Carnage In The Barn....

Maybe I can chalk this one up to "Cabin Fever" - I haven't decided yet. I DO know that everyone is thinking spring needs to hurry up. Just when the critters are convinced spring is on it's way, winter decides to come roaring back.

I hate it when it does that....

At any rate, the last couple of days have not been fun outside. Blowing snow, wind chills below zero, highs in the low twenties, and cloudy, dreary days. It's been one of those days where even the nutcase LGD spends his time inside the barn.

Every once-in-awhile he comes to what little senses he has.

Unfortunately, critters are like kids - when they are cooped up, they tend to think of new and dastardly ways to get into trouble.

Take our barn dwellers for instance - they apparently keep each other entertained when I'm not around:



They even molested an open bale of alfalfa I had resting on top of the others. As you can see, it was tossed to the floor:



All this hay was neatly stacked when I left the barn the night before. My first fleeting thought was that the cows had somehow gotten into it. After checking the door, I found it closed - and latched - so, if the bovine were the guilty ones, they had to have someone "on the inside" to help them.

Not that the cats are above aiding and abetting....

Besides, the fence rails were still intact, and the gate was across the entrance to the hay stack. Cows are sneaky, but not real good at covering their tracks - and there was no evidence of cow pies....

The goats weren't saying anything but, something told me they KNEW what happened. They'd been either threatened, or paid off.

The guilty party - or, more likely, parties - were cunning, devious, conniving, and crafty. All of which mean ONE thing......

THE CATS!

Now, you might say - "Those had to be some mighty BIG felines to move a hay bale"! You would be correct - BUT - they had an accomplice!



It's never hard for the cats to persuade Shadow into trouble - he's young and impressionable.

They ALMOST had me fooled, until one of the guilty returned to the scene of the crime:



The "cat was out of the bag" so to speak, when the goofball dog ran over to see if he could get the game going again. The cats run, he chases them, all the while scattering bales every which way AND lose!

Their "play" ended wen I let out a yell, and hobbled over to the hay. Both culprits decided to stop chasing each other and hightail it out of the area as fast as they could.

No apologies, no nuthin', just me, left to clean up after their fun.

While I didn't catch her in the act, I KNOW Tractor Buddy is NEVER innocent in times like these. She was sitting nearby, giving me her best "Who, ME?" looks. She's just smart enough to not do anything when I'm watching.



Although, I'm beginning to worry about those green eyes - the phrase "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" comes to mind....

If her shirt starts to split, I'm outta there.