Good News.
Yesterday we had lovely warm weather and I was happy to see activity around the entrances of all of the hives. I was really worried about my bees after the very sudden and extensive temperature plummet last week. The warm temperatures finally gave me a chance to put up the windbreak behind the hives. The wind blows in that direction about 95% of the time, so hopefully it will give them a break.
Bad News.
A few days ago, a bobcat got into our new turkey enclosure and killed all of my turkeys. The sprinkling of snow on the ground clearly identified the culprit as a big cat.
It was my fault in part that the cat was able to get in. The dumb turkeys wouldn't go into the very nice house we built for them to roost so that we could close them in at night. They would sit on the ground in the back corner of their pen. With the snow, I worried about them sitting on the cold ground, so I ran a piece of wood across the corner of their pen as a roost. I put the wood diagonally through the fence. What I didn't see, was the gap that the weight of the wood created. This was the only place the bobcat could have got into their pen and it proved fatal.
I really liked the turkeys. They're dumb and not friendly at all, but I found them so very interesting to watch! I loved listening to the jake's gobbling and the hen's cooing. I would like to replace them, but if I do, I think they will be kept safely in the barn until spring and then put into a VERY beefed up outside enclosure. I will probably keep them in their house for a couple of days so that they identify it as a roosting place and then they can be shut in at night.
What a sad turn of events.
