Mid to End of May at Czar of the Woods Farm

May has to be one of the most beautiful months there is.  Everything is bursting with life and it simply put, it feels good to be alive.  With the mild winter we had and unseasonably warm weather we had in March and April everything has sprung forth with life and become green faster than I can ever remember, complete with Alice in Wonderland sized weeds.  In the 3 years that we have been on the farm I don't ever recall the pasture grass growing so high so quickly.  I would imagine those that make hay might be able to get 3 cuttings in this year as opposed to the usual 2.  Certainly good for those of us that have horses, etc. in that it might bring the cost down with supply being up.  With the cost of fuel for tractors though it will still likely cost more than it did last year.  A local hay farmer called me out of the blue the other day and asked me if I wanted to purchase some of his early cut bales.  Sure do, the stuff is beautiful (he gave me a bale for the horses to try and they loved it)!

Speaking of horses...on May 1st our boarder Divo left so that his owner could move him to a barn where her sister also boards and so that they could ride together.  That same day we were lucky to have a new boarder arrive at the farm, Rocket; a 20 year old Quarterhorse who is absolutely wonderful in every way.  Since Czar was so very attached to Divo I was worried that he would miss him so I made sure that Rocket arrived within a few hrs of Divo's departure so that Czar wouldn't have any time to miss Divo.  You never know what to expect when 2 horses meet.  Czar, is a 27 year old Arabian who is still very much full of life and still has a feisty side.  For every horse he meets he wants to desperately be their buddy but in horses when this is the case it is often up to the other horse to decide and accept, or not.  Luckily Rocket seems to be accepting of everything in life and is easily one of the most easy going horses I have ever met.  He really could have cared less about Czar and simply wanted to check out his new digs.  I guess that was all the acceptance Czar was going to get so he took this as a cue to try to mount Rocket, fully erect.  Rocket, the poor guy, hadn't even gotten a meal in his new home yet.  Luckily these horses don't live in North Carolina and luckily for Czar's old man heart this didn't last long and they became true buddies.  From day one they bonded very quickly and are pretty much always right next to one another or eating from the same hay pile.  The weather has been amazing, and dry, almost too dry, for the past 3 weeks and the new couple has been outside, even at night (which is real good for horses), so they have continued to develop and incredible bond.  Watching this unfold has reminded me just how amazing horses are and we are really lucky to not only have them in our life but on our property.  In the middle of winter when owning horses is as difficult as it gets, it is days like this that I long for.  Thank you to Judy, Rocket's owner, for being an excellent boarder so far and we welcome both of them with open arms to Czar of the Woods Farm.  Rocket is truly one of the nicest horses I have ever met and we hope that he stays here for a good long time!

Rocket on the left and Czar on the right love to eat from the same pile of hay.  This means that horses are buddies, accepting of one another and safe together.

This has been and remains one of my favorite vantage points at the farm.  Standing in the northeast corner of the property, looking southwest.

We have yet to finish installing all the new fence posts in the back pasture due to a partial barn rebuild project taking precedence (sagging roof in one corner due to foundation rot) but I really wanted to get this new duo out on the amazing green grass that has grown so quickly.  So I installed temporary fence posts where there were no posts and now there is a combination of permanent and temporary with electric tape to keep the horses in.  While it's not ideal it does the trick for the time being and the horses couldn't be happier.  They didn't know what to do with themselves and didn't know where to start eating.  They looked as though they were eating their last meal the way they gorged and move to another area so as not to miss out.  Can't keep them out there too long as if they eat too much too fast so early in the season they can colic (which can be fatal).  I have been putting them out there for a few hours each night and seeing horses in our back pasture again is sublime.  After having it closed for the better part of 3 seasons so the grass could re-establish itself after over grazing from the previous owner's horses it was a long time coming and what a beautiful sight it is.  Nothing quite like seeing horses in their natural environment in a sea of green as they nicker to show they are content.  It really is perfection.

