We have been losing chickens. We could not tell for sure what critter was at fault. I set traps in the freshly dug holes under the fence. Two local dogs tested my equipment. Hopefully, the lesson that they learned will keep them out of our chicken yard. But, as my grandmother once told us boys, you may not have been doing wrong but if you are in the wrong place you will get in trouble anyway. Last night a very big coon tried to go under the wire. His plan for a fowl meal was foiled. Sorry no pictures. The coon already had a thick coat of fur. This week in northern Missouri the purple martins seem to have disappeared. Are these indications of the weather this winter? Do any of you have old-fashioned weather proverbs?

The Weather Rock







This rock is the perfect weather indicator, it
never fails. It is more accurate than your local
weather person. This rock is the living word and
is 100% correct. This is how it works:

a dry rock means fair weather.
a wet rock means it's raining.
a dusty rock means a dust storm.
a swaying rock means it's windy.
a shadow under the rock means it's sunny.
a white rock means it's snowing.
if the rock is jumping up and down, an
earthquake is upon us.
if the bottom of the rock is under water it's a
flood.

When the wind is in the east,

the fish bite the least.......



that about uses up my weather proverbs, sorry . Whereabouts in northern Missouri are you? I grew up, and still deer hunt, around Marceline. Got lots of family around there, all farmers, so there's some good deer and turkey hunting to be had, along with the usual varmints, coyotes, coons, possums, skunks, an odd groundhog now and then....

Forgot to add, mink and weasels, too. All of the varmints except groundhogs are hard on chickens, as you know. Dad had a heckuva time with coons getting in his chicken house, until he wrapped all the corners of the shed with sheet tin, he found where they'd been climbing up the corners of the shed to the windows, which he also wired up, finally, to keep the coons out.

Before the coons, it was mink, who are small enough to get into any little hole of the building, they'd just kill the chickens and eat a little bit. Skunks eat eggs, of course, as do black snakes. Dad's place was literally just up the hill from the Mussel Fork Creek, and that area is brushy enough for a lot of varmints to hide. We were kept pretty busy as kids, the dogs did most of the work, but we got our licks in now and then.

Raining like a cow pissin on a flat rock.

Been doing that here since 7:30AM & it looks like sometime around 11Am the rock will get some sunshine.

We live west and south of Hannibal.

We also now have bobcats, two brands of foxes plus coyotes.

Our trees are chancing colors and its not Labor Day yet. Where is the global warming we hear so much about.

" Smoke rising means fair weather, smoke going toward the ground precedes rain or snow."

"Red Sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning."

"Mare's tails and mackerel scales make tall ships take in their sails."

"Clear moon, frost soon."

"A year of snow, a year of plenty."

"Halo around the sun or moon, rain or snow soon."

"Rainbow in the morning gives you fair warning."

"When the stars begin to huddle, the earth will soon become a puddle."

Hey guys these are great. Thanks.

A friend from central Missouri sent a good one. Count the number of foggy mornings in the month of Aug. You will have the same number of snow falls the following winter.

Another friend from Southern Iowa tells that the robins seem to have flown away.

This week some types of trees have started changing color.

We've got bobcats, coyotes and foxes (both kinds) too, I simply overlooked them as I reckon everyone in Missouri has them. Marceline is about halfway between Hannibal and St. Joe. We were south of 36 about five miles. Dad sold his farm awhile back, but he sold it to my nephew, so I can still hunt there, and I have uncles, cousins and such all around the township.

One of my more impressionable cousins claims to have seen a black bear north of 36 once, but as far as I've heard recently, none have been seen north of I-70. That doesn't mean that there aren't any, just that no one is seeing them. Another cousin of ours has a neighbor about a mile and a half north of his place, and THAT neighbor is claiming to have seen one, and it's wooly enough there to sustain one, I'd think. It's pretty rough country in that stretch of ground, anything could live there and not be seen for years. Doesn't help much with your weather proverb question, though...............


Out of kindness to us all, I won't bring up the mountain lion issue.

Mountian Lions Oh come now. It took trail camaras to convince the State Conservation Dept. that we did have them. We made plaster casts of tracks on our creek. A neighbor saw one cross their drive way.

As far back as 1992 black bears from Arkansas had moved north as far as Rolla, MO. May be between these two critters we won't have so many deer/car wrecks.

Grandmaw said, If it rains while the sun is shining it will rain at the same time tomorrow." Now the weather guy calls this Afternoon Heating type Showers.

A feller who hunts over by Brunswick (Chariton County, on the Missouri River) claims to have seen a momma cougar and three little ones where he bowhunts, but again, Missouri claims there isn't a breeding population in the state. MODOC's website is kinda funny, "we don't have any mountain lions here regularly, but if you're attacked, do this and do that......" (at least, it did have something like that there, they may have removed it by now)


I don't know if they were purposely making a funny, or not Then, there was the one hit by a car in KC awhile back, and another killed on US 54 over by Fulton, and I've seen the pics of the one on the game cam in Sullivan County, too, and another just north of Springfield. Kinda makes you wonder if MODOC knows what's going on in their state.

I hunt the Chariton, Linn, and Macon County corner mostly, it's about 3 miles north of Dad's old place. I've got some good spots in all three counties, but mostly in Chariton. Linn County is almost too open for decent deer numbers, Macon and Chariton are always top producers., though.

No dew on the grass, rain before half past.

Thunder in the fall, no winter at all.

Leaves turned around, rain coming down.

Snow is a poor farmers fertilizer.



and my grandpappy always use to say.... son there are two things in life that you use with full strokes, one is a handsaw and I hope I don't have to tell you the other......

If that was too off color deletet it

IF the pine cones close up its gonna rain?

Hey folks THANKS I am sure enjoying your responce.

Glen, My extra time to spend with varmints this summer has been limited to feeding the catfish who live in the Salt River. Thankfully some of them have fed the family and me.