Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

[Bucklowery]

Mr. Dave, after Westinghouse sold I went to college full time until I finished. I was going to school during the day and working 2nd shift. Then I cruised timber at Air Force base, then became a journeyman lineman.

I actually done all the different process and jobs and final assembly of some big generators. Some which are in China right now imagine that. Stacking cores and torque all those sheets together and then the crane guy setting it inside the frame vertically. He would reset cables and then lay it down horizontally for us to put in the coils. It was cool to watch. Then sliding in a 20 ton rotor, some pretty cool tricks. I got to be part of one generator that was tested after we built it. It is amazingly watching that huge rotor coming up to speed (3600 rpm) 60 hertz, the whole facility shook

Thanks

Buck

 

[DSheetz]

It sure is awesome . G.E. called it putting the pickle in the generator . We had one L.P. turbine shell that was 50 tons we would turn it over on it's back then pull the fixed blading out of the shell , G.E. called them diaphragms , for repairs . Hard , hot work , interesting though , tons of 12 hour days amazing how precise the parts are just like doing coyote control work takes precision and knowledge to get to problem coyote taken care of as fast as you can . All that we do as we go alone with our daily lives and when we do them to our best it applies to how we do our coyote hunting .

 

[DMP25-06]

Here's a pic of the ole girl. It drives a 70k gal/minute pump. This one unit accounts for about 60% of my total pumping capacity hence the level of stress lol.View attachment 363583

74Honker ,

That is one LARGE , Impressive , electric motor .
Am I correct in presuming that the water pump is the large gray unit in the left rear area of the photo ?
At 70,000 gallons per minute , that equates to 4.2 Million gallons per hour . That is a RIVER !!!

The Big Springs of Island Park , Idaho , that is the headwaters of the Henry's Fork River flows at a rate of 5 million gallons per hour - 120 million gallons per day .
Your pump is essentially matching that river's flow . WOW !!!!!

Pardon my ignorance for my questions , but , are you draining river overflow / floodwaters from low-lying agricultural areas ?
Is the pump station privately owned , or is it a Public Utility Facility ?

I am both fascinated , and overwhelmed at the size and capacity of these mechanical parts , and the volume of water that it is capable of moving .


DMP25-06

 

[DSheetz]

DMP25-06 , 74Honker must be busy . yes that is the pump in the background . If I recall correctly he is keeping flat farm ground from flooding caused by rains and run off .

 

[DSheetz]

We got some rain and snow mixed yesterday . The areas west of us got good moisture as did the areas south east of us they got close to an inch of moisture . Right in my area we got close to a 10th of an inch being as dry as it has been we will take it when we can get it . I visited with my friend who is quite busy now doing control work . He was telling me that all of the prey base numbers are very low . Our antelope , deer and elk numbers have been affected by several diseases as well as the drought . The game and fish department is cutting back , by a few thousand , the number of big game tags being released . The numbers of the smaller prey species rabbits , mice and prairie dogs are also down due to diseases and the drought conditions as are the bird populations also being affected by disease and drought . Gene told me that the coyote and fox numbers are low also affected by disease and lack of prey . The predators are busy eating what they can find and often that puts them in conflict with livestock producers because that is the more readily available food . As we have all noticed in the past when the predators numbers are low they become more cautious and harder to hunt and call . The ranchers that I worked for when I retired told me that the coyote are jumping the fences now instead of going under them thus avoiding the snares . They are also very cautious of coming to calls and aren't even talking much at this time . They haven't learned not to leave tracks so can still be found . Knowing the areas well helps in these hard times as we already know where they will be denning and living as well as where they will be hunting and passing through . All to our advantage .

 

[APDDSN0864]

Glad to hear you got some moisture! Still drier than a popcorn fart here. I don't know if you've been following the wildfires situation across the country, but NM has been hit hard and there's no real let-up in the near future.
Coyote numbers are down due to the same reasons you have up there as are prey species. We made it through calving season in this area better than I had hoped, but lambing season hit just as the trapping ban was instituted, really putting a crimp on control efforts.

I've seen more snakes out this spring than last year but, so far, they are little ones. I haven't seen any big rattlers...yet.
Howling is working OK, not great. It's been so hot that the coyotes have been really moving at night and very early morning.

I startled one out from under a mesquite bush last Thursday afternoon that caught us both by surprise and he got away in the thick brush. I was slipping along a long draw, looking for feral pig sign, walking into the slight breeze, and was more focused on the ground in front of me than out in front and he jumped up about ten feet from me. He went from zero to Mach 3 in 0.2 seconds, as did my heart rate.
Aerobic exercise for the day, check!

Rub rocks are still being worked pretty heavily, giving me an idea of coat conditions, but not seeing a lot of territory marking, so they are concentrating on hunting to feed the litters.

