steep rise of land on the right. The dogs and the little pond were behind, and only I was ahead of the deer, but there was nowhere else for me to go!.
Thank God, the deer decided I was scarier than the dogs, and he whirled in mid-air, leaped over the two dogs, and then cleared the back fence sight unseen in the dark. Jesus!
I will move the camera trap back to the pond area and see if I can get a few shots of my backyard bucks and does this time of year. They come around a lot, mostly to drink from the pond after the dogs have gone to bed. I might get some good shots later this week.
.
3 comments:
My parents have a shed on the lower part of their very rural property by a river bed. They also have cleared a few poplars, about a half acre and planted a very nice lawn in that area that we keep loosely mowed down.
Well one day when I was about 14 my folks asked me to head down to the building and mow the lawn. So I grabbed my 80lb dog and walked down to the building. Ol' Sam didn't wander too far so usually he could poke around while I nailed out the lawn in about 20 minutes and back up to the house we could head.
I got down to the shed, pulled the mower out, and was pouring some gas in mower when I heard an urgent WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! and what sounded like a freight train headed my direction through the brush. Whipping around the corner of the shed a cougar who looked just as surprised to see me as I was to see him bolted sideways with a very angry mouthsnap, and with my dear ol' Sam in hot pursuit flew up a large maple tree growing from the base of the cliffside, the problem was this was at such an angle that the dog followed the cat up the tree about 15 feet.
So I had the delightful task of fishing a dog out of a tree who was very intent to stay up a tree, with a cougar further up that tree, explaining to my Dad why I spilled the gastank, and didn't mow the lawn.
On the plus side 16 years later I got my father a trail camera for his birthday. Hopefully we'll get some great shots on that section of the property.
That's a day you never forget! Lucky the dog got out alive and all well. Wow!
P
Good lord, that had to have been a shocker! Glad the buck found a better way to deal; one swift pop over the fence and everyone's happy.
I'm watching the rack on a buck seemingly grow every time I see him. I shooed him away from riding lessons tonight and I swear he puts on more points every day. We had two separate run-ins with smaller wildlife today, but those little stories don't even bear repeating in this company!
Seahorse
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