Victory

9:20 AM, 4 February 2010
Temperature 45 F, mildly overcast

Up at 8. Had managed to round up all but six ducks by bedtime last night and lured the barn cats back into their more confined space through the traditional means: food.

This morning's farm chores were a bit arduous. There was one more duck out, making a total of seven. Managed to get six of them back in when feeding the others; changed the order of the routine slightly so that after giving the rabbits fresh water I took hay out to the sheep in the poultry pasture first, then the other pasture, and only after giving them hay were the poultry fed. This worked very well as the geese, with fewer sheep interfering with their feeding time, had less interest in sounding the alarm for the lone duck still out. Unfortunately, the duck wouldn't let me get anywhere near him despite repeated attempts from different angles, and showed little sign of being interested in food. The grass and bugs were quite good enough for him, thank you.

Finished up with all the other animals including the barn cats. Slightly's sniffles seem to come and go; not sure he has sniffles or allergies at this point. Let them through to the rest of the workshop and picked up their food so as to have an incentive to get them back in later on. They were disappointed I didn't come hunt and play with them, but I don't fit in the same spaces they can, and I still had a duck to catch.

Used some of the half-destroyed fence netting to make a right angled bracket and opened the pasture just a little, along with about half a cup of the rabbits' alfalfa and seed and dried fruit mix. This enticed the duck to move in the general direction of the bracket, although more than 2/3 of the way down the fenceline. Made a wide circuit to come around towards its rear; the moment I began angling in it began waddling quickly - toward the bracket, mercifully. When it hit the bracket it went in and there was a mighty cry of 'Victory!'

It sounds very Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, but unlike the coyote's Acme plans, it worked. Also discovered that though the netting I used was pretty trashed, it still will hold a current. Always check to make sure the fence is off before putting new fencing too close to it.

We've been having a false spring in direct contrast to the couple of deep-frozen weeks we had in December. In December we were breaking chunks of ice out of the sheep trough the thickness of a grown man's waist. Today we have small woolly bear caterpillars making their way across the grass. It won't last, of course, but we're all enjoying it while it does.