The scurs with the Weather Eye from the ’74 Gremlin were pretty close last week with some warmth coming out of the weekend to usher in the start of the mud season. Will it continue to be muddy rut season or ankle twisting season? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of evening rain showers. Highs in the mid-30’s with lows in the mid-20’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy becoming mostly sunny with a modest chance of forenoon snow. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the mid-teens. Mostly sunny on Friday with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of evening snow. Highs in the upper 30’s with lows in the mid-20’s. Mostly cloudy for Sunday with a moderate chance for a rain/snow mix. Highs in the upper 30’s with lows in the low 20’s. Monday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of snow. Highs in the low 30’s with lows in the low 20’s. Mostly cloudy Tuesday with flurries possible. Highs in the upper 20’s with lows in the mid-teens. March 1st marks the first day of autumn (in the southern hemisphere). It also brings with it the first Full Moon of the month. The normal high for March 1st is 33 and the normal low is 16. The scurs will be putting the final touches on what they hope will be their last snowman of the season.
It is time for the first Full Moon of the month. The bright light of the moon shining in my eyes through the window recently was a dead giveaway. This Full Moon generally goes by the Full Worm Moon as the robins return soon once the ground is thawed to harvest the earthworms. It also is known as the Full Crow Moon, the Full Snow Crust Moon, the Full Sap Moon and the Full Lenten Moon marking the last Full Moon of the winter. The Ojibwe noted this as the Full Snow Crust Moon while the Sioux called it the Moon when Buffalo Drop their Calves. At the ranch it is known as the Sleepless Nights Moon when countless trips to the lambing barn are made. It is also known as the Long Afternoon Nap Moon.
More snow last week continued to add to our total for the month. So far in February we’ve had 12.1” in greater Bugtussle and 12.3” at the ranch. Normal at the SROC is about 9” for the month, so we’re slightly above that. The liquid equivalent for the month at the SROC is right at an inch. At the ranch we’ve had 1.01” and in Bugtussle proper 1.09”. Some say you can’t really measure snow precisely and that is true to a point. However, a measurement can be taken using the same criteria at each location. As long as everyone is consistent with their sampling methodology, it’s amazing how closely the amounts are between locations for any given snowfall event or for a month for that matter. Things do tend to average out.
The bird population in the yard waxes and wanes with the weather. Ahead of the snows and afterwards, activity increases significantly. The pheasants continue to make daily pilgrimages to their ear corn feeder. This past week it’s been mainly roosters and their breeding plumage is becoming more and more vivid with each day. When the sun shines it really makes them pop against the white backdrop. Likewise with the male cardinals whose spring song can be recognized as we go in and out of the lambing barn early in the morning. Last but not least a few small flocks of geese flew over first on the evening of the 26th and again the morning of the 27th. Not sure they where they were coming from, but if they were looking for open water locally it’ll be a while. According to Betsy’s dad, the ice thickness remains at about 30” on area lakes.
The ewes are on a mission to get as many lambs on the ground as possible before spring. As opposed to last year, they generally have chosen the colder days in which to perform the miracle of birth. It’s led to some chilled lambs and consequently some bottle lambs. We were skating along pretty well up until the most recent cold snap. A few bottle lambs for short duration are tolerable. If they’re decent stock and trying their darnedest to survive, one feels obligated to give them a hand. The bottle lambs also provide an excellent opportunity for kids young and old to feed and hold them while the lambs are still at their absolute cutest. As another lambing season wears on and we as shepherds age however, the novelty tends to wear off. That’s why it’s a good idea to convince parents of the little kids who visit that they really should have some. Or better yet, several.
While there have been bumps in the road, lambing season has had its share of small victories too. The ewe with the triplets has cared for them magnificently. That’s the kind of livestock you’d like to clone, the kind that don’t require much maintenance to the point you hardly know they’re there. Another small victory came in the form of a buck lamb born Sunday afternoon that didn’t want to get up off the deck. It got chilled to the point its mouth was cold so we brought it in the house. Milking the ewe out and tube feeding brought it around to the point that by 10:30 that night we took it back out to his mother. That’s always a gamble, but one that sometimes needs to be taken. The ewe decided still to claim the lamb and when Mrs. Cheviot checked on it in the wee hours of the morning, its mouth was warm and he was up nursing on his own. Another miracle on ice!
In the meantime, lambing continues to offer daily events much like the Olympics. Much of it is done on the ice and requires some level of physical activity. Events such as uphill feed pan hiking, bale tossing accuracy, precision water toting, 4-tine hay forking, snow piling, along with speed ear tagging, tail docking and immunizing round out a typical day. I’d like to try one of those overeating disease shots just to see if they really work. I wonder if that’d be considered doping?
I got a chance to use the tractor with recently attached cab not once but twice this past week. The Schwan’s man was supposed to come on Friday so I kicked it into gear after chores to get the yard cleaned out. As luck would have it, after I was done a text alerted me the delivery was rescheduled for Sunday due to the snow. No biggy as there was plenty of it to contend with. Then there was an encore snowfall performance Saturday complete with wind and drifting. Sunday was breezy and cooler than advertised. It didn’t matter as I was in a cab with the heater on. Even on the low setting, it was warm enough so I didn’t need my jacket other than when moving vehicles. The heater fan only spit out a single moth cocoon this time. I just smiled as I added to the already substantial snow piles, glad to be out of the elements. Next scheduled Winter Farm Olympic event: Nocturnal round bale spearing.
See you next week…real good then.