Here the boys enjoy the luscious green, spring pasture grass.

Our rescued Western Box turtles are loving life in their outdoor enclosure that is rapidly filling with all sorts of plants that make for great hiding places and homes for the insects that they eat.  The warm sun is a turtles best friend.  While the turtles don't do a whole lot I love having them and knowing that they have a really sweet enclosure on our property that we built for them.

 Can you spot them?

I also opened up the bee hive to see how they have been doing as well since the weather we have been having is perfect for bees.  They are drunk on pollen and nectar right now bringing it all back to the hive in the process of making honey and more bees.  It is quite a production and seemingly effortless yet chaotic choreography.

The light yellow "capped off" areas are what will eventually become honey.  There are other capped off areas that are darker and not seen in either of these frames that contain baby bees known as brood.

Box Turtles Emerge from Winter Hibernation

Many of you will remember that last summer 3 Western Box Turtles arrived at Czar of the Woods Farm.  They were rescued turtles that my friend eric needed to find a new home for.  You can read about their arrival here.  They live in an outdoor enclosure that my Dad and I built on our property.

One of the best things to do for them, because it helps prolong their life by mimicking what they would do in the wild, is to hibernate them over the winter.  This can be done by leaving them outside as they would do in the wild.  Since we get such cold winters here in the Buffalo area (surprise) I was hesitant to do this.  Our frost line can go down to at least 3 ft below the surface of the ground if not more.  I was nervous that they would not be able to dig far enough to protect themselves from this.  You can also hibernate them in rubber made containers filled with a peat moss substrate in a refrigerator or in a building that stays between 35-45 degrees F.  Our barn was the perfect choice because the horses generate enough heat by eating and making manure to keep the temps at just that perfect zone.  So needless to say they spent the winter in clear, peat moss and straw filled rubber made containers will holes drilled in the top as you can see here.

It is also amazing that on the day this photo was taken it was still quite brown in the enclosure and everywhere.  In less than a week of high temps everything turned green and the grass was growing, trees started to leaf.  Amazing!

After a very mild winter with very little snow, last week the temp outside stayed in the 70's and even reached 85 at one point.  This is unheard of for mid-March in the Western New York area and while I doubted it would stay that way for long it was time to put the turtles back outside in their enclosure and end their winter slumber.

The day that they went back was in the 70's and sunny, perfect for turtles.  They stayed quite groggy but I thought they might be hungry so I put out small pieces of banana; one of their favorite foods, for them to eat.  As the sun set for the night and I knew it was going to be cold that evening but being cold blooded their bodies would adjust as needed.  I was worried though.  Just as hibernating them never felt quite right (even thought it IS what is best for them) neither did simply "un-hibernating" them and so quickly returning them to their enclosure.


The next morning I was eager to check on them to see how they faired and I could only find 2 out of the 3.  I scoured the enclosure up and down.  It's about 15' X 15' and I could not find the third one which I believe to be "Esteban" (the other 2 are "Tito" and "Emmett").  Very quickly I ended up knowing the enclosure like the back of my hand from microscopically searching it.  When I returned from work I searched again, and mind you the sun had warmed the temps into the 70's that day and the other 2 turtles, although still groggy, were exploring.  Still couldn't find him and I was growing more and more concerned.  What concerned me the most is that all the banana was gone yet it didn't appear that the turtles were interested in eating yet.  The enclosure does not have a roof or cover on it so I started to convince myself that a raccoon had entered, eaten the "bait" and taken a turtle out of the enclosure.  While I did not think it possible for them to be able to carry the weight of a box turtle in their mouth, not to mention that box turtles clamp tight like a clam when threatened, while getting out of the enclosure I did then research it on-line and other people have reported that this has happened to their turtles.  I knew he was gone and I was very sad about it.  Here they had done so well all winter and in less than 24 hrs tragedy struck.  So in addition to still scouring their home I then scoured the surrounding area, which is full of perfect camouflage for turtles, meaning that finding a turtle or part of one was like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.  But I kept searching, for days.  Spent several hours in total.  Even if I found part of him or found him dead at least I would know and have some closure.  My friend eric told me to hold out hope and he felt that maybe he burrowed down (I was not hopeful because there was no evidence of turtle digging anywhere) and he told me that a turtle of his that he was certain was gone showed up 8 months later!

