But I'm for Love, and I'm for Happiness...

Our internet connection at the house has been down for a few days so I have been unable to add new posts to the blog. The photo below was from Tuesday. Sissy was checking the nest for an egg and encountered this big snake in the coop. Since we have lived here I have seen dozens of these big chicken snakes. I don't have anything against snakes per se. Normally I leave the non-poisonous snakes alone. I believe they help control mice and rats. 

At times we have had a lot of Copperheads. I don't like them and will kill on sight, because they are totally camouflaged in our environment. Among leaves you almost can't see them. They are usually small and like to bite people on the finger when they reach down and grab something off the ground. The snake below was in the corner of our garage last summer.

I don't consider myself a cat guy. Like Bocephus, "I'm against cats in the house." However, when we have a good cat we usually don't see snakes or have problems with moles. We need to get another cat. Maybe when we get back from Germany we can get one. This was our most recent cat that the kids called "Orange Kitty." 

Beavers are another problem I have had since moving to the farm. I was not worried about them when we moved here, but it did not take long for them to do some damage to the trees in the upper end of my pond. But it was when they started damming up my spillway that I had to draw the line. They can pack it full in one night and raise the level of the pond and endanger the dam from overtopping. Its very difficult to remove their concoction of mud, weeds, and sticks. I removed 5 the first year and couple of years later I got rid of 4 more. After about a 3  year absence they came back this year. One thing I learned from the first year is to get them out of the pond while they are fresh and have G-man take them far away from the house for the coyotes. The photo below is one of the 3 I have shot this year. There is still one lurking out there. She is very elusive. If I can ever catch her out of the water when I have my gun (00 Buckshot) I may can get her. She is the smartest one I have encountered. I have really just hoped she'd get the message and leave, but she's still out there working.