We have two fenced in areas so we could put animals there. I wouldn't mind keeping pigs near the pond to keep the snakes away. I just have to learn about how to care for farm animals. It's hard learning all these new things.
Bears in Texas
- Thread starter Pearl
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Um... A suggestion... Find a neighbor or friend that keeps the kind of livestock you are thinking of keeping.. Work with them to somewhat apprentice yourself, use them as a mentor to learn how to keep animals.. Over and above that learn how to do enough farming to raise as much of the animals feed as you can.. If you have to buy every mouthful of feed your animals consume it usually is a loosing equation.. Good luck..
Unfortunately.. Living in the far north bush I had to ..take care.. of 8 different kinds of predators for the safety of family and livestock.. And by statute it is all legal.. However the reality usually is if you report such action, most times you will be threatened with at least a citation or even arrest.. So that is why the 3-S control method is the usual response..
Interesting thought.. I never picked up on that detail, but thinking about it that makes sense..
You eat bear ?? Absolutely... Black bear is a very dense, dark, very rich meat..
My favorite is to mix ground bear and other meats in a home smoked summer sausage type recipe..
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Unfortunately.. Like most any place a large metro area can outvote a significant rural area when the metro has no idea the consequences these action will create.. People letting there ..feel good today.. over ride the science involved.. Don't get me started..
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Many don't realize... Even ..predators.. have a structure to there own food chain.. Grizzly will eat black bear, and on down the chain.. Much of it being what individual animals have been taught or coincidentally exposed to..
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Bear story..
My neighbor with honey bees delivered a load of hay to another neighbor one day.. No one was home so he just took there tractor and unloaded.. He said he felt uneasy for some reason, but shook it off and did the work.. When he got home, later the neighbor brought over trail cam pictures and video of a sow grizzly with cubs that sat in the bush maybe 20 meters away as he worked and came back out when he left there yard.. Lesson = don't discount your gut feeling too quickly..
My favorite is to mix ground bear and other meats in a home smoked summer sausage type recipe..
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Unfortunately.. Like most any place a large metro area can outvote a significant rural area when the metro has no idea the consequences these action will create.. People letting there ..feel good today.. over ride the science involved.. Don't get me started..
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Many don't realize... Even ..predators.. have a structure to there own food chain.. Grizzly will eat black bear, and on down the chain.. Much of it being what individual animals have been taught or coincidentally exposed to..
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Bear story..
My neighbor with honey bees delivered a load of hay to another neighbor one day.. No one was home so he just took there tractor and unloaded.. He said he felt uneasy for some reason, but shook it off and did the work.. When he got home, later the neighbor brought over trail cam pictures and video of a sow grizzly with cubs that sat in the bush maybe 20 meters away as he worked and came back out when he left there yard.. Lesson = don't discount your gut feeling too quickly..
In Montana we are getting to be pretty fusty. Probably shoot, shovel, and shut up if that ever happens. There is a big movement in Montana by the Republicans which is driving the Communists nuts to have the forest service lands turned over to Montana so that the lands can be properly managed.
I saw a painting on a big pick up truck yesterday with California plates that said, "No we are not going to California your state." Many of the Bluefugees are middle class outdoors type that are tired of the communism in the CHT (new term to me and it means Communist Held Territory" I learned this from Mises U and it refers to the very Blue states).
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As long as pigs are free ranging have some shelter and water they'll pretty much take care of themselves.
California license plates and sign saying ..we won't California your state..
When I lived in northern Canada during covid, there was a young woman with a pickup that had Alaska license plates.. She had a sign saying ..I live and go to college here.. eh...
Too bad she had to have a problem over that.. But I thought it was quite funny..
When I lived in northern Canada during covid, there was a young woman with a pickup that had Alaska license plates.. She had a sign saying ..I live and go to college here.. eh...
Too bad she had to have a problem over that.. But I thought it was quite funny..
