Wednesday, February 14, 2007

My Friend Brigget Has a Farm




E I E I O....



Red Door...do you think this is what Liz Arden was thinking
when she named her perfume?


It's no secret that I have Farm Envy when it comes to my friend Brigget. She's got a cool old dairy barn, lovely pastures with a flock of sheep, and then there's this terrifically red door. (It's my tribute to Valentine's Day. Sorry, I don't do fancy little papercrafts.) She also has soil that I absolutely lust over. Yes, I lust after dirt. And if you were to see Brigget's dirt, you'd be lusty, too! I swear it's so nice and lofty you can just reach your arm straight down to your elbow and dig it up; no need for a tiller.

Aside from her wonderful soil, Brigget has something else. It lives in her barn; that barn who's ladder I'm not all together comfortable climbing. But climb it I did, and as previously promised, I even managed to haul my camera up with me this time so I could take some pictures of the hay mow. Or rather, what's in the hay mow.

Inside the hay mow (way up high...)





You see, Brigget has a pair of barn owls that nest there. She's got a bird house..well, owl house...up in the rafters where they raise their babies, and there's a window that they fly in and out of. As a result of raising barn owls, Brigget has a barn owl by-product; their poop. Have you ever seen barn owl poop? Well, you're about to!


The owl house inside Brigget's barn.




Owl poop is big, and it's solid. Not like that ookey, wet, white, runny stuff that falls out of birds like, say, seagull or eagles or even sparrows. No, these are called pellets, and they're bigger than anything my sheep ever produced, and really about the size as the road apples that the horses leave behind (did you know you'd be getting a lesson in poop this Valentine's Day?) They're dry and not all together repulsive; if you don't mind poop.

Poop...cool, eh?




What's cool about owl pellets is that you can break them apart and find dead things in them. Bones and such. Hair, too. In fact, I think this pellet really is just a giant hairball with bones in it. Schools buy pellets for their students to break apart and study. You, however, need not go to school to enjoy the experience! Aren't you lucky?



The owl pellet reveals the skeleton of a tiny animal. If this was a very clever website, it'd have a way for you to put that skeleton together, but we're just not that sophisticated.

Well, that about wraps it up. I've got a lot more to share on Brigget's farm, but we'll get to that in the coming days. For now, thank you for stopping in and checking out the owl poop. You can go back to your chocolate now!

20 comments:

vi said...

i hate chocolate but I loves me some good poop

since you see
I gots farm envy too
or more specifically......BARN and ACERAGE envy
my friend monica has three ( count them) ANTIQUE STONE bank barns.....
that doesn't include the modern barns on her 137 ACRE farm

she has desert arabians, alpaca, angora goats and MY ROOSTERS
(yup moemoe and curly live there)

now dear

I see you have survived me turning you into santa clause for that incident with the elf behind the sleigh


vi

Unknown said...

I was just tucking into my afternoon snack whilst reading your delightfully enlightening post on the poop-pellets-passed by owls. In fact I was eating chicken wings and was just pulling a tiny bone out from between my teeth at the precise point I reached the photograph of the broken apart pellet. I may never eat chicken wings again as a result. Thank you for saving me from the fatty and bony delights of chicken wings!!

Cheryl said...

Well, I guess I'll pass on the chocolate...at least until later.

I too am a red door fan because I grew up in New Mexico and always loved the cheeriness of coming to a home with a red door.

Have a great Valentine's...

Mrs Pretzel said...

Love it! I want some owl pellets! I've been wanting to buy some... just seems a shame to spend $14 on some poo....
Thanks for the taunting today on my blog! LOL I really have a hard time staying mad at the little guy... It's just too darned cute.

rachel

TJ said...

*gack*...well...uh...huh!!
I remember a hay mow very much like that one...glad I never saw any owl do...*gack*
Happy Valentine's day!!
Loved the Red Door!!
:-D

Farmgirl Cyn said...

WHO KNEW??? I had no idea owl pellets were so darn interesting! With all them bones and hair, are the pellets any good for fertilizer?

Mary L. Briggs said...

Trust you to break up the chocolate talk, Tracey,LOL. Great post and very interesting. I love to see Barn Owls. Guess you have to have a fantastic barn like Brigget to attract them, as I've never seen any in my poor little goat barn.

