The subtleties of body language

As I walked out to the barn with the pig slop this morning, I heard the ducks quacking happily. This is not an unusual sound on any given morning and I didn't give it much notice. However, as I passed by their pen, I realized that their little feathered bodies were on the wrong side of the fence. As I put the pig buckets down on the ground with a little gasp of exasperation and slight amusement, I said to Mr. & Mrs. Drake,

"What are you guys doing out of your pen?"

They replied; "Quack, quack, quack!"

I propped their gate open and began our subtle duck dance.

There are some people (members of my family included) that believe the no-holds-barred, bull in the china shop, run at them with arms flailing, is the way to contain birds.

I may have thought this growing up when I was six and the dust flying, feathers fluttering every which way and the squawks and squeals from whatever fowl you were trying to capture were amusing.

 I have since grown older and learned that very small movements make a very big difference when trying to control an animal whether it be feathered or furred.

I opened the gate and stood about 4 feet away from them and leaned my body weight from one foot to the other.

This inch or so of movement caused them to go in the direction I wanted to them to. 

As they stopped about a foot away from the gate and I could no longer lean to the left because the porch was in my way, I put my hand out instead. 

They continued into their pen, I smiled to myself and shut their gate. 

Subtlety has a lot more effectiveness than the bull in the china shop, as I have learned over time. 

This is even true with cows and horses and other four-legged furries. 

Not so useful with pigs, though, with whom the best approach really is to just give them a little smack on the butt and tell them where to go. 

Farmers noticed other subtleties as well.

There is a change in the air lately and even though it is still February spring is just around the corner.

Sugaring has begun very early this year and the maple sap scent is wafting through the air.

The cows are starting to get cabin fever as they're wondering further out in their Pasture, making footprints in the previously untouched, just melting snow. The pigs have taken a different tack however and have been taking longer and longer naps in their house with just their butts sticking out.

Whether this is due to the warmer weather since they have been used to the cold, or if its new mother's syndrome and they have morning sickness, I have not yet decided. 

Side note, whether pigs have morning sickness or not I'm really not sure, I'm just being humorous. 

There's also a change in the heat of the sun and the softness of the air. It's definitely too early for this kind of weather, this is more indicative of late March than late February but never the less, here we are. 

Whether you believe in global warming or not, I think you've got to say that the weather pattern is changing.

This could be very bad news for farmers. 

Note to all, please, think green, be kind, love your Mother Earth.