Pest Patterns

They're back, and I can almost cite the exact moment they returned.  I was digging holes in my manure-pile garden.  

A couple of sacks of seed potatoes sat on the dirt pile as I moved along its crest next to the barn.  While bent over jabbing holes in the dirt, I kept thinking about those big beauties I pulled out that pile last fall.  

Biggest potatoes I've ever raised, and the best-tasting.

We were supposed to get wild and woolly weather sometime during the evening, so I figured plopping a few spud starts in the ground before the storm was a good idea.  After all, the weather forecast calls for a bunch more rain.

I had almost finished digging 20 holes along Manure-Pile Ridge when Lefty, our chestnut Arabian,  started his high-pitched screams and took off racing around the pasture.  Soon, two others were chasing along with him.

I figured he had just discovered the much larger expanse for running after filling his belly for the second time yesterday.  His rounds around the field and the screams continued for about ten minutes.

After watching and admiring the beautiful sight of three horses literally racing in the evening wind at the end of a beautiful day, I went back to work on my spud patch.  

The wind was blowing; we'd had some significant breezes throughout the day but nothing close to the 40 mph gusts predicted.  

In the blowing wind, I noticed some irritants buzzing around my head and neck.  Then, one landed with lead feet on my arm, wasting no time sucking up its dinner.  

A split second and I had brushed it away cuz I hadn't felt a mosquito bite like that for some time.  The rest of my planting operation sped up as the critters descended upon me---head-and-neck, arms, anywhere they could land.

The onslaught was so intense I considered giving up my planting plan and running away from Manure-Pile Ridge to the safety of the house. 

Self discipline took over, though.  

"Just finish this job; then you can go," my inner boss told me.  So, I did, batting and planting for the next two or three minutes. 

I took the spud sacks to the house and then figured it was time to put the horses in the barn.  

When I reached the pasture, they pretty much told me it was past time for them to leave their lush pasture and escape to the barn.  

Each horse was covered from stem to stern with mosquitoes.  No wonder Lefty was screaming. 

No chasing down, no coaxing this time with horses that sometimes play hard to get.  

Spring pests had arrived and with military precision.

Probably two seconds after Lefty's initial screams I had noticed a mosquito or two, but soon they had launched an all-out assault on all living beings, housing a good supply of blood. 

I felt bad about those moments of simply admiring Lefty as he raced through the field.  He had actually been protesting rather than announcing to all that spring had sprung during what I thought had been a celebratory run. 

It seems that everything spring has arrived here almost overnight.  Swallows are dive bombing humans and four-legged creatures all over the Lovestead.  They've taken up residence in the barn rafters and in the front-yard bird houses.

Yesterday, when I had the audacity to water some flowers over by their bird houses, they let me know that,  for now, that's their territory.  

And, the brown-bellied swallows in the barn---they get mad when I shut the double doors and one of their family members happens to still be outside.   

This morning they were in dive-bombing mode with their assaults aimed at Annie Dog. 

Hardly among the pests, but shockingly appearing almost within hours are the spring blossoms on several fruit trees.  Heck, two days ago they didn't even have leaves.

I believe Mother Nature is playing a game of catch-up.  With that in mind, I also believe that the critters of her realm realize that time is money, and they've got to play a little catch-up too.  

So, the blood-sucking 'squiters and dive-bombing swallows are taking over their territory and making up for lost time, and the rest of us earthly creatures had better watch out and lie low.