Wednesday, September 8, 2004

Sidesaddle on an ATV, or, My life as a dog: I am my own Border Collie We spend several hours getting water to the troughs in the new field. One of the holding tanks was empty and we had to transfer the pipes to a different source higher up in the woods. My friend drove the ATV over rocks and across gulleys; I sat behind him (wishing I'd worn a sports bra...). Lots of jumping on and off to open and close gates. We get them moving. I cover the left flank. Nothing to it. But note the UFO monitoring our progress. First goal: across the old field and through the corner gate. They bunched up at the opening and didn't want to go through, so I got to run from side to side to keep them from doubling back while my friend sat in the new field waiting for them on the ATV. Finally they got the idea and passed through. But we're not through. We have to walk them up to the new water source--the troughs we filled earlier--so they know where it is. Made it. The last task was to set up a new self-feeding station on the fence line for the two guard dogs, strange creatures who believe they're sheep and seem to be half wild. This rancher had a lot of lamb losses this year, so the guard donkey wasn't much help. (You may spot him in the foregoing trough picture.) The dogs are a recent acquisition and still very young. Personally, I think the situation screams for my 5-years-unemployed guard llamas. They're bored to tears, keening for sheep to guard. Maybe next year. It was a lot of fun. I'm burned up, not being a great fan of hats. Anyway, here's another thing I know how to do. 5:23:53 PM    comment []