Kahshe Cottager said...

I love owls and barn owls have such interesting monkey-like faces! I never see barn owls any more as I live in a city now. But sometimes, late at night, I see a big old owl hunting in the night sky. It will perch on the neighbour's TV antenna and swivel its head looking out for food. If we are lucky on a cold winter night, a snowy owl will glide by and make you jump!

Alpicks Treasures said...

jeepers, it looks like a cat got murdered!. Those Owls leave a mess thats for sure. Happy Valentines Day to ya. Love the barn.

roaringmommy said...

Have to agree with alpicks treasures--it looks like the scene of an animal homicide. I've never seen owl poop. Now I can say I've seen it all.

2 LMZ FARMS said...

Leave it to you do discuss owl poop. lol I think that kind of stuff is very interesting. Makes you wonder what else you can find in those things. Okay, you have to come and visit. We will visit Graceland and ride the hill sides on the horses. So, are you coming.?
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!
Laura

Tracey said...

Gary, so glad to be of service! We both know you wanted kangaroo steak instead :)

Wanna be really grossed out? I was eating chocolate with one hand and breaking owl poo apart with the other! Okay, maybe not. I may be willing to risk dropping my camera on the way up that ladder, but not chocolate! Heaven's to Betsy, nooooo.... (Where did that phrase come from? Who's Betsy?)

Laura, when? where? YES!!! I'll leave City Boy here with Darling and HE can convince her to get up in the morning and take her to school (that oughta be a real treat for him!) But in all honesty, with the critters, I rarely get further than Brigget's Owl Barn.

Rachel, dah-ling...we may be able to get you some poo for a great deal less (I'll only charge you, say, $12!!)

Animal homicide...sounds like a story that needs writing... :)

Wilf James said...

Thanks for stopping by RĂ©al DP.

I have spent a pleasant time enjoying your images and narrative including red doors and City Boy and to you wanting to lose a few pounds.

‘This weight that I'd like to lose is in my middle, and maybe a bit in the bust. Listen, I know what you small busted women are saying…………..’

You will have to remember you have male readers also, and with the greatest respect, this made me really smile – something to do with shirt manufactures and the female form.

OK so the owl poop was interesting too. I have also broken apart owl poop and wondered at what the poor little animal used to be that was neatly packaged in the furry ball.

Tracey said...

Wilf,dah-ling...What a sweet compliment, knowing my words have you drifting off into dreamland at the thought of women's forms and poorly manufactured clothing... Perhaps you'd enjoy reading the post regarding swimsuits as well?

And so glad to know you also enjoy plucking apart owl poo. Personally, I'm glad owls are smaller than me!

MB said...

Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs just had a segment on owl poop. Rather interesting. MB

Sheila said...

I wondered where this was going when you began to talk about owl poop. We once lived in a house that backed on to an old homestead. The big old trees there were where these birds (and some hawks too...do they have the same kind of poop do you know?)used to sit, and leave their calling cards. They are fascinating, and I too have been known to do an poop mortem on them to see what was on the previous day's menu.
Did I mention I hate winter..?
BTW...Happy Valentines Day..!

Werna Gail said...

Since I have missed your blog for a day or so and am just getting caught up, well what can I say...I'm speechless! owl poop ?
mmmmmm I didn't know any of that. I do love barns though.

Anonymous said...

Okay. Tracey the delightful storyteller is my friend. She has mastered the hayloft ladder like a pro. Not long ago she would stare at that long,high ladder with the whites of her eyes showing. Did I know she was taking photos up there while picking up hay? That woman! By the way, those fuzzy pellets are actually ejected from the front end of the owl instead of the rear exit. The white you see decorating the loft wall is what we would technically call "poop." Thank you, Tracey, for presenting so beautifully my pride and joy....my farm! Brigget

Tracey said...

Brigget! So glad you came along :) And so glad you cleared up the poop issue after everyone was finished with their meals! They weren't too fond of talking of fuzzy poo during the height of their chocolate eating...can you imagine if I'd known owl poo was as gooey as other poo? Euw!!!

Unknown said...

What a huge cool barn, owl poop included!! I love the red door too!