When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top of the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around and eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch, two large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny. There were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.

Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 03 Dec 2016 15:33:26 -0600, "cowabunga dude"
wrote:


When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top of the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around and eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch, two large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny. There were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.

Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.

Sandhill cranes are fairly social birds that usually live in pairs or
family groups through the year. During migration and winter, unrelated
cranes come together to form "survival groups"** that forage and roost
together. Such groups often congregate at migration and winter sites,
sometimes in the thousands.

Sandhill cranes are mainly herbivorous, but eat various types of food,
depending on availability. They often feed with their bills down to the
ground as they root around for seeds and other foods, in shallow
wetlands with vegetation or various upland habitats. Cranes readily eat
cultivated foods such as corn, wheat, cottonseed, and sorghum. Waste
corn is useful to cranes preparing for migration, providing them with
nutrients for the long journey.[18] Among northern races of sandhill
cranes, the diet is most varied, especially among breeding birds. They
variously feed on berries, small mammals, insects, snails, reptiles, and
amphibians.

**which cranes call militias.

Everything but fish, and many of your fish sound bigger than small
mammals (mice?) and amphibians (small? frogs?) I get the feeling the
amphhibians are on land when they catch them.

So I don't think so.

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 03 Dec 2016 16:53:26 -0500, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 03 Dec 2016 15:33:26 -0600, "cowabunga dude"
wrote:


When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top of the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around and eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch, two large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny. There were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.

Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.

Sandhill cranes are omnivorous, meaning they eat a variety of plant and
animal matter. Some of their favorite meal items include seeds, plant
tubers, grains, berries, insects, earthworms, mice, snakes, lizards,
frogs and crayfish. Unlike other wading birds, such as herons, sandhill
cranes do not "fish."


Of course this assumes you have the right name for the bird. Lots of
pictures on the web, but I'm feeling nostalgic so I'm going to look in
my World Book Encylopedia. Where did I put that?

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/id


Sandhill cranes are fairly social birds that usually live in pairs or
family groups through the year. During migration and winter, unrelated
cranes come together to form "survival groups"** that forage and roost
together. Such groups often congregate at migration and winter sites,
sometimes in the thousands.

Sandhill cranes are mainly herbivorous, but eat various types of food,
depending on availability. They often feed with their bills down to the
ground as they root around for seeds and other foods, in shallow
wetlands with vegetation or various upland habitats. Cranes readily eat
cultivated foods such as corn, wheat, cottonseed, and sorghum. Waste
corn is useful to cranes preparing for migration, providing them with
nutrients for the long journey.[18] Among northern races of sandhill
cranes, the diet is most varied, especially among breeding birds. They
variously feed on berries, small mammals, insects, snails, reptiles, and
amphibians.

**which cranes call militias.

Everything but fish, and many of your fish sound bigger than small
mammals (mice?) and amphibians (small? frogs?) I get the feeling the
amphhibians are on land when they catch them.

So I don't think so.

On 12/3/16 3:33 PM, cowabunga dude wrote:

When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top
of the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them
around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around
and eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch,
two large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny.
There were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.
Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.

A blue heron wouldn't have snuck in by chance?

On 12/03/2016 3:33 PM, cowabunga dude wrote:

When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top
of the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them
around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around
and eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch,
two large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny.
There were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.
Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

I'd think unless it's a _very_ shallow tank highly unlikely; they are
marsh and/or land feeders, not divers. Primarily seeds, cultivated
grains and the like altho are considered omnivars, the larger fish would
be extreme and outside their range. I'd guess something else got 'em,
not the cranes.

On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 15:33:26 -0600, "cowabunga dude"
wrote:


When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top of the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around and eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch, two large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny. There were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.

Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.

They are omnivorous, "They feed in shallow water, sometimes probing
with their bills, or walking through short growth and fields. Their
diet includes insects, both aquatic plants and animals, seeds, grains,
berries, tubers, fruit, nuts, small mammals, lizards, snakes, frogs,
rodents, and even small birds. "

Beautiful birds, almost became endangered in Florida. Now they have
returned and flourish.

https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/education/interactive/springscoast/sandhillcranes.shtml

wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 03 Dec 2016 16:53:26 -0500, micky
wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 03 Dec 2016 15:33:26 -0600, "cowabunga dude"
wrote:


When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top of the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around and eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch, two large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny. There were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.

Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.
Sandhill cranes are omnivorous, meaning they eat a variety of plant and
animal matter. Some of their favorite meal items include seeds, plant
tubers, grains, berries, insects, earthworms, mice, snakes, lizards,
frogs and crayfish. Unlike other wading birds, such as herons, sandhill
cranes do not "fish."
Of course this assumes you have the right name for the bird. Lots of
pictures on the web, but I'm feeling nostalgic so I'm going to look in
my World Book Encylopedia. Where did I put that?
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/id
Sandhill cranes are fairly social birds that usually live in pairs or
family groups through the year. During migration and winter, unrelated
cranes come together to form "survival groups"** that forage and roost
together. Such groups often congregate at migration and winter sites,
sometimes in the thousands.

Sandhill cranes are mainly herbivorous, but eat various types of food,
depending on availability. They often feed with their bills down to the
ground as they root around for seeds and other foods, in shallow
wetlands with vegetation or various upland habitats. Cranes readily eat
cultivated foods such as corn, wheat, cottonseed, and sorghum. Waste
corn is useful to cranes preparing for migration, providing them with
nutrients for the long journey.[18] Among northern races of sandhill
cranes, the diet is most varied, especially among breeding birds. They
variously feed on berries, small mammals, insects, snails, reptiles, and
amphibians.

**which cranes call militias.

Everything but fish, and many of your fish sound bigger than small
mammals (mice?) and amphibians (small? frogs?) I get the feeling the
amphhibians are on land when they catch them.

So I don't think so.

I'm fairly certain they're sandhill cranes since this is the desert area of west Texas.

They fly over in large flocks. A few stragglers will stop off and drink at the stock tank. Up north around Muleshoe you can see them by the thousands on the ground.

One time one landed right after I got home and before I could get out of the truck. I tried moving slowly to take its picture, but the first sign of movement it was gone.

There is a lot of farming spread out around the area.

On 12/3/16 4:16 PM, Oren wrote:

They are omnivorous, "They feed in shallow water, sometimes probing
with their bills, or walking through short growth and fields. Their
diet includes insects, both aquatic plants and animals, seeds, grains,
berries, tubers, fruit, nuts, small mammals, lizards, snakes, frogs,
rodents, and even small birds. "

Beautiful birds, almost became endangered in Florida. Now they have
returned and flourish.

https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/education/interactive/springscoast/sandhillcranes.shtml

Supposedly, something like 80% of them fly through Nebraska and
stop along the Platte River in the spring. There's something like a
visitor's center at, I think, Wood River, NE. Lots of bird watchers,
I guess.
It doesn't seem like we have the good old slow spring thaws with lots
of standing water like years ago. The geese and ducks don't hang around
the southeast part of the state like in the past. OR so it seems. I
don't live in the Platte Valley so can't really say how things are there
in the spring.

On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 16:58:01 -0500, micky
wrote:

Sandhill cranes are omnivorous

Make up our mind. The other post you said they were herbivorous.

Have you ever seen one?

On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 14:16:07 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 15:33:26 -0600, "cowabunga dude"
wrote:


When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top of the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around and eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch, two large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny. There were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.

Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.

They are omnivorous, "They feed in shallow water, sometimes probing
with their bills, or walking through short growth and fields. Their
diet includes insects, both aquatic plants and animals, seeds, grains,
berries, tubers, fruit, nuts, small mammals, lizards, snakes, frogs,
rodents, and even small birds. "

Beautiful birds, almost became endangered in Florida. Now they have
returned and flourish.

https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/education/interactive/springscoast/sandhillcranes.shtml

I agree with that. Cranes, egrets, herons and ibis will eat just about
anything they can get in their mouth.
A big blue heron will eat a fish a pelican can't get down.
That red/brown cap on their head is the best way to identify a
sandhill. They may be rare but most golf courses are full of them
around here.

On 12/3/16 3:33 PM, cowabunga dude wrote:


When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around
and eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch,
two large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny.
There were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.
Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.


Your neighbor invited me to a fish fry he is having tonight. He said
you could not make it buy would be there in spirit, sort of.

On 12/3/2016 6:11 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 16:58:01 -0500, micky
wrote:

Sandhill cranes are omnivorous

Make up our mind. The other post you said they were herbivorous.

Have you ever seen one?