I became a vegetarian in high school after doing a book report on the meat industry - very gross. I was a vegetarian for years and then eggs and milk products began making me sick to stomach so I became full vegan. All of my husband's brothers are big meat eaters and all are on high blood pressure meds. My hub and I have low blood pressure. My doctor ran a blood screen and said it was the best blood he ever saw. I know it's not for everyone but it works for me. My husband still likes meat once in awhile but for the most part doesn't eat it. We took a group photo with his family and someone remarked how young that we look compared to everyone else. That's not saying we don't have our troubles - we do - but it works for us. I made the mistake of trusting a 'Top Doc' once and he damaged nerves. I try to avoid doctors for the most part now and take care of our own health.
I agree with paying attention to gut feelings. That's why I asked another poster (sorry I forgot your name!) when he said that he "felt eyes on him." That piqued my interest. I wonder if it's something you develop or it comes naturally.
I watched a documentary on a guy who filmed bears in CO I believe. His girlfriend filmed him standing very close to a giant grizzly. They were later found - they had been killed by a grizzly. So apparently he didn't pay attention to his gut feelings. It looked like he had grown too bold and forgot that wild animals are wild animals and are unpredictable.
That's where I think a good dog would come in handy. A family member just told me their border collie/ terrier mix dog spotted a bear in their yard and ran right up to it barking. That dog did not back down. The bear stood there hissing at the dog. We never knew that bears hissed. Dogs have those honed instincts and seem to pick up scents and danger far before humans do. When a huge dog trotted up to me I had no sense of danger but my little terrier knew. She was leaping up with all that was in her to bite the dog's throat. I didn't grasp what she was doing until the huge dog bit me. But my terrier saved me from a bad bite. The bite didn't break the skin.
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I hope they prevail. There's a large percentage of land that is owned by the UN. Of course everyone knows about the "human settlement zones." God only knows what it will look like here in another year or so. Notice they're steadily raising taxes. We lived on an acre with a nice house and the taxes went up to over $7k so we moved to a low tax district but they kept raising the taxes. They're making home ownership unaffordable. It's like a boa tightening around it's prey.
That's good to know. I want something that will kill or keep away copperheads - really all snakes. We also have a stream running behind us. A woman was sitting in a restaurant not long ago and a copperhead had somehow slithered in and bit her.
Do coyotes go after pigs? I couldn't bear to get an animal and then have it torn apart by coyotes. My husband really has to take action about them. For some reason we have an abundance of coyotes. I don't think I could kill an animal though, unless it was attacking someone or a pet. I thought of getting guinea hens to keep the ticks down but they'd be killed if I let them free range.
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How many acres do you own? Can you get an Agricultural exemption on the land? We get both the AG and Forestry exemptions on our land. When we first bought this place (several hundred acres) our property taxes were $35 per year. They've gone up to about $600 per year since we built the house, barn, and other outbuildings.
Just curious, where does the UN own land in the US?
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Fencing! You need to have secure fencing for your livestock. I have about an acre fenced for the chicken run. So far nothing has gotten in. I'm in the process of expanding the pig pen to about 10 acres in size. I've got all the posts in and about 1/3 of the wire hog panels up, need about 75 more 16' panels to finish. Most pigs root and make a mess out of any enclosure that you put them in. I'm looking at going with Idaho Pasture pigs this time. They are grazers and don't root.
I really don't understand some people's hatred towards coyotes. They are fascinating animals. We see and hear them all the time around here and never have a problem. Every time I see a coyote kill a ground squirrel out in one of our pasture, it means one less squirrel that I have to trap or shoot. We enjoy hearing them at night too. During winter I trap a lot of coyotes for their fur. The wife wants a coyote bed spread made out of coyote, with Arctic fox trim. The coyotes here have beautiful pale fur. They bring good $$ if their hide is handled properly.
The one house we had was one acre. It was formerly a farmers field and that soil was the best. We grew beautiful fruit and vegetables there. Taxes climbed too high so we moved to a low tax district and smaller house on 1/4 of an acre. That's the house I love. The soil wasn't good for growing however, and the tall trees blocked the sun so growing any vegetables or fruit wasn't good. We grew some things in pots on our deck and everything tastes 100% better than irradiated supermarket food.
