We hear coyotes around the farm on a regular basis -- as in at least once a week. In fact if the local emergency sirens went off at noon, like they do in many places, I’m sure we would hear them yelping and yapping every day. When a cat moved into our barn several years ago, the coyotes could be heard right behind the corral on a nightly basis. One day the cat disappeared and the coyotes were gone too. We don’t have many ground hogs anymore either -- plenty of squirrels and the…

Continue Reading

As a writer and photographer who makes a living portraying the pastoral scenes and citizens rural Ohio, I have at times wondered what the exotic life is like for the professionals who travel the world for an internationally renowned publication like National Geographic. Last week I had the chance to find out first hand.   With a group of college buddies, I journeyed to eastern Montana to see the work of the American Prairie Foundation. The organization is gathering funds and using the…

Continue Reading

It's official. Ohio hunters killed a record number of deer during the 2008-2009 hunting season. According to Ohio Department of Natural Resources figures released this week, 252,017 deer were killed. That exceeds the previous record of 237,316 deer set in '06-'07.  In '07-'08 hunters took Ohio 232,854 deer. Farmers will be the first to say that's still not enough and even the officials at ODNR admit it. "In spite of a record harvest, work remains to lower the deer population, particularly in…

Continue Reading