With the woolly mammoths in full retreat thanks to the Nash-Rambler dealer, the scurs and their vaunted Weather Eye set their sights on this week’s forecast. Has Old Man Winter gone into hibernation or is he just taking a power nap? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Thursday partly sunny with highs in the low 40’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Saturday, sunny with highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Partly sunny on Sunday with a slight chance of evening snow. Highs in the (brace yourself) mid-50’s with lows in the low 30’s. Monday, mostly sunny with a modest chance of a forenoon rain/snow mix. Highs in the low 40’s with lows around 30. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a slight chance of a wintry mix. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the upper 20’s. Daylight Saving Time goes into effect on the 8th. We reach 11 hours and 30 minutes of daylight on the 9th. The normal high for March 9th is 36 and the normal low is 20. The scurs will be setting their clocks ahead at precisely 2 a.m. as per government mandate. The nanny state lives at least for one more year!
The Full Moon for the month occurs on the 9th and goes by several names. It is most commonly known as The Full Worm Moon. It’s during this period that once the soil thaws, the earthworms make it to the surface and begin leaving their castings behind. It is also known as The Full Crow Moon, The Full Sap Moon and The Full Lenten Moon as settlers considered it the last Full Moon of winter. The Ojibwe called it The Snow Crust Moon as thawing during the day and freezing hard at night leaves a hard crust on the snow. The Sioux knew it as The Moon when Buffalo Drop their Calves. At the ranch, it is The Full Mud Moon. One only needs look at Ruby the Border Collie after chores and the reason becomes obvious.
Daylight Saving Time, as mentioned, takes place on Sunday. Hopefully, this will be one of the last times we’ll have to deal with the insipid time change. The message has finally made it through that people are sick and tired of this foolishness. They want their sleep and clocks left alone. As the federal law stands now, states have always had the right to opt out and remain on standard time if desired. Some places such as Hawaii and Arizona do just that. The state of Minnesota is considering staying on Daylight Saving Time year round, as are several other states. It must first get federal approval however before it is enacted if the bill passes at the state level. It really doesn’t matter so long as everyone agrees to a standardized method of dealing with it. If and when it happens, it’ll likely cause some issues in the winter with late sunrises. It won’t be surprising if some schools and businesses adjust their operating schedules accordingly.
It has seemed sometimes as though we haven’t had a lot of snow this winter. That is largely due to the thaws and melting that have occurred, removing much of our snow cover earlier this winter. We’re actually not far off the historical normal snowfall of 39.9” at the SROC in Waseca for the period October through February. For that timeframe at the ranch and at the office in metropolitan Bugtussle this winter we’ve recorded an identical 44.6”. Normal snowfall for March at the SROC is 10.2”. March used to be our snowiest month but has been supplanted by December. More of our precipitation in March has been falling as rain in recent decades.
March did come in like a lamb or several at the ranch. Fortunately the temperatures had moderated so it wasn’t a major factor when they hit the ground. Those born on March 1st were inside so it was a matter of finding the right lambs and matching them up with the right ewes. Not always the easiest task when there is scant evidence left behind. Good mothering sometimes confounds matters when ewes that haven’t lambed claim lambs that aren’t theirs. Then we need the Wisdom of Solomon to divine who belongs to whom. Fortunately we must’ve decided right as there were few protests especially from the lambs that were getting plenty to eat.
Finding enough hay for the sheep to eat has been another challenge. Fortunately there is some to be had for a price and travelling outside the normal area is also part of the equation. I’ve run across some pretty nice people to deal with too. The hay isn’t always perfect and you have to carry large amounts of cash, making you feel almost like a drug deal going down. The primary thing is to supply roughage to keep the ewe’s rumens working. Both sources of hay so far have been what would qualify as mixed hay with a grass base and some legumes mixed in. Since sheep are more nibblers than gobblers, that kind of hay works fine. Fishing the legumes out of the grass first gives them something to do. It helps keep their minds off jumping over panels or wrecking equipment.
The bottle lambs’ tenure in the garage will likely come to a close with the warmer weather. Space in one of the barns can be designated for them. Both have really grown and despite a few bumps in the road they’re generally healthy. We did have to give the buck lamb some oral antibiotic twice a day when the gland between his toes developed a staph infection. Have seen it a few times over my sheep raising career and it takes a while to clear up. The antibiotic smells and apparently must taste like bubble gum. It worked out well to give it to him after his bottle in the morning and at night. After the first dose he was looking for the syringe full of medicine after each bottle feeding. Makes me wonder what he’d do with a piece of bubblegum. Probably stick it to the bottom of his feed pan or spit it out where you’d step in it.
See you next week…real good then.