We now own only 36 acres but the previous owners went crazy with planting grass everywhere so my hub has a HUGE job cutting the grass. I don't know why they would do that. So we're trying to un-do their mistakes. They weren't very smart with the way they designed this property. They built the garage on the hill instead of the house and when it rains we get mud slides down to our carport. Hubby has figured out a way to divert it but it's a lot of work. We're trying to let a lot of it return to wild. We have to find a spot to grow vegetables and fruit yet but we have to figure out a way to keep our garden from wildlife. How do you do it? I was looking into electric fencing.
Hubby is busy cleaning up after a tornado. It was weird: the tornado ripped out a HUGE tree in our front yard - a distance from the house. Luckily it didn't block the street. It blew out the window on a 100+ year old farmhouse on our property. Then it ripped out two large trees that hub couldn't even pick up with his tractor so he's been out using the chain saw to cut the trees up. Then the tornado miraculously missed our house and touched down on the other side of our house, leveling HUGE trees.
It's a beautiful spot but it's hard trying to reverse bad choices that the previous owners made. I was actually thinking of renting this house out and building a very small rancher up on a hilltop. My husband would have to do a lot of it for $ reasons so I'm just not sure what to do. I miss my old house - hub fixed it just the way I wanted it. We put it up for sale and were INUNDATED with calls. Realtors kept calling a family member so he told them it's off the market.
So I miss my old house and not too sure I want to try to fix this house with an awful design.
Where do you apply for AG and Forestry exemptions? I'm looking into it now.
I'm sure you've heard of Agenda 21. The UN owns a lot of land in America:
https://www.texemarrs.com/061997/national_parks_belong_to_un.htm
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Some day we will realize that governments a legal crime syndicates and politicians are criminals running a crime syndicate. People will never wise up in my lifetime.
Coyotes will go after anything as they are predators and that is their nature. However, I doubt they would go after full grown pigs as pigs live in groups but I'm sure if the coyotes could get a piglet they would.
You must be a real city Lady. Out here you either eat it or it eats you.
You is most definitely a city Lady. It's not likely you would last five minutes in this wild country. No offense meant.
Well, college football fans got a jolt yesterday when they heard the "Bear" had returned to Tuscaloosa. 
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Councilman urges residents to be cautious after bear spotted in Tuscaloosa neighborhood
by Sumner Harrell Fri, August 2nd 2024
TUSCALOOSA COUNTY, Ala. (WBMA) — Tuscaloosa City Council President Kip Tyner urged residents to be cautious after he said a bear was spotted.
In a social media post, Tyner said the black bear cub was seen in the Oak Chase neighborhood early Friday morning....
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Councilman urges residents to be cautious after bear spotted in Tuscaloosa neighborhood
by Sumner Harrell Fri, August 2nd 2024
TUSCALOOSA COUNTY, Ala. (WBMA) — Tuscaloosa City Council President Kip Tyner urged residents to be cautious after he said a bear was spotted.
In a social media post, Tyner said the black bear cub was seen in the Oak Chase neighborhood early Friday morning....
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I was never so glad to see a huge hog in my life on my friend's game cam!! I don't need bears!!
Trivia...
If you are ever puzzled by an animal on a trail cam picture or video, here is a trick to make it easier to judge what it was..
Make 2 ..meter sticks.. to take a picture with at the same location.. I made up 2 sticks, 39 3/8" long and 2-3" wide out of 1/2" plywood.. Painted both sticks yellow, with a 1/2" wide strip of red reflector tape across each end.. Drill a hole in the center of one stick, drill a hole near the end of the other stick.. Use a bolt and wing nut to make a "T" shape reference post.. Have a known height person hold the "T" stick at the location where the animal was, take another picture where the camera was and compare pictures.. Also take you test photo at about the same time of day if it isn't dead dark out.. This will give you an idea how big, tall, and what species the animal was... I have used this a couple times specifically debunk people saying they seen a black panther, when one case was a house cat, the other was a small cougar in bad light.. KnowwhatImean..
If you are ever puzzled by an animal on a trail cam picture or video, here is a trick to make it easier to judge what it was..
