THE MOUSE WHO CAME TO SIT BESIDE ME...

 

I wouldn't have believed a story like this if it hadn't actually happened to me...

About two weeks ago on a Saturday night, I was alone in my bedroom here on the farm, just perusing the internet, when I heard a rustle from across the room. It didn't take me long to figure out that it wasn't "Lucky" - my sister's cat - because my door was closed and when it is, Lucky doesn't visit.

Not too long passed before I heard it again and saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. I was quick enough spinning my head around to see that it was a tiny little mouse, hurriedly scurrying under the closet door.

What to do?

Mice are common everywhere, but especially on 150 year old farms. I refuse to set traps or put out poison bait (I'm an animal lover, but not fanatic), so I formulated a plan to get a plastic bucket, and then trap him if he came out again.

He did.

And he was FAST - he zoomed out to take a look at me and then zipped back under the closet door. So, I resolved to just sit here quietly on the bed and wait for him to scurry out again...and get close enough for me to get the bucket.

His next move was to dash like heck from the closet to under the bed, where I figured he'd pop out eventually and I could get him.

Well, about ten minutes went by without me making a sound, and I started to wonder what the heck he was up to when - and like I said, I wouldn't believe it if I heard someone spinning such a "yarn" - I both heard and felt a rustle RIGHT BESIDE ME.

I looked down...and he looked up.

He was sitting right beside my leg.

I didn't even know mice could climb bed covers, but apparently they do.

So I easily got him in the bucket and took a couple of pictures, then took him outside and released him.

I told my sister about it when she got home from work, and she didn't really believe me, but as God is my witness, that cute little mouse came up the covers to sit beside me!

Faces Only Cows and 'Dairy Farm Newbies" Could Love?

Some of the cutest animals on dairy farms are, of course, newborn and young calves. Here, by name, are some of the calves I take care of on a daily basis:

"LITTLE RED"

Little Red is a red & white Holstein bull calf. He's three weeks old. He's quite the "ham" and is very photogenic...

(If he does not find success in the stud-industry, he can always support himself as a stand up comedian or an ant or termite control specialist?)

"BIG RED"

Big Red I don't know too well, as he predated my calf-involvement by about a week (I think that's like a year in cow to human-Newbie years). But he's a handsome fellow despite the fact that he's rather standoffish.

"TATTOO (or TATT)"

The first calf I named, and I only started to name them to keep from mixing them up when it came to feeding instructions, which can change daily (some need special supplements at certain times while others just get straight milk replacer). I came up with "Tattoo" on the fly because of the little tattoo-like black markings on her nose.

"SHAKER"

Shaker got her name on her second day of life whilst I was still feeding her colostrum (first mother's milk that contains all kinds of wonderful goodies, like special antibodies and extra nutrition, designed by nature to give the new babe a better chance at survival and good health.)

"Shaker" is "Shaker" simply because the poor little girl was shaking like a leaf that evening I first fed her!

"SMALL STATE"

Small State got the name because of the small white marking on her head that reminded me of a small state - like perhaps Connecticut (?). Her next door neighbor has a large white marking on her head, and is called "Big State" (more on her next).

"BIG STATE"

Big State is so named simply because the big white patch on top of her head reminds me of a big state - like Texas! Big State is a real sweetie, and even though she's been weaned off of milk replacer, she likes to affectionately lick my arm as I'm feeding her next door neighbor, "Small State".

"STEVIE"

As in "Stevie" Nicks. I was listening to the Fleetwood Mac album "Dreams" the day I named her, and I thought because she's so small (tiny, really), with big beautiful eyes and long lashes - not to mention the way she likes to twirl around whenever a white winged dove flies by - that "Stevie" would be appropriate.

"GIBBY"

Named after my 2-year old great nephew, Gabriel, who goes by "Gibby". Gibby has the cutest head of red curls, and when I first saw this calf, I noticed she has red curls on top of her head as well!

I'll be sure to do a Volume 2 when we get some more calves :)

Farm Pictures

PICTURES FROM AROUND THE DAIRY FARM

The "Mansion House" as it was called when it was built in the mid 19th century

Built in the late 1850's by a Mennonite farmer named Levi Horst, the farmhouse, as it stands today, was something of a showplace in the area. According to census records from 1870, old Levi was quite the wealthy gentleman-farmer. His property holdings exceeded US $70,000 (in 1870 terms...$million$ in 2012 money), and his personal assets weren't too far behind.

1849 "Brick end" barn - note the design (unique to every barn of the style built)

This unique brick design led, a couple of years ago, to the identification of the farm as the same one depicted in a painting by Charles H. Wolf c. 1870 - a painting that today hangs in the Folk Art Museum in New York City (a Sotheyby's associated museum: http://www.folkartmuseum.org/?p=folk&t=images&id=4145)

Although the same view today is nearly impossible to achieve due to tree growth, the layout of the buildings from the c. 1870 painting and the modern layout are remarkably similar. So similar that the historian who verified the identification of the farm was amazed at how accurate the painting was, and the fact that so little had changed in nearly 140 years!

A side-view of the "Little House", the first home on the farm that was used by the family while the "Mansion House" was being constructed. Today, it sits beside the main farmhouse as it always has, and plans are being slowly formulated to completely restore the structure to its original condition.

What would a dairy farm be without a farm dog? This is "Izzy", who is a real pro at keeping the cows in line, but who is scared to death of thunderstorms, and isn't ashamed to openly display her "chicken-ness" when one is approacing. Sure enough - and although we mere humans could not detect its advance - one hour after this photo was taken, a thunderstorm moved in!

One of the farms many red and white Holstein calves (no name for this one, as she came along before I started hanging out here and began actually naming the calves - more on "calf naming" procedures later)...

SOME GENERAL VIEWS

From Major Market Radio Jock to Dairy Farm "Newbie"

TALK ABOUT A CRAZY "TRANSITION"

Holstein dairy cow "Bessie #49" looks on, rather disinterestedly 


My story? I worked for 25+ years in radio and commercial production and now I'm helping out around my sister and brother-in-law's historic dairy farm near my hometown in South Central Pennsylvania - not far from Gettysburg (the market for radio jobs is terrible in this economy, and currently my my main job is doing independent voice over/commercials - nationally - from my bedroom)!

The craziest thing? I LOVE this dairy farming thing, what relatively little I'm actually doing (compared with Joe, my brother-in-law, who is the ACTUAL dairy farmer around here). 

Like many kids who got into radio in the 1980's - or at any time, really - I'm a little bit crazy; I tend to like things other people don't.

Like getting really, really dirty.

Have you ever cleaned up a milking parlor after 80 heifers have gone through being milked, after having spent all day grazing on grass? Grass tends to loosen the....yeah.

But me? God I love it!

Working in the sheltered and nearly sterile world of radio, one never gets dirty. Unless one spills a Gingerbread Latte on oneself, or a piece of pizza slips off one's plate and onto one's lap, or something similar, radio is extremely clean.

And boring in that regard.

So join me as I chronicle some of my experiences on a historic dairy farm (est. 1847).

I'll post pics, videos, and stories as I go along in this adventure.

Thanks for checking out the blog!