Meet Betty

Dare I admit it? Okay, with hand over mouth, saying it real fast so maybe you won't hear, "We got another dog". Yes, in spite of all the heartbreak of losing one dog after another the past few years, Betty arrived on Saturday. She is a lovely pit bull, the older sister of Eulalia, our latest puppy who died a few months ago. She is 18 months old, and has an appointment with the docs on Monday to be spayed and get her shots.

Betty is amazing. She responds to the slightest touch of the training lead, is not a barker or a howler, and is extremely loving. We only kept her tied for two days, because we discovered she stays inside her fenced yard area, and is quite content to be running around in there.

She also likes a good roll in the snow.

Escape from Alcatraz?

(weaving the panels together with pretty blue baling twine)

I went out to feed the chickens this morning and looked up to find a gaping hole in the chicken wire. After picking my jaw up off the ground, I looked down for tracks but found none. Except my own. And I know I didn't rip a hole in the chicken coop. I counted chickens, all there. No stray feathers to indicate a kill. So something tried to get in, and luckily didn't succeed. Probably a coyote.

(my fancy repair - no more escape hatch)

Let me explain that this is a maximum security chicken coop. The henhouse door is double locked. The yard walls are 8 feet high, surrounded by 2 foot steel panels around the bottom, as a result of dog attacks several years ago. The only thing missing is the poultry netting across the top, and now that an occasional hen flies the coop, that will be next. There are a few spots where the panels of netting were not wired together, but that is done now. Too bad, it was easy access for feeding. Now I'll have to actually open the door and fight back chickens waiting to get out.

(fat, happy chickens)

So apparently a coyote took a running jump and hit the netting at about 6 feet up and ripped it open but didn't make it in. I've heard of such gymnastics, but never experienced it til now. Thanking God that that was the worst of it, and hoping it doesn't get to the point I have to camp out with the rifle to keep them away. Hope they don't start digging underground tunnels next.