If a tree falls in the forest...

[Leigh Costello]

I am sure you all have heard a tree fall. I am sure some of you have even burned a pile of brush on your property at one time or another. I am also sure a few have even had storm damaged trees that get hung up in healthy trees causing a healthy tree to die. But, have you ever burned brush from a storm damaged tree and had another crash to the ground a few hundred feet away from you? Which also caused a flock of turkeys to fly down from their roost and land within 20 feet of you? And have your fearless dog run like a rocket up the hill and hide leaving you at the mercy of the turkeys? Did I mention this happened an hour ago and the dog is still hiding? And that my hubby is going to be sleeping in the guest room tonight because he thought it was funny watching me protect myself with a rake and an empty thermos? Oh, the humor in the situation is priceless, I'm sure, and I am sure I will laugh tomorrow. But right now, I could care less if the dog stays out all night.:p

[Perry Holbrook]

Please say you have a video!!!

[Bob Rufener]

Sounds like a winning entry for youtube or America's Funniest Home Videos. You couldn't have scripted this any better. Also, could you send some of those turkeys my way? I've been out hunting and haven't seen any.

[mark page]

Thats a great one you'll never forget Leigh. Reminds me of a similiar experience in the early '80's when out coon hunting when fur prices were high in north central Missouri where I'm from. Was about 1:30-2:00 AM out and a thunder snow came up. Was lightning, thundering, raining, sleeting, and snowing at same time. Wind blowing hard enough you couldn't see for your eyes watering. The dog and I were heading back to the truck to give it up. Well I stepped into and flushed a medium-large covey of quail, and due to the weather, those birds were sitting tight. I dropped my rifle, lost my glasses, and somehow knocked the bulb out of my wheat light. Add to this that on the other side of the fence was an old late 1800's rural graveyard. When the dog and I finally got composed, found all the missing gear, and made it to the truck in pitch black, I found that the dog had pee'd all over himself and was a mess, (and I'm not too big a man to deny it) I had too.:o

[Belinda Barfield]

Leigh, that is just too funny! I had three fearless dogs at one point in my life. I was living at the back of a cornfield. My drive came through the middle of it, with about 20 feet of grass on either side. Late one summer afternoon we had a pretty nasty storm brewing. I went out with a glass of lemonade and sat down on the front steps to watch the storm come in. As always, my trusty side kicks came to sit with me - a beagle, a three legged Golden Retriever, and an English Setter. We sat for a while just enjoying the cool breeze ahead of the storm when suddenly, out of nowhere, with no thunder for warning, a bolt of lightning struck the ground maybe ten or 15 feet right in front of us. I have no idea how, but the next thing I know I'm on my butt in the middle of the living room floor, covered in lemonade, with three large "brave" dogs all trying to sit in my lap at once. I'm sure they were trying to protect me. :D

BTW, I'm guessing your dog isn't a bird dog.

[Stephen Beckham]

So I guess the answer to the original question about can you hear the tree when it falls would likely be no in this case - there was too much other commotion going on to hear the tree?!?!?

So what is the best kind of thermos for shielding purposes? :rolleyes:

[Leigh Costello]

Ah, the difference a day makes. Hubby reminded me of my graceful actions of turkey defense right as we were entering church this morning. I could not stop giggling all through the Mass. Needless to say, my fearless protector (part Pomeranian, Chihuahua and something larger) is back in her crate for the night tonight. And the turkeys are, no doubt, still huddled in the trees making sure that there are no more incidents like last night.

If only I had a video - or a even a photo....

As for the thermos, well, it's in the garden area, I think, at least that is the general direction of the final fling and a flurry of cuss words. Since I have yet to even approach my gardening project list, it might be weeks before my thermos is found. :D

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

The turkeys wanted a piece of you?

Gotta say: I'm with the hubby.

[Dennis Peacock]

Too Funny Leigh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g69/sawdustar/emoticons/funnypost.gif

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g69/sawdustar/emoticons/staff_muttley.gif

[Leigh Costello]

Well, now that some time has passed and the trees have leafed out and my home-made nature trail is complete, I walk nearly every night for fun and fitness. Mostly, I dawdle, pull or dig out poison ivy ( I'm not allergic to poison ivy but my sisters are ), trim low hanging branches, etc. Sometimes hubby joins me (this is when I do my fitness walking - he is very fit and to keep up with him is a workout). We really enjoy our new improved nature trail.

Apparantly, so do the beasts of nature. Now, I am a very brave woman if I have a handtool or other assorted items in hand (Bud or Busch). Last evening the sun was shining and the potential for a beautiful sunset was very high. Off to the trail I went.

