Circle of Life or...Pick On Something Your Own Size!

Living in the country has its pros and cons but personally, I couldn't live any other way at this time in my life.   With all the challenges, bad decisions, obstacles, highs and lows, temporary setbacks, and more, it is undeniably the way I choose to live the last half of my life.  I can't imagine going through the last two years without having the privacy, nature, beauty, wide open space, and quiet that I get to come home to....no, more like get to belong to, be a part of.  I belong here, and there's no place like it.

Living in nature inevitably brings beauty, and unfortunate cruelty.  I've spoken of it recently, losing some of our sweet hens to a barn owl.  Five total.   I can't imagine the trauma they went through, and their hen friends are just now starting to lay again since witnessing their demise.    Since closing them in the barn at night, we haven't seen That Owl.  That Owl, that is so big and beautiful and magnificent, and intelligent.  I welcomed him at first,  thought it was a sign of good luck or something silly like that.  But after a few days of lurking around and seeing the hens were safely put away, he decided to train his sights on something else.  

I never heard a thing, but there's no doubt there was a struggle, and shock for the raptor that thought he could pick up his dinner and fly away with it.  When Finch came in the house, his back side was shaking, but not so much that I thought it was an injury, but rather just chilly from the snow and cold outside.  The next two days were normal, then he could hardly walk.  When I felt around for what it might be, he yelped so loud my ears rang for a minute or two.  I felt a long scratch and a scab, and some swelling, but nothing that alarmed me.  I would just watch it for a few days.  By Friday,  it was an open abcess.   Off to the vet's office to get a better look.

Lo and behold, a one inch round wound an inch deep, major bruising underneath, and several other smaller scratches on his back were found.  None of it made sense to me, and I thought maybe Juma bit him.  I'm thinking.....coyotes run in packs,  do weasels bite or attack small dogs?  The more the doctor talked about the entry wound being from something above, the more it made sense.   That Owl.  That Owl came down on Finch's back, held tight with his claws and pecked a hole in him.  I don't know how he got away, if Juma came to his rescue.... or did That Owl just give up, realizing it wasn't a chicken?

After surgery,  Finch is home and resting.  I don't think you'd want to see a picture of the wound, as it's pretty grotesque but you can imagine.  He's such a trooper, and doesn't even mind that he has the big e-collar on most of the time.   He's wagging his tail again, and is getting treats that I hide his pills in.  Yum!  He'll be back to his old feisty self in no time.

And so,  the circle of life in nature.  Can I blame That Owl?  He's hungry too and they're smart enough to take the path of least resistance if something looks good to eat and is right out in the wide open, right?  You can bet that I'll be on the watch for That Owl, and make sure that Finch is out to do his business at night PDQ, and right back in again.

Hakuna Matata!