This is why I love my job!

I spent the better part of the day "at the office" planting soybeans. I got a field done that has
always been a rain jynx and the only problem was a broken shear bolt on the marker.

The field has half a dozen large terraces in it and runs up the side of a hill. Since buying the new
planter last year I have put it to no till to try and save some soil. I haven't gained on it as much as I
hoped, but with all of the rain this year it was bound to wash.

Anyway, without a disking to even them, those terraces are full of holes. Coyotes digging for
dinner, etc. I had one that fell between the marker and planter so on the next pass I clicked it back
to about 5th gear. With my luck it would be right where a row unit was. I was watching the hole on
my left and as it passed right by the front tire out popped a coyote pup. He was the cutest darn
thing. Only about a foot tall, he was probably three or four months old or so. The hole went right
between the duals so sure enough, a row unit bounced right over it. The planter had no more
gone over it than another pup pops out behind the planter and runs full out following his brother to
the timber about 75 yards away. Coyotes have really been a frustration, but those little suckers
made my day. They were so cute. I was hoping they would stop to look at me so I could get their
picture, but they kept on trucking to the trees. I mentioned outloud to myself that those little
buggers don't know how lucky they are. It could have been the disk or mower conditioner.
Between them and the deer at dusk, I was reminded why the hot hours are worth it.

Being able to work in nature is a real pleasure at times. I still love the smell of fresh hay or plowed ground. The yip of a coyote to its young. The beauty of an Hawk floating in the air currents. Yes we are blessed at times.

Had a couple coyotes watching me run the stalk smasher this spring. If I had a rifle with me I would have shot a deer for them. Regularly have 30-50 come out of the tree claim when we pull into that field.

Had a lot of hawks following me around while planting and strip tilling this spring. I was able to stop, get out my phone, start recording, and start moving again, before the one took off. I was a tractor length from it, dead ahead.

We are lucky to see and enjoy the wildlife.Downside is when farming 'activitys' kill them Like when you run a fawn through the swather.Like I did yesterday.

The hawks love to follow the swather. They are continually swooping down and catching rodents,snakes(really neat to watch the snake wiggle and writhe as he is carried off).They gorge themselves to where you wonder how they can still fly!

It's Cotton Tail Rabbits and field rats here. They set up shop in hay patches and when it's cutting time they scatter. Most make it, some don't.

Talking about what you like, I think birds of prey, Cooper Hawks in particular, are really beautiful. On fish eating Blue Herons and calf killing Black Buzzards, just the opposite feelings. When haying, a lot of times I'll have one or two work the field with me. Smart birds. They follow along maybe 75' above me and watch for rats and rabbits. You know they're up there as you can see their shadow. Amazing that they will snag one 2 rows over and stay put for me to come by with all the noise and motion of the tractor and cutter. Yes it makes your day.

In addition to the few hawks that I see, we have a bunch of really big crows that follow me around when I'm cutting hay. I love to watch them "walk" in the hay. They actually waddle along, looking for stuff. They just tickle me to watch them.

Tom in TN

Almost 20 years ago I was farming 290 acres in South carolina . Never plowed but disced heavily before beans, oats and corn. One year while discing I had a bald eagle for a companion for a week or so. He got lots of meat that year including rats, mice and one time a snake. Stayed with me the whole week.

Used to chop greenchop for the cows with a direct cut head. Every day about a half hour before I would chop, a red fox would come from across the road and mosey up the stone fence. She would be sitting on top of the hill waiting for me. She would fall in behind me an just sit patiently waiting for me to hook up the wagon and start chopping. She would kill four of the mice that came scurrying from out under the chopper. She would kill one, carry it along, drop it while she killed the next one, carry them both along, etc, until she killed four of them. She would then kill a fifth, eat it, and pick up the other four and head out. My wife said that she would see the fox walking back along the stone fence and across the road. Apparently foxes are sharp enough to equate 4 mice/4 pups because she never varied the routine for the whole time I was in that field. Used to have those little sparrow hawks hover overhead while I was chopping or mowing. It was fun to watch them fold their wings in and go into a dive. Sure beats staring at a production line all day, doesn't it?

I remember black birds following me when I plowed, especially sod ground. gm

Was loading hay into the top of the dairy barn one summer and was up pulling bales off the elevator. Very dark in there unless you were all the way in the back where your eyes had adjusted to the dark. Up the chute came a rattlesnake on a bale with it's tail stuck in the twine. Heard someone below yell 'SNAKE'!! Snake was flailing all around showing it's fangs and caused a bit of excitement. Even more yelling up top when it landed!

I'm not a "farmer" but we have a little land and a few animals and trying to get a little truck farm stand set up along the road. The below pictures are why I love doing this.

First one is my oldest son holding a pig out of the very first litter we had. It's just a few hours old at this point and that smile makes me know I'm doing something right. The second picture is from yesterday (Father's Day), I had my whole family watching our second gilt drop a litter of pigs. Little things in life make it worth living.

Back in the early '80s when I was working in the Mines in Death Valley, CA ; the wife & I decided to go to town for groceries after I got off from work (my Friday). We were headed down a lonely section of two-lane asphalt when we spotted a large bird standing in the middle of our lane eating something. I slowed down figuring he'd fly away . . . but No, he stood his ground refusing to give up his meal. Since there was no other traffic, I pulled over into the oncoming lane and slowly pulled up alongside him. It was a very large Bald Eagle and he had a dead snake that he was eating. We were in a low-slung 1978 Chevy Malibu Station Wagon and the Wife was litterally eyeball to eyeball with this huge bird and the only thing between them was the window glass and a couple of feet of open space. Wife had never seen one before, much less been this close to one, so it made her a little unnerved. Sure wish I'd had a camera. After mutually watching each other for a few minutes, we slowly pulled away and left the Eagle to his dinner. Truly an event I'll never forget.

Doc :>)

Before fur farming became popular a mink pelt was worth over a week wages. While cutting alfafa I saw a couple of mink running away from the mower. That stretch of irrigation ditch served as my "secret" trapping spot for over 5 years. Due to scaracity of mink around my area,I was as carful to avoid being seen as a moonshinner going to his still. My example of a very upset woman is "as mad as a bobbed tail rattler in a hay field".