About 50 feet from the house is where the turkey attack occurred so I always am very attentive at this point. This is also where the trail begins. I heard a fearsome noise. I didn't have any prospective weapons in hand (I did, however, have a stiff drink later). So I carefully proceeded with my brain screaming flee, run, duck, don't go! I noticed that our horse was agitated, but that could have been because one of the attack turkeys was eating out of his grain bin. Then I saw something run into the woods to my left. Never saw clearly what it was. So I decided to make the turkey leave the horse food alone. He (saw the beard) did and went into the woods.

Deciding that brushing my 1200 lb. horse was enough of nature, I got the brushes out and began grooming him. Our horse is 30 years old, he doesn't like to be groomed. But, I bribed him with horse treats. While he kept a sharp lookout, I got to brushing him. Suddenly, he rears up and turns and hides behind me! Now, being armed with a brush, and a horse behind me, I was Sheena Queen of the Forest.

First, the attack turkey charged out of the woods followed by what I thought was the local tomcat. Wrong. Then the dang turkey ran into the paddock and out the other end. The cat thing followed. I just felt like calling for my mommy (may she rest in peace). Once the animals left my immediate vicinity, there was a terrible commotion. Caterwauling and gobbling. Sumac swaying and assorted small trees moving. Then all was still. For a moment. From across the paddock, I watched as the bobcat (later identified by various internet searches) carried his supper into the woods.

Calmly, I turned to my trusty steed, gave him a last treat and retreated to the paved county road for my walk. Sometimes a nature trail is just too full of nature.

[Belinda Barfield]

In the middle of reading your post I stopped to call your local Game Warden to report those killer attack turkeys that have been plaguing you. However, by the end of the post I had to call him back and tell him that Mother Nature is taking care of the problem.

Bit of advice . . . you need to start carrying a gun so you can fire a shot to scare the critters away, or fire a couple of rounds to signal your need for help! :D

I wish you hadn't gotten the poo scared out of you, but it sure makes for entertaining reading. Thanks for sharing!

[Leigh Costello]

Belinda,
We have a purple paint law in Missouri that is basically a way to keep trespassers and hunters out of private lands. I am surrounded by purple painters and the result is a large variety of wildlife in yards and anywhere else available. I do carry my cell phone, but the picture I took was too blurry - probably an earthquake or something ;). I do love nature and when I walk I try to make noise. Or I sing, which pretty much chases even humans away.:D Hubby says if I carried a gun, and actually remembered to fire it, I would hit a hawk or something and get locked up. He's probably right.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Enjoyed the story(s). Not too long ago a coworker down the hall related a somewhat similar story from his high school days. He and a friend had been doing something and they got back to his house just as the sun was getting low. His mother asked them to go go get the mail as she hadn't picked it up that day - the mailbox was about a quarter mile from the house. About halfway there James' friend turned to him and said, "Something's watching us." James just figured it was because the light was getting low his friend was getting a little spooky. They got the mail and started back. Still with enough light to see well, at the spot his friend had made the comment they looked down in the road and saw cat tracks about five inches across. James said it was a shame no one was timing the rest of the trip back to the house because it would have been a world record.

Nothing nearly so dramatic for me. I went coon hunting one night and walking in the dark across the neighbor's pasture I got the feeling for no good reason something was "there". I decided to risk flipping the light on. I lit up a possum no more than two feet from where I was standing and just at that time he looked up and hissed at me. Lost the urge to coon hunt for the rest of the night. :eek:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I elk hunted for about 20 years. Twice while hunting in the snow, I have come upon tracks I'd made earlier to find bear tracks over the top of my old tracks.

We are seeing more and more mountain lions and now wolves. Mother nature.......The National Forests here have a lot of camp sites / camp grounds off the general beaten path. More and more stories are printed in the local paper where campers have either witnessed or experienced the loss of dogs while camping to mountain lions.

[Clara Koss]

my goodness....i am soooo happy to live in south florida and have only to worry about alligators!!!!! AND we all DO carry guns around here for the 2 legged scarry things...0:>)

[Judy Kingery]

Leigh, now that is truly priceless, very well told I might add! My husband and I found your account so incredibly funny - and also - well sure; glad nobody was hurt!

Far as the possum account or being a tiny bit surprised; we bought a property and I was floating seams on drywall my husband replaced and we rather inherited a cat over there at the place we fixed to rent out, so I fed the cat out on a covered porch, oh she had a bed out on the covered porch, little pet door into the porch, warm weather, (we have dogs and so the cat really wouldn't have quite gotten along here).. I told my husband, man, do cats really eat that much? Good grief!

So I walked in to feed one night, turned on the light on the covered porch and some really waaaayyyyy fat possum looked up at me from eating the cat food in the bowl and and waddled out the little pet door. Made me laugh. I told Glen well, spose long as the cat has enough food, I don't mind sharing with the possum.

Thanks for sharing your story, I really enjoyed it! Take care and best to you,

Jude

[Richard M. Wolfe]

'Nother possum story, Jude. Well, two of them. I came driving in one night (I live in town) and as I pulled in the driveway and headed up into the carport and spooked an animal beside the house. It ran under the carport ahead of me, realized that was wrong and turned around and ran back beside the pickup. I got a good look at it....a coal black possum.

