George and Annie: Their First Meeting!

      I decided to share a story with you that I had written for my other blog Frye Farm Antics.  This story occurred last summer.  This is the first time I caught Annie and George playing together.  All true with photographic proof!!  I hope you enjoy!

George had a long summer with his brood this summer.  He and Gracie had two babies this year and Kathy and I called them Squawk and Screech!  They were the noisiest baby birds we have ever heard on the farm. Squawk was the worst of the two. Extremely noisy and full of himself and George hardly had time to himself.  But being the great parents that they are they suffered through it and now the babies are finally gone and on their way.  George lately has had to deal with two very large Turkey Vultures that have made their home on our mountain.  They don't bother George and Gracie to much, but when they come around the farm and circle overhead George lets us know they are around.  George has also developed a relationship with Kathy's cats Annie and Zack. Annie and Zack are year old Siamese cats. Sister and Brother.  They have been very naughty this summer getting after my chipmunks and squirrels and the birds, but we love them so we deal with it.
     Lately Annie has been "stalking" George.  George is 3times bigger than Annie and below is a picture of them together on the barn roof!

They stayed there in that position for what seemed an eternity.  Annie would look up at George and George would look down at Annie.  He would sometimes even clap his beak at her and she would stand on her haunches and try to grab at him.  She started out on the ground and slowly ever so slowly worked her way up to the roof.  Annie hid right next to the birch tree.  She almost got his tail feathers.  She timed everything perfectly.  George was bothered by almost getting his tail nabbed, but after he came back and perched on the post he seemed very amused.  

A Raven who likes cats!!!  How funny is that??  After several minutes they were at a stand still.  So I went outside and gathered Annie.  When George saw me coming he went up into the birch tree.  He stayed and watched me chastise Annie and scoop her up.  I looked up at George and apologized and he just bowed his head as if to say Thank You!  I brought Annie in the house and she stayed by the window watching as George continued with his gathering of food.

Its amazing to me how animals of different species can communicate.  How knowing deep in my heart George realizes that I'm there to protect him and that I love him.  Its simple gestures of respect that wins in any relationship great or small.

Thanks for stopping by George: The Old Silo Raven!  George and I appreciate it!

George Antics

     That crazy bird!  I swear if somebody else tells me that animals are not smart or they are the stupidest creatures on earth I will invite them to come and watch George! I watched him for a moment today and this is what I saw.

George was walking around the top of the shed pecking on random parts of the boards.  He would also cock his head and sometimes put his head down in between the boards looking for something.  Then he would spring up like something was trying to get him.  Sound familiar??  Well this is where Annie was.

Yep! Annie was in the house sleeping with big brother Zack.  George was out there all by himself looking for Annie to play with!!!  I watched him for about 10 minutes then he gave up.

    Another thing that happened to George this morning was he had to contend with Zack.  Zack is the darker of the two cats.  I had brought George's food out to him and put it on the roof.  I went and gave the horses their grain and had to put ointment in one of the geldings eyes cause he ripped his eyelid.  That is another story.  Anyway, I finished that up and I walked back around the corner to feed the geese their bread when I looked up and there was George!  I started talking to him.  He turned his head and seemed quite miffed about something,  I had all kinds of goodies on the roof for him.  I had a Cornish hen carcass from supper last night and all the innards that came with it.  I also had stuffing, mashed potatoes, hot dog rolls and of course his two eggs!!  

     Well!  Something else caught my eye.  Zack had taken it upon himself to try and steal George's food.  And the kicker was that Zack KNEW that George was there.  He would look up at George and then lick the chicken innards.  He then would look back up at George as if to say, "raspberry" I'm eating your food!"  

I just shook my head.  Zack was such a brat!  I apologized to George and promptly took Zack down. George clacked his beak at me as if to say Thank You!  I took everyone inside. I had Zack in my arms with Deegan and Coco in tow.  I didn't have my camera with me though and I'm kicking myself in the butt for it, but you win some and you lose some.  George however took all of the really great stuff.  That was the eggs and chicken stuff and some of the hot dog roll.

