Just Whatever...


Round the barn

Skunk & Dogs:

Two parts hydrogen peroxide to one part Dawn dish detergent and one part baking soda. Apply that mixture straight on the dog without wetting him down, and let it soak in for a good ten minutes or so. Then shampoo the dog with whatever your usual shampoo.

Tick Removal:

Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. Prevention: There is always Sevin dust in the tack area during the summer to powder your horses with or there are drops and sprays.

Some of the local wildlife

Coyotes

Coyotes are incredibly adaptable and are found in nearly all habitats of North America. They live alone, in pairs or packs. Home ranges can be as large as 25 square miles. They are vocal and shortly after nightfall may howl to indicate their location, claim their territory, reinforce social bonds or simply because they enjoy howling. Pairs sometimes mate for life. Their den sites include cavities under rock ledges, hollow logs, shrub thickets and dens abandoned by other mammals. They may use several dens when rearing pups. Litters of 4-7 pups are born in spring. They can live up to 10 years in the wild.

Badgers

Yep, we have them. Just some general information about these little critters:

Pound for pound American badgers are likely the most powerful mammals in Kansas. They have stout, flattened bodies, powerful forelegs with large, re-curved claws, strong jaw muscles, short ears and a short, furry tail. If threatened, they attack explosively with hissing, growling and biting. They inhabit open country and are frequently found with colonial rodents, especially prairie dogs. They dig their dens in hillsides and road embankments leaving a conspicuous dirt mound at the entrance. Except during the mating season, badgers are solitary. Females bear a litter of 1-5 young in late spring. Badgers can live 12-14 years but few make it past 2 years in the wild.

Bobcats

Sometimes called “wildcats,” bobcats get their name from their short or “bobbed” tail. They have long legs, toes with retractile claws, dark spotted reddish-brown fur on top and gray fur with black spots on their belly. Their dens are found in brush piles, hollow logs, caves and in rock outcroppings. They hunt alone from dusk to dawn and rarely use the same daytime resting area. Bobcats mark their territories with urine and feces. Females usually bear a single litter of 2-4 kittens in the summer. They may live up to 14 years in the wild.

Trailer Trips

Remember to load your heaviest horse on the driver side of the trailer. Also if you are only hauling one horse it should be loaded on the driver side. This helps keep the trailer from flipping if your passenger-side tire runs off the road.

In slant load trailers the heavy horse or single horse should go into the first stall. Keeping your weight toward the front of the trailer, rather than toward the back, helps avoid trailer sway.