Bushhogs and Wildlife

[Justaplain]

A couple of years ago I got a duck [Mallard] on a nest. Brought the eggs home in my hat. Put them under a heat lamp and 1 hen duck hatched out.
She has gone on to reproduce [wild drakes] in a stall and the young leave and come back to get corn when feed gets scarce. bc

 

[scott_vt]

BUT...to have a SNAKE jump straight up out of the tall grass and run across the platform and my feet while I am seatbelted in with no escape thats just about more than I can take. It is time to think CAB.


Guess I'll just have to bushhog that field in the dead of winter .

Mornin Hunterridge,
Wow, thats more excitement than I care to have ! We do get the occasional grond mole or mouse while the hawks and crows circle above waiting for field kill !

Mowin in the dead of winter, Ill pass !

 

[LoneCowboy]

snakes don't bother me too much while mowing either.. but it does get kinda hairy when you sit down and start up a tractor in the morning and a rattlesnake crawls out of the engine cowling across the platform between you feet.

arrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhh
I'd be screaming like a little girl
I don't do snakes.
not at all.

 

[Unclebuck257]

After two years of severe drought in these past two years, I didn't mow my pastures much until this year. We've had abundant good rains this Spring that helped the pasture grass and really helped mucho wildflowers grow. I wanted to mow the wildflowers, and give the grass more chance, while we still have some rain coming, so I just finished mowing the place about a week ago.

It was unusual, but during the entire 50 acre mowing, I only saw two baby rabbits run out of the tall, thick, stuff ahead of me. No wacking rattlesnakes at all, as in years past, and no other critters running out. I was glad, but then began to wonder where they all are.

Like someone else stated, I'll stop the tractor and move babies rather than go over them, or I'll mow around a bird's ground nest if I see Momma out there in front of me. I really look for critters too, so I don't run over anyone or anything.

Three years ago while mowing, I had a huge 5-6 foot rattlesnake want to take me and my brushhog on. He did, I did, and on the next round by that spot, I saw him in three big pieces. He Lost!!

 

[mjarrels]

Nothing like the solid "thump" of hitting a groundhog!

mark

 

[riptides]

My encounters are usually swallows and turkeys. The swallows come out right as the engine starts up. Then they just enjoy lunch or dinner out in the field. it is a liitle uneasy feeling sometime because they do get real close before veering away at full throttle. I try and concentrate on the ground and not them.

Turkeys, who said they were intelligent? Some of the young ones, who can barely fly have introduced themselves to me on numerous occasions.

Then there was Mr. Squirrel. He jumped out of a cedar tree (Totally unexpected) and landed on the hood before turning around, looking at me, (just enough time for me to engaged brain - THATS a squirrel) and using me as a jump point to the next tree. If I didn't have the seat belt on, I would have abandoned the tractor. As it turned out, I was reminded of the tightness of the seat belt.

-Mike Z.

 

[riptides]

Nothing like the solid "thump" of hitting a groundhog!

mark

or their burrow!

-Mike Z.

 

[mjarrels]

Sometimes you need to throttle up to make the connection!

mark

 

[hunterridgefarm]

.. and yes.. I have accidentally hit a tortise 1 time that I know of... saw the poor sucker just too late to do anything but apploogize.
Soundguy

Well did he accept it and forgive ya


The only thing I have killed lately with the hog was a soccer ball while mowing a few lot I have in a development. Did not see it till it went flying out.

Rode over to check on it and sure enough it was dead...cut it in half

 

[Farmwithjunk]

A few years back, while bush hogging near a grain bin, I noticed something move out of the corner of my eye. I turned just in time to see a red tailed hawk slam into a flying dove. There's probably still feathers flying. Awsome display of power and grace.

Last spring while mowing our pastures, I flushed out a baby rabbit. It ran into the already mowed part of the field. A baby Red Tail tried to catch it. The baby hawk didn't quite have its hunting skills mastered yet. It would land next to the little rabbit, then try to hop on it. The rabbit would just move a foot or 2 and the hawk would miss. Then it would try again. The rabbit would move again. That went on for a good 20 minutes. I shut off the tractor and watched the show. If any of the neighbors would have drove by, they'd have called the guys in the white coats to come put me in the rubber room for sure. I was sitting there laughing hysterically.

We've got a fairly large deer that hangs out close to the house at times. While mowing last week, he just stood there in my way, almost daring me to get closer. He was no more afraid of me and the tractor than I was of him.

Nature is without a doubt the most entertaining show in town.