A friend used to live in town about six blocks from me. He went outside to put trash in the trashcan for pickup and looked in it to see a possum there. Turned the can over and shooed the possum away. About a week later the same thing happened. He said he had no idea how the possum got in the can. Several days later he came out with a bag and sure enough, the possum was back. Enough was enough. He dumped the trash in on the possum, put the lid on and set it beside the curb. No more possum.

Ken, here in central Texas varied wildlife is making a comeback. Where I grew up as much tromping over the country as I did I saw a total of two deer. They are all over the place now. If someone as much as saw a coyote, much less shot one, when I was a kid it would have been news for six months. They are so thick now people are losing dogs and cats as well as small livestock to them. They aren't plentiful but there are badgers here now - don't know where they came from. Jude, I have an acquaintance close to Cross Plains who says he has to take a dog into the vet about once a year to get porcupine quills out of it, and I know of one that was run over on the edge of town. Beavers are a nuisance...cutting down trees and damming creeks. Used to be all I saw were coons, possums and armadillos.

[Judy Kingery]

Richard, also enjoyed what you had to say. Although I've not ever seen a black possum? Interesting; the few I've seen here are mostly greyish/brown. Interesting about the porcupines, haven't seen any here. Course doesn't mean they're not here, just haven't seen any and our pups are city pups, huge back yard, doggie door, so they're inside at night pretty much.

Certainly you're right about that, greater variety of wildlife or a proliferation. Our deer populations have surged, wet year and lots of off spring; then they had a 260 lb. mountain lion someone I guess hit it, killed it. Not sure when that was but fairly recently, within maybe the last month or so. I'd have to check to make certain, that's when the story hit anyway.

Not sure if they shot it for livestock predatory behavior? Or hit it on the highway, but a huge cat. That was in Stonewall County, about 30 miles outside Haskell, say Swenson area, W. Tx. We're about 60 miles South of there.

PS ah ok, checked it - it was hit and then I guess someone put it down. But the cat had been seen making off with a big steer the week before. Hmm.

Anyway, I appreciate what you had to say. Have a good one!

Jude

[Belinda Barfield]

A couple of years ago we had a stray cat that "took up" at our shop. We left food out for it, and like Judy, I was amazed at the amount of food that cat ate. Our offices were part of a large metal building. There was a storage area on top of the offices that was open to part of the shop area with access by stairs. One Monday morning I'm working away and keep hearing a funny noise. I look up, and in the air vent over my desk (covered by a gid panel) is what I thought was a mouse going around and around trying to get out. Turns out it was a baby possum. A very large female possum had discovered the cat food, taken up residence above our offices, given birth to six babies, chewed through the duct work of the AC system, and basicially was living high on the hog. Honey became a possum wrangler for about three or four weeks since we could only find one baby at a time. All babies, and mama are now residents of a local heavily wooded park.

We moved the business about a year and a half ago. The business next door is a bread company. Everyday they throws lots and lots of out of date goodies into their dumpster. We recently started seeing trash everywhere around the dumpster and could figure out what was going on . . . until last Friday. I worked later than usual. As I was locking the front door to head home something caught my eye. I turned to get a closer look and what did I see strolling across the parking lot but a large raccoon carrying a bag of powdered sugar coated mini donuts in its mouth!:eek: Now he comes by twice a day. He has a real fondness for Twinkies.

[Al Willits]

Great story, I'd laugh but last time I laughed at the wife I required stiches, so I'll just smile a lot....:)


Back about 1968 we were camping up in northern Minn and we had a rock punch a hole in the tranny inspection cover, made it back to the camp site, and hitch hiked back into town to get it repaired.

On the way back I caught a ride to about 4-5 miles from the campsite in a logging truck, he had to turn in a different direction so I started to walk the rest of the way.
This was a narrow road and the trees came to about 6 foot of the road, as I'm walking along daydreaming I noticed something was watching me, turned out to be a bear head sticking out of the trees.

Olympic runners aren't half as fast as I was that day, in about 48 seconds I'd covered the 4 miles back to camp.

They say that bears are as afraid of you as we are of them....ya maybe but he/she didn't look any where near as terrified as I was. :)

Al

[Jim Becker]

I wish our turkeys would come back...they rarely visit any more since a whole "roost" of McMansions went in across the street and beyond a short woods. The birds' normal grazing pathways have been disrupted. I used to enjoy seeing 20-25 of them come by as well as a nice group of five males that would hang out outside of my shop, supping on the sunflower seeds I'd give them. And there was the big tom that loved to admire himself in the chrome bumper that was on the Tundra I used to drive...he'd let me walk within a few feet of him as long as I was giving complements on his beautiful feathers...

Oh well, and so it goes...