     I hadn't seen George that much today.  I'm thinking because of the interstate work being done so close to the nest that he is staying to home. Or there is some road kill close by and he is having himself a grand ole feast.  

Kathy and I went out for lunch this afternoon and I brought George home some french fries.  He loves those almost as much as he loves eggs!!!  I put them in a different area than the roof today. I wanted to see if he would take them and seeing that they are his favorite food I thought he probably would..  So I put them on the shed that is his second favorite place to hang out at at the farm.  I called to him, but he didn't come.  So I will check in the morning. 

 George has such a wonderful personality.  He has grown up with both Annie and Zack.  He has such a wonderful relationship with them.  Normally a wild bird of George's size would scare off something if they wanted the food, but George just patiently waited and was happy for me to save him and his food.  Doing little things like that helps with the respect aspect of my relationship with George.  He knows that I'm looking out for him and that I will protect him.  Because of this gesture it has created a trusting bond with respect.  I love George and I believe with all my heart that wild bird loves me too!

Thanks for stopping by George: The Old Silo Raven!

George and I appreciate it!

George and Annie the Siamese

     What a beautiful day today was!  The sun was out and not a cloud in the sky.  George on the other hand had a ruff day.  The farm is right next to the interstate.  The state is now working in our section of road which lies next to George and Gracie's nest.  George tried most of the day to try and presude them to move, but to no avail.  George also had to contend with a flock of Turkey Vultures that continued to fly over the farm throughout the whole day.  AND there was a Red Tailed Hawk and Crows invading his territory.
     Poor, Poor George.  The guy just couldn't catch a break.  I took a lot of photographs today.  It was a gorgeous day. I would have been insane not to have taken the time to get a few in.  So around the property I went.  The vet was coming at 1:30 to check on one of our geldings so I had to hurry and do chores.
     I got back to the barn and realized that I should open the gate to the manure pile.  As I was walking it was so quite except for the birds chirping and this incisive scratching and clawing sounds.  I couldn't figure out where it was coming from until I opened the gate and heard the distinct sound of George's wings.  I turned around and this is what I saw.

George was pecking and scraping his beak against the wood.  My first thought was that he found a bug and was trying to kill it.  Then he did these moves.

And then all of a sudden he acted like his tail got caught on fire!

He did land back down on the top of the shed.  He just kept bouncing around and sticking his head between the boards.  He would tap, tap, tap on the wood and clack his beak.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out what that bird was doing. UNTIL!  I finally saw out of the corner of my eye exactly what he was doing.

Do you see her???  YUP! That is Annie.  George and Annie had been playing with each other for I don't know how long before I got there.  They were having a blast!!!  Right after I shot this photo she leaped up and tried to get him and he hopped out of the way.  Then he would throw his head down there and clack his beak at her.  He was genuinely having fun with Annie and Annie was having fun with him.  Pictures tell a story and you can see how relaxed they both are and the humorous looks on their faces.  After a few moments. This is what happened.

You can see that Annie was the one who spotted me and not George and it was Annie that took off and not George. Because Annie KNOWS we don't like her going after the birds.  Look at the look on her faceRav. She is saying, "Crap! Sierra caught us!!!" 

After Annie took off for a brief moment this is what George did!

He carried on like a spoiled child whose toy had been taken away.  He was stomping his feet and clacking his beak and fluttering up and down.  Eventually Annie did come back to finish playing.

And just as she got back to play with him George saw me and he KNOWS he is suppose to be nice to the kitty's.  He took off like a bandit with his tail on fire.

This is not the first time that Annie and George have been caught playing together.  I caught them one other time.  Annie and her brother Zack both have been seen playing with George.  The cats are two years old and have grown up with George.  George is very patient with them and loves them.  I love watching George interacting with the cats.  I can just see the three of them in a movie where George plays the wise old mentor of the two whipper snappers.

These last photos are of George and Annie in September 2012  at George's feeding station.  So you see they are used to seeing each other in close quarters.

I love my life on the farm!!!

Thanks for stopping by the George: The Old Silo Raven. George and I appreciate it!