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Posts tagged as:
spring
Red and Rock in action; Red (foreground) seems to be more tuned in to Earl’s direction, and also seems to be the harder worker of the pair.
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After a tree is felled (in the back), it’s cut up into sections and dragged over and on to the skidder. Note the uneven cut on the log; Earl had to go full old school – cutting with an ax – after his chainsaw hung up before the tree fell.
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Tom, on the right, checking out Earl’s bag, while Lucky, on the left, off in a bit of an oxen trance.
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Oxen and cellphones – together after 6000 years or so.
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Which I would certainly want if I was pulling a third of my weight up a hill, even if I had help.
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The back pair of oxen are young ones basically along for the ride/walk; it’s a training technique to acclimate them to actual pulling. The brunt of the work is being done by the lead oxen. The empty sled weighs about 500 lbs; fully loaded, probably 4000. Back home is mostly downhill.
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Earl’s family first settled this place in 1868, making him the fifth generation to work the land. The oxen are Red and Rock; Red (horns up) is a milking Devon, and Rock (horns out straight) is a beef Devon. They’re both about 7 years old, and just coming into their prime.
This stop at the watering hole is the prelude to their work day, which might encompass some six hours of logging, the oxen mostly on standby.
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These alpacas lived up the road from us for awhile, and it always a pleasure to drive by, and see what they were up to.
“Shearing Day” is a springtime ritual for sheep, llamas, and alpacas throughout the land; a time when thick protective winter coats are removed – for their health and our commerce.
These gentle and exotic creatures seemed to tolerate the process quite well, thanks in no small part part to the incredibly talented shearers on site that day. A significant part of their job seemed to be keeping the stress level on the animals to a minimum – stylin’ all the while.
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