Monday, March 1, 2010

Caught a livestock thief today

I was off running an errand and was driving back up to my farm when I noticed a minivan parked around the corner from my gate. Sometimes cars that break down on the highway park there, and stolen cars get dumped there from time to time. It's an easy-on easy-off the highway place.

As I got closer I could see that the side door on the minivan was open, and there was someone in the passenger seat. A little closer, and I could see a guy with a salmon net walking under the trestle towards my fenceline. At that point I had a pretty good idea of what was going on. I pulled in behind them, and walked up -- sure enough, there's a pet carrier in the minivan, door open.

It's a neer-do-well neighbor of mine. He bought 3 chickens from me, and I believe he was looking to add to his flock. "ah, hi! we were just shooing your chickens towards your fence!" Yea, sure. Tell you what; there's no chicken in your carrier, and you've been a customer of mine in the past, so I'm going to give you a pass this time. But next time I'm gonna deck you. Drive away!

6 comments:

Robin said...

WOW! What nerve.

Across The Creek Farm said...

Chicken Rustlers = birdshot; Deer Poachers = Buckshot

Anonymous said...

OMG, that is quite a picture to imagine, I wish you could have snapped one for us! Uh, just strolling the neighborhood carrying a salmon net! Never leave home without it! Do you suppose they were figurin' that any birds that walked off your property and into the right-of-way were fair game or something? Does the WAC specify whether shooting farm predators *excludes* the human ones? :-D
Michelle

Dean Smith said...

I think I know who.

Joanne Rigutto said...

Our neighbor lost a calf to rustlers a few years ago. People said that they'd found the calf dead on the outside of the fence and decided to salvage it. Yeah right....

Bruce King said...

I said "neighbor", but what I mean is that this guy lives a half-mile down the road. The fact that he had a salmon net and a pet carrier means he'd thought about it and maybe made another trip to go get them. It was very clear to me what was going on.