In my mind I played back what I did wrong and was convinced that the banana (that was unnecessary since it turned out they weren't eating yet) baited the raccoon into the enclosure and it then found a turtle that was too groggy/slow, and cold at night, to defend itself by clamping its shell tight and that was that.  I had basically given up hope and continued to search the area when I could, hoping to find some evidence.  I never did even see raccoon prints or raccoon scat.  I even climbed into the willow tree that overlooks the turtle area thinking that raccoons take things up but nothing.



5 days had gone by and my attention then turned to Emmett (photo above) who seems a bit slow to come out of hibernation.  Not too active and was keeping his eyes mostly closed.  I took him to work (I am a Licensed Veterinary Technician) and the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with him and the trip seemed to be all he needed as it "woke" him up.  I returned him to his home where Tito awaited.  I had by that point seen Tito eating a worm so this was encouraging.
The next day I went to check on the turtles and counted "there's one, and there's two....and three.  Wait, what?  THERE'S THREE!"  Esteban was alive and had emerged from somewhere!  The 85 degree weather brought him out again.  He was covered in mud and as it turns out he did find a soft spot, dug down, most likely to keep warm and somehow left no evidence.  I was so happy.
The days continued to be warm and the turtles were loving life.  The sun warmed them for days and I had by that point witnessed all three of them eating.
The temps have since dropped, 30's-50's during the day and 20's-30's at night, and the turtles have re-entered a pseudo hibernation; each finding a cozy spot to bunker down.  Esteban is back in the spot where he hid from me.  They should be fine until we get warm again.  What drama!

You Put the Turtles Where?!?!

For the winter we are hibernating our rescued box turtles.  How does one do this one might ask?  Well, in the fridge (in the garage) of course.  Yep, it's true!  Turtles, in the wild, do this naturally and it is actually quite good for them, helping them to live longer.   Read about their arrival at the farm here: http://czarofthewoodsfarm.blogspot.com/2011/07/turtles-arrive-at-czar-of-woods-farm-or.html

Shortly before Henrik was born I stopped feeding the turtles any fruits or veggies.  While they had access to wild food in the form of bugs and plants by withholding anything else, coupled with a few warm water soaks prior to hibernation, would allow their gut to remain relatively empty for their long winter's nap.  Had I not done this any food that they had left in their gut could rot, making them sick.  I then got 3 clear rubbermaid containers, drilled holes in the top and filled them with moist but not wet peat moss and some straw.  I placed the turtles in them, one in each, then simply placed them in the fridge.  Have to make sure that the fridge temp remains between 35-45 degrees F and does not freeze.  This is the necessary temp to hibernate them at.  I must admit that it goes against one's nature to place a living animal in a fridge and it does take some getting used to.  You must then wake them up every 4-6 weeks by putting them in a room temp setting.  Simply check them out for health and start the process over minus the soaks.  Basically just put them back in the fridge.  The fridge must be opened periodically to get oxygen available to them otherwise you have to run an aquarium air pump and tube into the fridge to supply air.  Cold blooded animals are quite amazing creatures.

Here is a photo of the containers in the fridge.  Once the temp hits freezing I will move the containers to the barn where the heat that the horses produce keep the barn at about 40 degrees F all winter long, even at its coldest point.  The reason I can't keep them in the garage fridge all winter is that the ambient temp in th garage will affect the fridge temp dropping it too low.

 And you can barely see the turtle mixed amongst the substrate...