Kids Books Are B.S.

So, you have all probably either read or watched Bambi.  That was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid.  Then I had a daughter and watched it with her.  As a hunter, I was offended.  What an anti-hunting movie that says nothing about over-population of deer, disease or starvation.

Most of you have probably never read the kids book Findus and the Fox by Sven Nordqvist.  My Aunt and Uncle bought this book for Hattie on a trip to Sweden when Hattie was very little.  This was our favorite book to read together.  I think Hattie liked it so much because I liked it so much.  I liked it because the illustrations of Pettson's farm, outbuildings and farm house were exactly what I had pictured when I first decided I wanted my own farm.  Findus is actually Pettson's cat.

However, as I read through this book the first time with Hattie I realized it was just as flawed as Bambi.  In this story Pettson's neighbor is portrayed as the villain because he wants to shoot a fox that has been eating his chickens.  The neighbor warns Pettson about the fox and states his intention to shoot it.  However, Pettson, having a bigger heart than the neighbor, decides not to shoot it but to really scare it.

Pettson sets up an elaborate plan that involves fire works, an exploding chicken and a fake ghost.  Findus goes along with because he apparently does not have enough instinct to know that a fox will also kill a cat.  At the crescendo of this tale the fireworks get lit off and the fake ghost is very scary, but they don't scare the fox, they scare the neighbor who has tracked the fox to Pettson's farm in the middle of the night.

It turns out that the fox has an injured leg, and that is the only reason that this sweet little creature would ever harm a chicken.

I read this book to Hattie a million times, and we always enjoyed it.  But, it was always followed with a discussion about why I will be shooting any foxes we see on our farm....so, it was a teaching moment as well.

My Own Version Of Findus And The Fox (Maybe)

Well, everything comes full circle.  I am currently living my own version of Findus And The Fox.

It seems like I will never stop talking about this trip that I took to Florida to wind up our summer.  Actually, what I have to talk about today is loosely related to that trip only.

On my last night in Florida I called Autumm to say goodnight and visit for a while at the end of the day.  She was actually out in our pasture at that moment collecting five dead chickens to dispose of.  There were five dead ones out there in the same area.  One had been chewed on slightly, or possibly pecked on my magpies.  Another one was missing its head.  And the rest didn't display any evidence of how they had been killed.

This was not pleasant news to receive, but I was helpless to do anything since I was sitting in a hotel room in Orlando.  Autumm had started back to work when she and Hattie got back from Florida.  So, she was feeding the pigs and letting out the chickens at about 6am.  When I am home I generally let the chickens out at around 7am, feed the pigs and then irrigate.  So, I am out in the general area of the chickens for about 30 minutes before going off to do something different.

With the days getting shorter and Autumm letting the chickens out earlier, they were coming out of the coop when it was still pretty dark outside for these few days that I was still in Florida.  And, since Autumm was heading off to work and Hattie was still in bed there was no human out there to disturb whatever predator this was that was killing them.

We did not have any proof that the chickens were killed first thing in the morning, but that seemed like the most likely time.  I have had a fair amount of experience with chickens being kille...