How the OFs know that deer can read

On Tuesday, Sept. 12, the Old Men of the Mountain met at the Chuck Wagon Diner in Princetown. It is getting so that in the early morning it is necessary to have the car’s headlights on. The comfort of driving early without the use of the headlights is gone for this year. Darn.

It is also that time of year again when the OFs have to watch out for kids waiting for the school bus, and those yellow carriages hauling the little darlings off to the institutes of learning. Now all the army of teachers has to do is get them to pay attention and learn. That is the hard part.

Feline frustrations

Cats! Many people have cats and love it or them and some people have a cat and don’t want the animal or the animals, and there are some that love cats and can’t have them due to allergies.

One OF said there is a shot for that (he meant the allergies). Another OF mentioned that he had a friend that had a cat and loved it but put up with quite an allergy because of it. The OF said he coughed, snorted, and itched all the while they had the animal.

The cat eventually died, and the allergies went away. The OF did not mention if they took in another cat or not.

Others have cats, and these OFs say they did not go out and get a cat; the cat was either willed to them or in one case a stray cat wandered into the family of the OF. The OF said it was not a stray but a set of cats were dropped off on the country road the OF lived on.

Unfortunately, this was a common occurrence. They were now stuck with one of those cats, as were neighbors up the road. This particular animal was long-haired, high maintenance, and eventually grew into quite a big cat. 

The OF said they have now had this ball of fur for at least 10 years. When it showed up, the OF took it to the vet, and, at the vet’s, they asked what its name was and the OFs said Nuisance, because that is what he was.

So this OF is still hobbled with Nuisance, and this ball of fur has cost a small fortune to keep it fed, groomed, and maintained. The OF asked: Does anybody want a cat?

Thinning the herd

Pretty soon it will be deer season and, from all the deer the OFs have had to dodge this year, which were spotted in the most unusual places, it is probably a good thing to thin down the herd.

The OFs started talking about bow hunting and what a challenge that is. One OF mentioned that he thinks it does cause many wounded deer, which have been hit with arrows that don’t do the job.

Another OF, who lives in the country,and owns some land and there is considerable farmland around him, said there are quite a few who hunt the area. What this OF can’t understand (because he does not hunt) is why it takes so many shots to bring down a deer.

This OF says it must be guys just shooting to shoot. Quite often, it sounds like they are using machine guns and this is shotgun territory.

One OF mentioned a neighbor who posts his property. His reasoning, the OF said, is not to protect the deer but he just wants to know who is back there in case anything happens. All anyone has to do is ask and the OF said the neighbor will say OK.

An OF said that posted land is where all the deer go to hide. The OF asked the question that required no answer: Did you ever wonder why during hunting season it is hard to find the deer, then after the season is over deer are back all over the place?

Well, they have gone and hidden on posted land, the deer are not dumb; they obviously can read.

A sticky wicket

Then came up a hard discussion the OFs had to report on and that was water — where it is and its importance. The OFs think that, no matter what, an animal or human requires water or liquid to live. Whether an elephant or a germ, it needs water.

If anyone is going to build a house in the country, one OF mentioned, they had better be pretty sure they can get water. One OF said there can be beautiful areas, and beautiful views, but no water so building a place would make no sense.

The OF continued with how municipalities have to be very careful with development so that they have enough water to sustain the added growth. This is a very sticky wicket, because right now it is not practical to make water, one OF thought.

Every drop of water there is now was made when this ball of dirt was formed; we had better not waste it because there ain’t gonna be no mo.

“Can’t prove it by me,” an OF said. “The land in our area is so darn wet this is the first time I ever got my zero-turn lawn mower stuck. It made a real mess pulling it out of there with another tractor.”

An OF mentioned how often he noticed all the ruts from tractors that maintain the grass on the edge of the highways. It has been so wet the farmer OMOTMs say, a lot of their hay is just junk because they can’t get it in between showers and storms. Hey, there is always next year.

Those Old Men of the Mountain who made it to the Chuck Wagon Diner in Princetown and only had to stop for one school bus, were: Wayne Gaul, Ted Feurer, Jake Lederman, Rick LaGrange, Pete Whitbeck, Mike Kruzinski, George Washburn, Wally Guest, Harold Guest, Frank Fuss, Doug Marshall, Ed Goff, Russ Pokorny, Warren Willsey, Jake Herzog, Mark Traver, Glenn Patterson, Joe Rack, Paul Guiton, Rev. Jay Francis, Duncan Bellinger, with guest Mike Wilson, Elwood Vanderbilt, Dave Hodgetts, Bob Donnelly, Jack Norray, Dick Dexter, Lou Schenck, Herb Bahrmann, John Dab, and me.