Babie of all Sorts

Once my brother, Bob, said that when he moved to a new community the first thing he looked for in housing was a neighborhood where his children would be safe. That set me to thinking. It is what most parents do and it is what animal parents do.

We can learn a lot from animals. If you want to learn about parenting watch horses. A mare can be absolutely vicious when her foal is threatened. We work with our horses every day. Each mare knows us and have come to trust us. We feed them twice a day in their individual stalls and as they eat we brush and groom them. Rarely do they ever get testy with us. But when the foal comes we know we had better watch ourselves.

A horse, cow or any other animal mother is vicious when it comes to protecting her young. Who taught them to be that way? No body did. It is their nature. God instilled that mother instinct into those mothers just as he instilled the mother instinct in humans.

But back to the neighborhoods that brother chose for his family. We have discovered in searching out information to help control our coyote population on my farm that coyotes also look for and find safe neighborhoods for their family. They have a pack instinct. Several females will share the same den to raise their pups.

Bob discovered such a den last week when he was running the bush hog. Coyotes seem to not worry about the tractor and bush hog for some reason. My dog Erika was following him and she was instrumental in drawing them out of the den. They chased her at first and then started playing with her. She didn't seem to provide a threat to them so they accepted her. Not good. She doesn't go out with the tractors anymore.

In looking at their den, Bob discovered a couple of things about it. It is impossible to slip up on them because it is positioned where an intruder can be seen no matter how it is approached. The wind on my farm is really funny. It seems to come from one direction in one location and the hollows act like a chimneys. In other locations on the farm, the wind comes from another direction. That too hampers hunting coyotes.

My nephew has gone to many web sites to get hunting tips. On one site he learned that if the pups are eliminated the parents move on to a better location. So we may have to approach it from that angle.

Now you may say, "Why bother them. They don't do anything to you." Well yes they do. We lost a calf last year and could find any reason for losing it except for coyotes. It totally disappeared from the field and all we found of it was some bones from the legs. We heard a pack of coyotes going for a kill on a neighbors farm recently. It was a hair raising, bone chilling sound. Eventually all was quiet. We knew that whatever hapless animal had fallen victim was dead and was now a meal for a pack of hungry coyotes.

But it is interesting that the adults move on if their pups are killed. That is animals protecting their young. That is their way. This sprig's litter may be gone but they are doing what they can to survive. They like my brother are moving their family to a safer neighborhood.

Horses also have a way of protecting their young. God gave them a different means but to the same end. If they even think there is danger they run. They may not see it or hear it but something in the wind makes them nervous, a rabbit moves in the bush, a dog comes up behind them and their instincts tell them it is a mountain lion about the pounce. So they run and the foal doesn't know why they are running but it runs too. One horse sees another running and away it goes too. They are looking for a better neighborhood.

Cows are like the neighborhood watch. I saw all the cows running at some buzzards last year when there was a young calf just born. Black headed buzzards are a terrible threat to baby animals. They will go after a live calf, foal, fawn or whatever and start eating it alive. So the neighborhood watch goes into gear and the bull and cows will run the intruders off. With coyotes there are so many the herd may not be able to protect all of the young ones. So they are easier prey for a pack of hungry coyotes.

It is so remarkable how God made each of us so differently but much the same. Most parents will sacrifice their own lives to protect their children. Parents will run into burning houses, jump into cold rivers, fight vicious animals or whatever it takes to protect their young.

May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.

Regards

Mary

All things bold and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.