Hi I’m Mike, farms and ranches are homes to many different types of wildlife, and most
are welcome but when you are raising what some might consider a quick and easy meal,
then something has to be done as we take a look at predators on the ranch on our Wyoming
life.
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Spring time is the era of new life on the ranch, but its not only calves and baby chickens
out there waiting every morning for their breakfast.
There are also many other animals hiding in the wings of the ranch.
Many we don’t even see and yet we know they are still there.
We find evidence of their trespassing, and sometimes that evidence is heartbreaking and
difficult to deal with.
For a predator the ranch can be seen as a buffet.
Over thousands of acres many animals fall into the prey category, from cotton tail rabbits
slinking through the pasture, to prairie dogs darting in and out of their underground liars.
Grouse work their way through the grass and even a baby antelope away from its mom might
be seen as an easy opportunity for some other hungry and determined animal.
The ranch is a system of give and take, for everything out here, even for the rancher.
Everything from the grass to the animals and that is the reality of things on the western
plains.
Occasionally though the rules of the pastures and plains invade into the domestic life of
the ranch.
In and around the main part of the ranch, the buildings and the houses are where animals
should feel the most protected.
Most predators wont venture close to people and when they do, it means they are hungry
and looking for an easy meal.
Its very uncommon to see a mountain lion, a coyote or even a fox brave enough to dare
get too close, but it does happen.
The prairie encroaches on the homestead, or maybe it’s the other way around.
Domestic animals are sometimes seen as easy pickings for our larger predators of the area.
If a mountain lion is seen in the area, we call our neighbors or our neighbors call us,
advising to get smaller dogs and even their smaller children inside and into protection,
out of the line of site of this shy but sometimes crafty hunter, but that is very rare.
More than likely its going to be a coyote or a fox that brings havoc to the ranch and
when they do the effects can be quick and devastating.
This is the chicken house, in it we raise our birds, not for eating but for their eggs.
Egg production is a big part of our farmers market business.
Often, farm fresh eggs are a great way to introduce new customers to the value of buying
food, including vegetables, meat and other products directly from the producer.
We call farm fresh eggs the gateway food and if you have never tried a farm fresh egg,
I urge you to find a local producer and try one.
Farm fresh eggs are only days old by the time you get them and compared to grocery store
eggs which can be weeks or months old in the store, well the difference is amazing.
You’ll thank me later.
For us to produce our eggs we need chickens and depending on demand, we need a lot of
them.
Most of our chickens will produce close to one egg a day, and even a few dozen eggs a
day is sometimes not enough to fill the orders we receive.
This year we added 60 new chickens to the flock, and for the first part of their lives
they lived in the shop, then in a wagon train of their own sort they were moved to the chicken
house to live in their own room inside.
Complete with water, food and shelter.
While they continue to grow they will stay inside, protected from whatever may be waiting
for them outside.
And for good reason, while these little ones are getting used to their new habitat, our
older chickens, the ones that produce eggs for us now are enjoying the spring weather.
While the days last longer the chickens get braver.
During the winter months they are eager to get back inside to the warmth of the chicken
house but during warmth of the spring they are out exploring and often getting them inside
is a fight.
Its this time of year that disaster usually strikes and it doesn’t take long before
a predator finds our flock and begins picking them off, one by one.
When you have 50 or so chickens, its hard to see them go missing.
They tend to spread out, they don’t flock together but soon it becomes apparent that
something bad is happening.
Even with the danger of a hungry predator coming around, the new chickens in the chicken
house still need to come outside.
They are getting bigger by the day, and they can’t stay cooped up all the time.
They need to get out but still be safe and that’s where a chicken run comes into play.
The chicken house is divided into halves, each half has a door that leads to the outside.
One leaves for free range chickens and the other leads into the chicken run, where the
chickens have some protection from whatever is hunting them.
Over the winter, the weight of snow will damage the chicken run somewhat, and after a few
minutes of repair and checking all of the fence for holes, for either something to escape,
or something else to get in we can call the chicken run safe for habitation and let the
chickens have access to the outside.
For the first time in their lives, they can cautiously move out into the world, the big
bad dangerous world.
As for our predator, hunting the area nightly, we finally have an ID.
A small fox, who has been sneaking in every night.
The chickens have taken to living in the barn for some protection but even then, she still
moves through the flock and does her damage.
Traps are set, which do no good.
A fox is worst case scenario for us and when it comes to predators of the ranch, a fox
is probably the most smart, cunning and sneaky of the bunch.
As she moves through the pasture with a pup in tow it’s easy to realize that she, just
like the ranch, is trying to provide for her family but we can’t allow her to provide
for hers but taking away from ours.
Eventually though she is trapped and she will be relocated by out county officials who take
care of these sort of things, hopefully taking her far far away from here.
They also found her den and relocated her pups as well.
This doesn’t chance our plan with the new chickens however, because where this one fox
there are a hundred and for now we are playing it safe.
Other predators are welcome to stay, like the cats of the barn who keep mice and other
smaller predators away.
Or the badger who dines on prairie dogs.
The ranch is an ecosystem and we all work together, just stay away from the chickens
and we will get along just fine.
When we talk about how smart a fox is it reminds me of a story my dad told me when I was a
kid.
A young cowboy is out checking and repairing fence, when all of a sudden, he realizes he
dropped his hammer somewhere.
You can’t get much fencing done without a hammer and he frantically goes back down
the fence line to look for it.
If he doesn’t get this fence done today then the boss is going to chew his butt and
he might even lose this dream job he’s been wanting for years.
So, he works his way back down the fence, he spies a fox walking toward him.
With his hammer in her mouth, she walks up and drops the hammer and the young cowboy
looks up at the sky and proclaims, “it’s a miracle”!
"Not really," said the fox.
"Your name is written right there on the handle."
Thanks for coming along with me today, with the ranch safe for another day we move on
with our chores like collecting eggs from our few remaining chickens.
But we will rebuild, that’s a given, it’s the human spirit and just that bull headedness
that comes with the hat.
Please subscribe and continue with us, branding is just around the corner.
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Have a great week and thanks for joining us in our Wyoming life.