Make 2 ..meter sticks.. to take a picture with at the same location.. I made up 2 sticks, 39 3/8" long and 2-3" wide out of 1/2" plywood.. Painted both sticks yellow, with a 1/2" wide strip of red reflector tape across each end.. Drill a hole in the center of one stick, drill a hole near the end of the other stick.. Use a bolt and wing nut to make a "T" shape reference post.. Have a known height person hold the "T" stick at the location where the animal was, take another picture where the camera was and compare pictures.. Also take you test photo at about the same time of day if it isn't dead dark out.. This will give you an idea how big, tall, and what species the animal was... I have used this a couple times specifically debunk people saying they seen a black panther, when one case was a house cat, the other was a small cougar in bad light.. KnowwhatImean..
Wild hogs are just as dangerous as any bear maybe even more so. A big wild boar (hog) can kill a full grown person real easy. Always be careful around hogs especially big ones and sows with piglets.
Below, this is from last summer, a place i hunt medicinal plants. It's not a foot wide people path followed by the black line, its a hog trail! There was another across the creek. The stream bed was covered with tracks too. They are getting pretty bad here, even saw sign at the new creek i was at yesterday.
I make a lot of noise in the woods on purpose. I want critters to know I'm coming. But the key is to be able to read animal sign. Knowing what's in the area is a big advantage. Sadly most folks wouldn't know sign if they fell over it. Or walk like its trail in a city park oblivious to danger around them.
I put a couple good books on tracking in the library. Mammal Tracks & Sign covers all north american species. Tracking & the Art of Seeing is excellent too.
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/tracking.7957/
I make a lot of noise in the woods on purpose. I want critters to know I'm coming. But the key is to be able to read animal sign. Knowing what's in the area is a big advantage. Sadly most folks wouldn't know sign if they fell over it. Or walk like its trail in a city park oblivious to danger around them.
I put a couple good books on tracking in the library. Mammal Tracks & Sign covers all north american species. Tracking & the Art of Seeing is excellent too.
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/tracking.7957/
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Yes but, I can smell them in advance, and they can't break into your house and kill you!! And they are like cattle, they usually make 'their rounds' at the same time everyday!
Bears do have territory but I'm not sure about the "rounds" as it were. You can smell bears too. I guess I've been around bears most of my life so they don't bother me all that much. Don't keep your garage on the porch or near your house and you should be safe.
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Bears have territories and make ...rounds...
Yes.. I had one persistent black bear with a small white blaze on its throat, (common trait, but not in that area) that came around about every 31/2 days until it got in enough trouble at my place I had to ..intervein.. Again.. Yes... Keep things picked up and very clean as garbage, feed, building security and all are concerned.. A bear may still come around and check several times, but hopefully will usually be quick about moving on..
My neighbor who kept honey bees stored some of his equipment in a small garage building and one side of an old airplane hanger that were next to one another.. He had to surround most of both buildings with reinforcement materials and bear mats to keep bears from trying to dig under walls or get in by wrecking siding and such..
Yes.. I had one persistent black bear with a small white blaze on its throat, (common trait, but not in that area) that came around about every 31/2 days until it got in enough trouble at my place I had to ..intervein.. Again.. Yes... Keep things picked up and very clean as garbage, feed, building security and all are concerned.. A bear may still come around and check several times, but hopefully will usually be quick about moving on..
My neighbor who kept honey bees stored some of his equipment in a small garage building and one side of an old airplane hanger that were next to one another.. He had to surround most of both buildings with reinforcement materials and bear mats to keep bears from trying to dig under walls or get in by wrecking siding and such..
This……
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We get an average of a dozen of black bears per year that we actually get to see crossing our yard. Who knows how many we don't see. We've never had an issue with our bear neighbors.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10215830524830002&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10215830524830002&type=3
We got a lot of em here.
Well we are about a 145,000 square miles with according to FWP 13,000 to 17,000 black bears and about 2100 Grizzly bears. One would think one would never see a bear Black or otherwise but that is not the case buggers are every where.
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Visitors this summer. Infrequent but they do come around.
Last year they were keeping their distance
Last year they were keeping their distance
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