Another wind storm has brought down more “widow maker” branches.

I think the fence damage will be easier to fix this time, as long as I can get the fencing to stand up again.

 

If not, I have a length of unused fencing I can stretch across the span to make sure the goats stay on the right side of the fence.

 

Our trees here in the Pacific NW are heavy with spring leaves now, so a wind storm was pretty much guaranteed to bring down branches again.

 

When I first looked out, I feared the damage would be worse. Lots of smaller branches and twigs were down, too, so I couldn’t see how many big branches had fallen across the fence.

 

As it turns out, just two had.  And the smaller branches managed to miss the fence; they fell right next to or against it without damaging it.  YAY!

 

There are still several large branches overhead. But since they survived this wind storm, they’re probably going to stay up there longer.

 

At least, I hope so!

 

I hope this is the last of the fence-mending I’ll be doing for a while, because I’m scheduled for surgery on June 9th. So, no more wind storms for at least a month, please, Mother Nature?

 

There’s only one more big (small tree-size!) branch that might come down across the fence, so I think we’re in a good place now as long as we don’t hang out under the trees in the pasture, which we never do.

 

The goats know that wind is dangerous so they stay away from trees when its windy. They get into the shed or under the canopy when there’s a wind storm. In fact, even this morning, still, they’re a little leery of hanging out under the trees.

 

It’s amazing how brittle this species of tree is. They’re cottonwood trees. The ancillary (smaller) branches snap off very easily, and even the larger branches seem to snap off at a specific point quite cleanly.

 

The goats love the leaves, so they’ll be happy for quite a while now that there are so many on the ground, once they get over their fright that the trees sometimes drop stuff!

 

Update:  Got the fencing back up. It isn’t the most beautiful of jobs, but it’ll work, and it’s out of sight of the public… our public-facing fencing looks good.

 

If I had “bad” goats, nothing would hold them, but I have good goats. They feel most secure inside their fence.  Mr. Tumnus got out the other day and stood in the back yard looking frantic until Jackie noticed and told me he was out there. As soon as I walked out the back door, he came running to me as if asking, “Where have you been?!  I was freaking out!!!”