Due to the ranchers cutting back on herd numbers last year, some of the range has recovered a bit and this is providing food and cover for the rabbit population, but their numbers are still way low. It's going to be interesting to see how the fawn crop turns out. If we can get some rain in the next couple of weeks we might have a chance of a good crop.

NM Game & Fish is also considering cutting back on the number of deer and elk draw permits and taking a look at expanding a few hunts for other than deer and elk.

I wish they would go ahead and acknowledge that Barbary Sheep are an invasive species and deal with them as such. Having a species in place that is a direct competitor for resources for our native deer population is not a good idea, IMHO.

OK, off my soapbox...

Ed

 

[DSheetz]

Ed , I have been keeping an eye on the fires they affect us with the air quality . Saturday was a bad air day with a lot of haze from them . It's hard to make a living if you have to feed your livestock all year long because the grass can't grow with out moisture . I haven't seen any deer fawns yet and the antelope will start around the first of June here . Lambing is about to start here , some where in mid May for most of the sheep guys .

 

[APDDSN0864]

A few years back, one of the ranches I work took some of their pastureland near a river and turned it into hay production. We hadn't reached the depths of this drought yet, but these are some smart folks who had the resources to expand their operation and cut back on some of their cattle input costs.

Last year, and this year, they have had some of the healthiest cattle around. They are still supplemental feeding from last year's hay crop as well as feeding "cake" to keep their stock healthy and have had a successful calf crop.

I've been on their place for the last week or so, trying to do something about the feral pig numbers, and have noticed that the coyotes are grazing the "cake" lines for crumbs and perhaps looking for mice and rats that are feeding on the scraps, too.

In the past I had not considered setting up on cattle feeding areas on any times except during calving. I will now!
I like hunting over bait!

Ed

 

[DSheetz]

Coyote never fail to amaze me . They like us like sweets such as cake with some molasses in it . I got a call where the coyote pups were living on insects and cow manure . I took a litter of really young pups that had their adults taken the day before that were out eating grass more then once . You are right they will hunt where the mice and other rodents will gather and eat the left overs from feeding livestock . Smart and opportunistic learning fast and surviving . At this time we don't have feral pigs here but I have seen the end results of them scavenging . We have recently had opossums show up here sadly .

 

[DSheetz]

I have often found where the adults that had adopted others pups , after the others had been killed , would kill young animals and just eat the soft tissues like lungs and livers , but especially eat the stomachs full of milk then vomit it up to feed the pups that weren't old enough for solid food yet . I have seen two young males tending pups that had been orphaned that way as well . I never count coyote pups as dead because I killed a wet female till I see them dead , because of the number of times that I have seen them cared for by others . So many times people would cause problems by killing the adults and not taking the den of pups and then other adults would need to kill lambs to feed the young pups they adopted .

 

[APDDSN0864]

...We have recently had opossums show up here sadly .

Every opossum must die.

They are the primary carriers of the protozoa that causes Equine Protozoal Myeloncephalitis (EPM). This is a fatal disease for any equine that becomes infected. All a horse has to do is ingest the cysts that are expelled in the 'possum's fecal matter. They cysts are viable for quite some time outside of the 'possum.
Opossum crosses your pasture and takes a dump on the grass and you have a landmine that will kill your horses.

Without a doubt, the most horrible way for a horse to die. I know, I lost a horse to EPM.

Ed

P.S., I've heard all the tales about how many ticks that opossums eat and the study that is quoted is so flawed it is scientifically useless. There is no evidence that opossums contribute to the demise of any significant number of ticks.

They are another of Nature's garbage-men, but their risks in horse country far outweigh any benefit they may have.

 

[DSheetz]

When I was in southern Indiana I saw opossums crawl out of rotting dead animals the same as here I have seen badgers living in a hole under dead cows . I would think that the USDA would have some material on studies done on opossums . I know that they are mentioned as being carriers of some types of zoonotic diseases .

 

[APDDSN0864]

...I would think that the USDA would have some material on studies done on opossums . I know that they are mentioned as being carriers of some types of zoonotic diseases .

If there are any, I have not seen them. Most of the critters currently being focused on are coyotes, feral swine, birds, skunks, bobcats and raccoons due to their zoonotic diseases.
There is some concern about the return of Foot & Mouth disease via feral swine as well as pseudorabies and swine brucellosis. Coyotes are still a bubonic plague threat along with Tularemia and rabies, of course.
The skunks are a big rabies threat but not as bad as raccoons, bobcats are known carriers of canine distemper, rabies and the plague, and birds carry more zoonotic diseases than all the rest of them.
Right now, the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) is kicking butt across the US in domestic fowl flocks, meat production and egg laying production. Folks are getting a bit concerned about it wiping out a large portion of our domestic fowl industry.
There is a concerted effort to keep African Swine Flu out of this country because it will decimate our pork industry as it is now doing in China.
Other than that, nothing much going on...

Ed

 

[nealm66]

Wow lol