On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other
hazards) i
Joyce Bupp
It’s been a lonely winter.
But maybe that’s changing.
Fall was just beginning last year
when we spotted the lone Canada
goose on the pond. Last summer’s
family of eight goslings and their
parents had flown off several
weeks before. We presumed they
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had joined up with the growing
flocks of V-shapes that honked
over the farm morning and eve
ning, en route to feeding sites.
For a single goose to be hanging
out by itself in the fall, when fami
lies arc flocking up for winter, is
not the norm. Opening day of ear
ly goose hunting season in se-
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lected areas had just passed. West
ern border of die selective, early
hunt area followed the interstate,
splitting right through the farm.
When this goose called to passing
flocks of its kind but refused to
join them we figured it had been
wounded.
Several weeks passed. And no
thing changed.
The lone and seemingly
lonely goose stayed by the
pond by itself. Others honked
overhead. Occasionally, even a
few settled briefly on the pond.
When they left, our loner bird re
mained behind.
It would settle down for long
hours on the distant bank of the
big pond, a favored comer for our
annual nesting geese families. Not
far behind that bank of the pond
are the cattle exercise lots and the
walkway through which the heif
ers pass daily on their way to the
feed bunk. Geese seem to instinc
tively know that the regular trav
els of the cattle help to keep preda
tors —especially our hungry local
foxes at a distance, offering
them that much more protection.
As fall moved toward winter.
The Farmer noted that the goose
was taking short flights, from one
side of the pond to the other. I con
tintued to call to other flocks pass
ing by overhead, but never joined
them. Perhaps, we speculated, it’s
wounds were healing, but not the
point of long distance flights. Per
haps, it would never fly long dis
tances again.
But. by then, the goose had
found another family.
Our dairy herd.
The big. beautiful bird spent in
creasing amounts of time in the
feedlot with the cows, growing fat
on the grain residue left by them.
When we began grazing the hill-
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CALL ANYTIME TO LEAVE MESSAGE
Jeffrey A. Feister- owner/operator
• Agricultural • Commercial • Residential
We Do NRCS Ai
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LANCO CONCRETE WALLS, INC.
PO BOX 256, Bird-In-Hand, PA 17505
CONTACT Steve Petersheim, Jr (717)291-4585 ■ FAX (717)291-4686
sides to save stored feeds, a Can
ada goose nibbling grass at die
heels of the cows became a famili
ar and somewhat hilarious
scene.
And when we began to move
the girls to the more distant fields
above the house, the goose gave
up the lengthening walk and took
off in flight, landing gracefully
amid the herd of black-and-white
cows. One day, either tired or per
haps hurting, our mascot plodded
right up through the back yard,
taking a short cut to join its
“flock” of bovine buddies munch
ing away at the grass.
But now, my prayers about an
injured, lonely goose may have
been answered.
In mid-January, a flock of about
20 fat, wild geese settled onto the
pond with a racket of honking and
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Fuzzy Navel Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
'A cup vegetable oil
6-ounce package vanilla instant pudding
4 eggs
3 A cup peach schnapps
'A cup orange juice
'A teaspoon orange extract
4 tablespoons peach schnapps
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup confectioners' sugar
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t /iSr / *v -
LANCO
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proved Work • Quality Workmanshii
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 14, 1998-B9
Cook’s Question
(Continued from Pago B 8)
• Bunker Silos
• Slatted Floor Deep Pits
• Flatwork
splashing about They’ve become
regulars since then, lining up
along the pond bank, nibbling as a
flock at tender grass shoots in the
meadow, occasionally trekking
out into the field to graze in the
stand of dormant alfalfa. There is
no longer a single goose mingling
with the dairy herd.
Now, pairs seem to be splitting
off among the flock. Sets of geese,
with one larger and one slightly
smaller bird, can often be spotted
off somewhere to the side by
themselves. Territorial posturing
is becoming increasingly common
among the flock, lending visual
demonstration to the term “wild
goose chase.”
On this Valentine weekend, my
heart hopes one lonely goose gets
shot again.
By Cupid’s arrow.
- '"w -V = ~