4H Wildlife Competition

The past year the kids have delved into the 4H Wildlife/Forestry/Fishery Project.  It was the first year for our county to have a senior Wildlife team, and the crocodile hunter was in his element.  I am amazed by what they had to learn - the ability to identify 45 species of animals from their skulls/pelts/calls, answer questions concerning the habitat and life of these animals, determine wildlife management practices to manage a piece of land for certain species, and finally - with a team of 4 create a plan to manage a specific piece of property (several acres which they must explore on their own) for 5 to 6 species - writing a two page management plan detailing their recommendations.  They must then each defend that plan orally before wildlife resource management agents.

Dr. Harper teaching the kids about sericea lespedeza

We have spent many hours over the past year studying pelts, learning the differences between a raccoon skull and a red fox skull, discerning the difference between the many sparrows by feather and call!  We trudged through forests and wetlands, we practiced scenarios for management.  The result was our team of high schoolers went to the regional competition and competed against teams who have years of experience - and we managed to squeak in to qualify for state!  

So, off to the state competition where I learned that my bladder can go 7 hours without a bathroom and I became very comfortable with the presence of timber rattlesnakes!

And while they didn't win state, our group of kids managed to place 6th among 11 teams who have all been doing this for 3-5 years!  We are incredibly proud of them, and look forward to seeing how they do next year.

headed out to evaluate the land a create a management plan

Showing Sheep

I will start with a gratuitous baby pic, because they are currently my favorite  :)  Here is the little one at his first sheep show....

And then to the important stuff - the Queen showed for the first time, and snagged a first in showmanship for her age group!

 Big brother felt the pressure, and had a pretty good showing himself, both of them netted decent ribbons (4th and 5th) for their lambs.

Off to the state show in another week!

Bacon and Spicy Sausage

The crocodile hunter showed both pigs at county, regional and state this winter, earning a second place and a few fourth and fifth placings.  

Bacon, the female pig, has been sold to a neighbor for breeding, so she escaped the slaughter. The male pig is now in the freezer (220 lbs of meat!) awaiting Pascha when we plan to enjoy loads of bacon and sausage.   I am amazed by how much comes from a single pig.  The verdict is in and while he enjoyed showing pigs and plans to again, he definitely prefers sheep.  Watching 20 kids try to show pigs in a ring, it looked like trying to herd cats to me!

Chick Time!

 It's really crazy that just 2 days ago (on St. Patrick's Day) these little ones first saw the light of day when they pecked their way through an eggshell!  I still am amazed that they are immediately packed up into boxes and shipped out, arriving at your local post office two days later.  The crocodile hunter went to the 4H extension office this morning to help sort birds, and incredibly, out of 1250 birds, only one didn't survive the trip.

The girls are raising 25 for a 4H project, and the Crocodile hunter was given a handful of extra birds.  We also purchased 10 Cornish Rock Hens for meat and a dozen Red Pullets, so in all we ended up with about 60 birds.