Wildlife on the farm....through the eyes of Banjo

This is not exactly a post about farming but it relates to what I've spent a good chunk of time doing on the farm this winter so I figure it's as good a place as any to jump back into the world of blogging after my absence of more then a year.  Sheesh!
Our 70-acre farm is a beautiful place.  Half, productive, workable land where we grow an abundance of certified organic vegetables and raise our pastured livestock and half a beautiful, cedar bush, meandering creek, and acres upon acres of wilderness.  One of my favourite things to do in my time off is explore the 'back 40' with my 3 trusty pooches- Maya (10 years old, Golden Retriever, wise and loyal), Banjo (2 years old,Black Lab/Collie Cross, intelligent, brave, impulsive), and Rocky (almost 1 year old, Great Pyranese Cross, goofy, a little timid, loving and Banjo's loyal side-kick).  Here they are innocently (ya right) peering into the baby quail pen this spring.

And here they are yesterday enjoying a visit to the creek.

They are the luckiest dogs on the planet having so much space to roam and play....and they get into their fair share of trouble too.  Banjo especially.
In the 2 years I've owned her she has had more adventures, and been in more trouble then I ever thought possible.  In 2012 alone, she was sprayed by approximately 6 skunks (or the same angry skunk 6 times), stuck her face in one of our beehives which resulted in an immediate transformation into a wrinkle dog...

Got her foot stuck in a beaver trap....whole other story but a synopsis is: we had a family of beavers damming our creek this summer and fall.  It was helpful and enjoyable during the drought and then not so much when they starting deforesting our property and flooding our land.  We called the municipality who then called a trapper in.  Mr. Trapper planned to set a number of traps to rid us of our buck-toothed friends, I pointed out I had 3 dogs, he assured my in 45 years of trapping he'd never caught a dog, Mr. Trapper, meet Banjo.  2 days later Banjo's foot is stuck in the trap atop the dam.  Luckily our tenant farmer Jenny was home with her boyfriend Peter and came to the rescue!  It took 3 of us to hold her down and release the leg trap from her poor paw (I'm surprised those traps are even legal).  She limped for a day but in her usual resilient way was back patrolling the beaver dam the next day.

Finally, and most aggravatingly is her unwavering attraction to our resident porcupine (which, although I'm sure it's a resident, I have yet to discover it's actual residence).  In 2012, Banjo had quills pulled out of her face/mouth/tongue/chest/paws no less then 8 times.  The first incident, I dutifully took her to the vet to be anesthetized for the procedure...to the tune of $250.  Obviously, incidents 2-8 (and Rocky's 5 incidents while accompanying Banjo) have been home procedures.  While Rocky, the wimp, still runs and hides and whines while they're being removed, Banjo has reached a mature stage of stoically lying on her bed while I pull the quills out with my bare hands.  We've reached an understanding I think...I just wish the understanding was that she wouldn't touch the damn porcupine anymore! Here are some photos of 'The Year of the Porcupine!

Good thing I love them. They are pretty cute afterall!
Next post I promise will be sooner then a year from now, and will have something to do with farming!