The scurs were banking on Monday and Tuesday being April, not February. They should know better in Minnesota. Which month do we want to emulate this week, boys and girls? Starting Wednesday, mostly clear with highs near 50 and lows in the lower 30s. Partly cloudy on Thursday with a slight chance of a morning shower. Highs again near 50 and lows around 30. Partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy on Friday with slight chance of an afternoon shower and a good chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 50 and lows around 35. Mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers. Highs in the mid to upper 40s and lows around 35. Partly cloudy on Sunday becoming mostly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower. Highs around 45 and lows near 35. Cloudy on Monday with a moderate chance of a rain and/or snow shower. Highs again near 50 and lows in the lower 40s. Mostly cloudy on Tuesday with a good chance of showers. Highs in the mid 40’s and lows around 30. The normal high for April 6th is 52 and the normal low is 31. We will see just over 13 hours of daylight on the 6th, roughly the same as we experience on September 2nd. The scurs are going out on a limb here and predicting Norwood Teague should track down a C-squad basketball coach to replace Tubby Smith by then.
After coming in like a roaring lion, March has gone out with more of a whimper. We managed to tally 18.8” of snow, which compared to the SROC’s 18.9”. The March average at the SROC is 10.2”. As far as total precip, when snow melt is factored in, we received 3.41” at the ranch and 3.55” at the SROC compared to 2.49” average there. It doesn’t mean the drought is over, but it is the second month in a row with above-normal precipitation and we remain above average since January 1. It should be very interesting to see what their available soil moisture in the top 5’ of soil reading says for early April.
While some still exists in patches, much of our snow left last week and few were sorry to see it go. Finally one really has to work at it to slip and fall on the ice. The remnants of all the grit spread to prevent falls serve as a reminder where those slick patches were on the trail to the barn. Even the mud has subsided to some extent, meaning the frost is either out or down far enough to allow the water to soak in. Poking around the yard with the frost divining rod (electric fencepost) one can find spots where the frost is probably nonexistent. Other places, such as those where the snow just left, it’s still frozen right at the surface. At the SROC, where they actually have real tools with which to measure such things, the frost read 0 – 4” and 11 – 19”, apparently due to the thawing from this past week. Ice is still very much a factor on area lakes although shallow wetlands such as the one at the ranch have completely thawed. The .21” of rainfall from Saturday probably helped.
Most of the lambs are now on the ground save for those from a couple of straggler ewes. We religiously check to see if they’ve arrived yet, to no avail. They’ll get here eventually although sooner would be preferable to later. Some of the first lambs could be weaned already in about a week. At 35 lbs., lord knows they’re big enough. It would just be nice if the snow would melt off the fence enough so we could get the wires back up and charge it. That would allow us to let all the ewes with lambs run outside so they could get more fresh air. Having to keep them cooped up inside really burns through the bedding and makes it tough for the lambs to cut loose as they love to do. Many people have asked if they’re out running yet at dusk so they can drive by to watch. Even one of Al Batt’s famed Bruces inquired about them the other day. Expect traffic delays soon.
The birds always serve as a good barometer for what the seasons are doing. The red-winged blackbirds are usually the first to arrive and they did so on March 28th. Soon after a couple of meadowlarks were spotted west of the former pygmy goat farmer’s place. A couple rooster pheasants were also observed that same day sparring out behind the barn. There have even been some hens appearing since then heading for the thicket where Little Jerry’s descendant holds court. Last year at this time the robins had been back for several weeks already. The ground was thawed so they were able to get at their favorite food, the earthworms. This year when they arrived at the ranch, it was the 29th and the ground was essentially still frozen. They had little choice but to attack the Indian Magic crabapple tree, which they did almost immediately. Fortunately it was loaded last year fall and it retains its fruit through spring. Something that has been rather unique this season has been the large numbers of juncos in the yard at the same time as large groups of robins. There are still some redpolls here too as of April 2nd so one has to wonder if Old Man Winter might still have one more trick up his sleeve.
Another skunk has graced our farmyard once again. Holed up in the granary, same as last time, only this one has been evading my trapping efforts. I thought perhaps I’d found a secret weapon by baiting with the eggs previously. This one figured out when the eggs aren’t frozen, digging under the trap satisfies its needs. Rummaging through the refrigerator I spied a container of pickled herring that had been pushed to the back and hidden behind other items. It was funny colored and had a little mold on it. Perfect! I baited the trap with it in anticipation that my skunk woes would soon be over. Haven’t caught any skunks yet, but sure have had one hell of a time with the Swedes and Norwegians.
See you next week…real good then.