I drove home today through absolute clouds of dragonflies. Never in my life have I seen such tremendous numbers of dragonflies. I'm not talking about 5 or 6 crossing my path. I'm talking about hundreds and hundreds of them. In particular, as I drove home along the gravel road that goes to my house (about 2 miles worth), there were just so many I could barely believe my eyes. Do dragonflies swarm? They were flying low over the road, high over the road, into my car, around my car....everywhere. It was truly bizarre. There were a lot of birds around too, gorging themselves on the dragonflies.
I got home and decided to go out on the back porch, risking being buzzed by dragonflies, so that I could take some pictures of them. They were all on the move, so all the pictures I got are "in passing," but the fact that I could sit on the steps and actually take pictures of passing dragonflies should tell you how many there were! Not the greatest pictures - they move fast! I had to shoot, crop and enlarge, but still, they are definitely dragonflies!
During my dragonfly mania, I glanced over at the approaching chickens, ducks and geese, who clearly thought it was my duty to feed them at that particular time...(so I did)...
...and then I glanced over at the sheep, who.....WAIT A SECOND!!!
Even after a long day of school and work, I can still determine that sheep who are located OUTSIDE of the fenced area are a significant deviation from normal operating protocols. A rapid grain-administration protocol was immediately required. Sheep are so gullible sometimes.
Whew! Disaster averted!!Miss Marshmallow says: Why don't they all just come when you call them, like I do?
(see how much bigger she is than her brother (to her right))
All sheep safely contained. Breathe deeply....
7 comments:
Wow, look at Marshmallow! She looks so great! My chicks rush me whenever I go outside. They seem to think it is always feeding time.
Wow, amazing about the dragonflies!
Today my neighbor came pounding on my door all in a panic, "Your chickens are out!"
I assured her that this was perfectly normal but, she still seemed quite worried. "My cat will get them!"
It took me a few minutes of explaining and having her into my yard to watch her cat 'pretend' to stalk the hens, then run like a bat outta hades when they so much as clucked at her. I then told her that the chickens are generally supervised when out of the coop and she seemed quite relieved.
I almost want to tell her that we are getting a goat, just to totally freak her out. Would that be wrong?
You're too funny! Love the "deviant sheep" label. That would be a great name for a band. Or you could just print up t-shirts, with a photo of Miss Marshmallow in a diaper. I think those would sell pretty darn well!
I also had an escapee yesterday. Chicory,our yearling goat, got out of her pen and opened the pigs gate. Fortunately the pigs weren't interested in going anywhere.
I see you chose not to inform your neighbor about how chickens gang up on cats. Our barn cat, Bibbs, was hanging off the chicken wire in the run last night with a mouse clenched in her teeth. She'd come into the coop with me to hunt mice and Chicory barreled in after me. The chickens ran for the run and seeing I wasn't protecting the cat formed a circle underneath her. After removing our overly helpful goat from the coop, I rescued the cat.
Wish I'd been there with you to see the swarm of dragonflies. Nature and animals are the best entertainment of all.
I get "attacked" by the birds every time I step out. First the guineas rush and fly over sqwuaking and yelling at me, then the turkey wobble as fast as they can go and get under my feet to trip me up. The chickens wait patiently at the coop for the others to do their job of convincing me to feed them then they take up posts in a wide circle so that I have to toss feed everywhere!
Glad you got your sheep back in :)
That was so funny, Claire!!! I just have 1 cat to attempt to wrangle - I can't imagine school, work, and a farm of critters!!!
Nancy
what a strange occurrence! I've never seen more than a few dragonflies together. And your sheep act just like my goats! Fun Blog. Thanks!
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