Where The Wild Things Are...

When we started looking for places up here, we spoke to a realtor. We were calling on a property that, we found out, had already gone under contract. However, we stayed on the phone and chatted with the agent for a little while longer. Good thing we did! We told her what we were looking for as far as property and house and how we planned on expanding our menagerie at some point. She then told us that we need to look for unrestricted land. In fact, even us just having Penelope (our potbelly pig we'd had for years) made it impossible to buy restricted land. We had no idea. But okay, unrestricted land it is!

When we were driving to this place it felt like an eternity. We had the GPS on our phone on but we just kept going and going and going. Finally, 30 minutes from the edge of town we showed up at what would be our driveway. We looked at each other and knew that we were where the wild things are. We proceeded down the driveway and the rest is history.

Wild things around here include a vast array of things. We have bears, deer, coyotes, Copperheads, and assorted rodents and varmints that can make your life miserable. On the other hand, you also have beautiful wildflowers, ramps, and chanterelle mushrooms (I think they're chanterelles) right off the side of the road and throughout properties! How wild! (See what I did there?).

While it might be cool to have all of these interesting things in your backyard, it can really be troublesome. However, when we moved up here we knew that we were going to be living amongst each other and we have to deal with whatever wild things get thrown at us. That's just what you do.

Rodents decimated the wiring the my Jeep and they also chewed up our HVAC ductwork. A bear got into our corn and enjoyed a delicious snack and then, to add insult to injury, laid down on our corn for a nap. Honestly, just the image of it all made it impossible to be angry.

We've lost two of our ducks and most recently had some predator attacking our meat birds every night for four nights straight. That critter caused us to lose a couple of meat chickens and three turkeys. We still don't know what it was. We set traps out but only caught a possum, although we kept seeing a furry brown mink-like critter over there during the day. Who knows? Oddly, nothing has gotten into the chicken barn. I'm wondering if it's because Stella (the hog) sleeps in her pen attached to the barn.

Also lucky is that coyotes haven't gotten into anything. They are around. We can hear them howling and screaming. We've seen them lurking on the property. They either move on or we "deploy" Emmy Lou, our 80 pound Bluetick Coonhound (whose bloodline was bred for hunting bear) and let her run out baying at them. Coyotes are tough animals, but anything runs when startled, LOL. Our Daisy Mae is a Bluetick also, but her bloodline is more standard coon-hunting. She's smaller and has more of a howl or "woo-woo". In fact, "Woo-Woo" is one of her nicknames. She's just not as menacing. However..........

Your standard wild things are not all you have to worry about up here. I've found that folks around here have to worry about.......DAISY MAE!!! Whaaaaaaaaa???? Sweet Daisy Mae??? Talk about a wild thing!

When we got up here permanently, we just had the two Blueticks. They ran free on the property because they had a lot of space. Over time, Daisy Mae started to become more wild. We'd let her out and then she'd disappear for hours. Most days she'd come back, panting, dying of thirst, and ready for a nap. I can't tell you how many eyebrow appointments I had to cancel last minute because she didn't come home. Luckily, we all know where we live, so my brow lady always laughed and understood. Some days, we'd get a call and we'd have to go pick her up a couple miles away. It was never a big deal because everybody's dogs do the same thing. No harm, no foul..........until she started harming fowl.....unfortunately we started getting calls from neighbors down the road upset that Daisy Mae was coming onto their property and killing their free range birds. That's a drive and pickup you never want to do.

So, Daisy Mae was grounded and leashed until we could afford border collars. Eventually, we could and life has been golden ever since. All the dogs can wander without ever leaving the property. They have plenty of space to be wild. And they definitely are. Emmy Lou regularly brings back various animal bones. One time she brought back half a fawn that had been killed by something else. Possibly a hay cutter. That wasn't my favorite. It was the cute part too. All I could do was pick it up and yell for my beloved to bring me a garbage bag. It was tough to see, but this is the country. This is where the wild things are. Including people. We hunt, farm, and work our land. Nothing is perfect, but we all live amongst each other and have to do what we have to do.

Even Stella, our year old hog, is starting to get more wild. We acquired her from a pig farm a year ago. She was rejected by her mama and so the farmers asked if we wanted her. At five days old Having no experience in raising hogs (we only had potbellies), we picked her up later that day. LOL. Fast-forward a year and now she sneaks over to the neighbors' cow pasture every day to graze and hang out with the cows. Apparently, they have better food over there. It's like the neighborhood kid that always shows up during dinner. The girl's gone wild (although we have to let the hog hunters know that she is NOT wild and to not harvest her, LOL).

People thought we were crazy for moving here. Especially as quickly as we did. In their minds, this was the kind of place you visit. You rent a cabin. You come out and decompress. Recharge your batteries. Leaf peep. Stare at the mountains. Get a dose of Fall or Winter. Then go home back to the city and suburb and regular life. You don't move here. I can understand that. Especially a couple of middle-aged people who have never farmed or gardened or lived outside of a city or suburb. What were we thinking?

Over the last four years, we have acclimated to being here. We are used to having to drive a while to get everywhere. We learn more every year. Our friends who were born and raised here or have lived here a long time laugh at our hairbrained thoughts and ideas and watch us fail. Then they tell us how we should do things. When something goes awry, we remedy it. We have built relationships with the people around us and can count on them for help if needed, and vice versa. We can actually "vice versa" now. In some areas, LOL. We deal with the animals and critters around us. We have made this place our home. So much so that when we go somewhere else, I feel out of place and find that I can't wait to get back. Back to where the wild things are. If you ever have thoughts or dreams of doing the same thing, I recommend doing it at some point in your life. You will know when the time is right. Even if others don't agree.

Until next time, God bless you all and get yourself a great pair of overalls!

Kara