Unsolved Mysteries

I have really got to be more careful what I wish for (or I've got to starting buying lottery tickets and wishing for different things)!! Several weeks ago, when we had 6 adult guineas and a combined total of 17 keets (see my last post if you're confused) I was imagining a future where you couldn't turn around without tripping over a guinea. I was actually hoping for some "natural causes" to step in and thin out the rasp (again, see last post) to a more reasonable number. Well…I take it back!!!!! I don't mean it anymore!! Last Sunday, I had 6 adults and 15 keets. This morning I have 3 adults and 5 keets (one less than yesterday). Something has discovered my yard and turned it into a nightly meal ticket, stealthily taking as much as 4 or 5 guineas in a night without a sound or a trace.

The carnage started last Tuesday night, when both Joe and I were away. I'd locked the chickens in the pen with plenty of food and water, taken Wilson with me, and left Lily and Foxy in the care of Joe's mom to run free and hold down the fort. When I returned the following afternoon, I found a headless baby guinea in the dog pen and a quick head count of the guineas revealed that we had five fewer keets than when I'd left. Given the strong circumstantial evidence, Lily got the blame. I didn't know what to be sadder about, the lost guineas or the notion of Lily on a killing spree. I wasn't entirely comfortable with blaming Lily as something about the scene didn't fit what I would imagine a Lily killing spree to look like. Namely, there were no other bodies, the guineas all seemed comfortable around Lily, and Lily had no signs of blood on her. Still, the only smart thing to do seemed to be to treat her as guilty until proven innocent, so we started keeping her tied up when we were gone and only let her loose when we were there to keep an eye on things. Despite the precautions, guineas continued to disappear, always overnight, picked out of the treetops where they roost.

Lily has since been fully acquitted of all charges. Between being tied up and the fact that she is incapable of climbing trees, she had a rock solid alibi for the most recent disappearances. Even the headless guinea can be explained away. About a week ago, I had found a dead keet while weedeating around the chicken pen. I was too lazy to bury it, so I had just walked into the woods a ways and thrown it as far as I could. Lily was guilty not of murder but of simple "grave" robbing and carcass munching.

While we are relieved that the murderer is not one of our own, if this keeps up we will be out of the guinea business entirely in less than a week. I even tried locking the guineas up in the chicken pen at night with the chickens to keep them protected, but the urge to roost high in the trees was strong enough that at least half of the guineas found their way through holes in the chicken pen roof and roosted in the surrounding trees. It looks like all we can do at this point is hold our breath and hope for the best…which I am doing. Did you hear that?? I AM OFFICIALLY HOPING THAT NO MORE OF MY GUINEAS GET EATEN AND THAT I WIN THE LOTTERY!

P.S. Jenny, I'm sorry to be posting more bad news, but I did get my fall broccoli planted and am optimistic about the results. I've checked every leaf for worms or eggs, protected the stems against cutworms and covered them all with row cover to keep the cabbage moths away.

P.S.S. Jenny, at least I didn't even post about contracting Lyme's disease! :)