an obstruction of lawn care
i usually enjoy mowing (it's often an excellent way to get a tan while still being productive). today this was not the case.
Why was it less enjoyable than other days?
1) it is unseasonably cold (or maybe the temperature is finally starting to behave normally after the random summer days we've been experiencing here in april). i ended up wearing fur-lined gloves (not the fancy kind), a winter hat, and my dad's hoodie/flannel shirt...i was still cold.
2) my parents got a new mower recently (a hustler: zero degree turning and all that fancy stuff) and i have never used it. took me a couple of tries to figure out how to turn it on, then i got to figure out how to lower the deck! it's a saturday! my brain should have the entire day off for the trouble i put it through the rest of the week.
3) nearly finished, i fly up towards the back of the barn when a putrid smell assails my senses. although it seemed to be coming from near the outhouse, i knew that wasn't an option. there, directly in front of me, lay a dead groundhog (on which hundreds of maggots were having a feast). this is where i draw the line. i was ever so thankful that it was behind the barn, as i would have felt obligated to remove it if it were out in the open (as it is, the 'rents are coming home by tuesday, so they will need a fun activity when they get here). of course, my brain is trying to piece together how the groundhog died and whether or not the hole in its side was from a predator. (why won't it stop working??? i told it twice now what day it is)
4) now, i don't know if bears attack groundhogs, or if it was a bear, why it didn't finish the job (well, it probably decided the groundhog was a disgusting creature, both in habit and taste), but this much i do know: lying not 5 ft from the body were two tufts of fur (black, semi-long, and coarse). picking them up (i had gloves on) i brought them in to compare the texture with that of our bearskin rug. the only problem is that we got rid of that rug a few years back. not knowing what else to do, i bagged the evidence to await more knowledgeable eyes. looking forward to finding out what dad has to say about the fur (i'm 85% positive it belongs to a black bear. the only problem with my conjecture is that i found the tufts between the house and the honeyhouse, which are rather close together)
Why was it less enjoyable than other days?
1) it is unseasonably cold (or maybe the temperature is finally starting to behave normally after the random summer days we've been experiencing here in april). i ended up wearing fur-lined gloves (not the fancy kind), a winter hat, and my dad's hoodie/flannel shirt...i was still cold.
2) my parents got a new mower recently (a hustler: zero degree turning and all that fancy stuff) and i have never used it. took me a couple of tries to figure out how to turn it on, then i got to figure out how to lower the deck! it's a saturday! my brain should have the entire day off for the trouble i put it through the rest of the week.
3) nearly finished, i fly up towards the back of the barn when a putrid smell assails my senses. although it seemed to be coming from near the outhouse, i knew that wasn't an option. there, directly in front of me, lay a dead groundhog (on which hundreds of maggots were having a feast). this is where i draw the line. i was ever so thankful that it was behind the barn, as i would have felt obligated to remove it if it were out in the open (as it is, the 'rents are coming home by tuesday, so they will need a fun activity when they get here). of course, my brain is trying to piece together how the groundhog died and whether or not the hole in its side was from a predator. (why won't it stop working??? i told it twice now what day it is)
4) now, i don't know if bears attack groundhogs, or if it was a bear, why it didn't finish the job (well, it probably decided the groundhog was a disgusting creature, both in habit and taste), but this much i do know: lying not 5 ft from the body were two tufts of fur (black, semi-long, and coarse). picking them up (i had gloves on) i brought them in to compare the texture with that of our bearskin rug. the only problem is that we got rid of that rug a few years back. not knowing what else to do, i bagged the evidence to await more knowledgeable eyes. looking forward to finding out what dad has to say about the fur (i'm 85% positive it belongs to a black bear. the only problem with my conjecture is that i found the tufts between the house and the honeyhouse, which are rather close together)
posted by jhack at
3:53 PM
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