April on the Mountain
Ups and Downs
I try to be optimistic and keep things positive but if I’m being honest - April was NOT my favourite.
It started out great. Sunny warm weather made for days of getting projects started. We finally got to burn a pile of wood just up my driveway that was an eyesore. Then, unusually cold weather struck all across the province. Snow. You know in the spring when you look at small mountains and the tops are white? That’s where I am. It’s not a huge mountain but when it’s cool and raining in town, I’m likely getting snow.
On April 4th something amazing happened. Stoic the bunny had babies! She had them late in the day and I only noticed as I was tucking the critters in. Little wriggly baby bunnies. At the time I saw 4 of them. I went to bed that night curious what I’d find the next day!
Baby bunnies or ‘kits’ stay snuggled in their nest for a couple of weeks after they’re born. It’s good to check the nest in case if any have died. A dead one could bring down the temperature in the nest and cause issues for them all. Since the weather was cold I felt it was important to check them - but do it quickly. I wasn’t 100% sure but there seemed to be 7 and all different colours!
Just when I’d get optimistic that the weather was turning back around and I could get on with plans, a big ol NOPE. More snow. I tried to start digging a pond however it promptly filled with snow and water making a muddy soup. I got stuck a few times with the tractor and decided the pond will have to wait.
For a moment my stored water seemed to be thawing. I was able to use it for drinking and showering! Then suddenly it was all frozen again. I realized that I’d abruptly gone from having a surplus of water to none. Not enough snow on the ground to melt and none stored. If I didn’t figure out a solution I’d be in real trouble.
I decided to hike down to my spring to see if I could collect water from it. In the previous months the water hadn’t been running enough but I discovered that now it was! Thank goodness. The snow was still too deep to drive the tractor down so I’d have to carry it. I filled a 20 litre jug and carried it home on my back. Powered by some anger at the fact that I’d let myself run out of water, I grabbed another empty jug and did it again. What a long but successful day.
One night dropped below -10. I worried that the bunnies would freeze so I set up a space in my house anticipating that they’d need to come into the warmth. When I tried to pick up the mother Stoic, she seemed quite adamant that they were NOT going anywhere. Reluctant to intervene I left them there. That was the right choice.
The baby bunnies took forever to show themselves! I set up a security camera to watch them. For the first three weeks I didn’t see much more than a squirming pile of fluff. Then suddenly, there they were! Their eyes opened and they were excited to start checking things out. I obsessed over the security cameras daily and finally turned them off. On to the next thing;
One morning I was having a coffee and watching the goats. Goats have this funny way of freaking out about the smallest things. A chipmunk or a weird wind sends them into a small fit where they prance around in a jumpy way. Dash was having a panic but this time something scared him enough that the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. I watched him as he stared at something. His head turned slowly. He was watching something move through the trees. I decided to grab the rifle and go investigate.
The size of this track made my heart race. Wolves. Probably bigger than me. I should’ve measured the length of their stride, it was longer than mine. Two sets of tracks, nearly the same size and they’d locked eyes with my goat. From where I stood I couldn’t quite see it through a single row of trees. I wish I had.
I also noticed that Dash the goat has started to limp. His feet seemed to be staying too wet in the mushy snow so we needed to think of a solution. Since goats love to hop on things it was time to make them a playground. A playground for goats. We used leftover pieces of wood from milling and spanned them between stumps. A walkway for goats, now they have somewhere to play and keep their feet dry!
Wow, as I write this I’m realizing April was actually pretty awesome! A rollercoaster of weather and lots of challenges to overcome - but it turned out to be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to what next month has to offer!
Hopefully not too much snow.
Very interesting to read about the bunnies and the goats. Glad to hear you got water😊😊
Great read. Yes, spring is taking it’s time coming for you, but the moisture will make for a great forest floor.