Looked it up on Wiki
Sandhill cranes are mainly herbivorous, but eat various types of food,
depending on availability. They often feed with their bills down to the
ground as they root around for seeds and other foods, in shallow
wetlands with vegetation or various upland habitats. Cranes readily eat
cultivated foods such as corn, wheat, cottonseed, and sorghum. Waste
corn is useful to cranes preparing for migration, providing them with
nutrients for the long journey.[18] Among northern races of sandhill
cranes, the diet is most varied, especially among breeding birds. They
variously feed on berries, small mammals, insects, snails, reptiles, and
amphibians.

On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 18:58:03 -0500, wrote:

On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 14:16:07 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 15:33:26 -0600, "cowabunga dude"
wrote:


When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top of the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around and eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch, two large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny. There were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.

Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.

They are omnivorous, "They feed in shallow water, sometimes probing
with their bills, or walking through short growth and fields. Their
diet includes insects, both aquatic plants and animals, seeds, grains,
berries, tubers, fruit, nuts, small mammals, lizards, snakes, frogs,
rodents, and even small birds. "

Beautiful birds, almost became endangered in Florida. Now they have
returned and flourish.

https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/education/interactive/springscoast/sandhillcranes.shtml

I agree with that. Cranes, egrets, herons and ibis will eat just about
anything they can get in their mouth.
A big blue heron will eat a fish a pelican can't get down.
That red/brown cap on their head is the best way to identify a
sandhill. They may be rare but most golf courses are full of them
around here.

You may know when birds in the Everglades where shot by hunters. Their
feathers sold in the North for ladies hats. The birds were nearly
decimated during the time, shot out of their roost.

Ft. Myers, it was rare to see a Sandhill Crane. My last visit they
were foraging at the new international airport entry road. Beautiful
site.

I've read they and other large birds are tasty, particularly the big
breast meat. A little wild flavor. Saw a food show where they can
be harvested in limited numbers around grain fields in some states.
(Andrew Zimmerman show?)

A favorite bird of mine in Florida (as a kid) was the Belted
Kingfisher.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belted_kingfisher

They could eat some fish. Drop from above and scoop them up. Never
land in the water.

On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 17:31:56 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 18:58:03 -0500, wrote:

On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 14:16:07 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Sat, 03 Dec 2016 15:33:26 -0600, "cowabunga dude"
wrote:


When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top of the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around and eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch, two large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny. There were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.

Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.

They are omnivorous, "They feed in shallow water, sometimes probing
with their bills, or walking through short growth and fields. Their
diet includes insects, both aquatic plants and animals, seeds, grains,
berries, tubers, fruit, nuts, small mammals, lizards, snakes, frogs,
rodents, and even small birds. "

Beautiful birds, almost became endangered in Florida. Now they have
returned and flourish.

https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/education/interactive/springscoast/sandhillcranes.shtml

I agree with that. Cranes, egrets, herons and ibis will eat just about
anything they can get in their mouth.
A big blue heron will eat a fish a pelican can't get down.
That red/brown cap on their head is the best way to identify a
sandhill. They may be rare but most golf courses are full of them
around here.

You may know when birds in the Everglades where shot by hunters. Their
feathers sold in the North for ladies hats. The birds were nearly
decimated during the time, shot out of their roost.

Ft. Myers, it was rare to see a Sandhill Crane. My last visit they
were foraging at the new international airport entry road. Beautiful
site.

I've read they and other large birds are tasty, particularly the big
breast meat. A little wild flavor. Saw a food show where they can
be harvested in limited numbers around grain fields in some states.
(Andrew Zimmerman show?)

A favorite bird of mine in Florida (as a kid) was the Belted
Kingfisher.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belted_kingfisher

They could eat some fish. Drop from above and scoop them up. Never
land in the water.

I think my favorite bird may be the Osprey although we do get a lot of
Eagles down here these days. Both of them will pluck a fish out of the
water without even getting their knees wet.

I think the white Ibis may be the best tasting wading bird, at least
that is the rumor ;-)
It is a Chokoloskee Chicken down in Everglades City.

"cowabunga dude" wrote in message
...

When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top of
the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them
around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around and
eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch, two
large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny. There
were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.
Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.

We always have a pair of sandhills living on/near our 10 acre property.
They often nest in our about two acre pond but I've never seen them forage
in/near it. They do eat critters, I've seen them dig out moles.

A neighbor built an ornamental pond, stocked it with koi. The koi started
disappearing, turned out to be a snake that was living in the rock work
around the pond. You have snakes? Raccoons?

On Sun, 04 Dec 2016 01:16:45 -0500, wrote:

I think my favorite bird may be the Osprey although we do get a lot of
Eagles down here these days. Both of them will pluck a fish out of the
water without even getting their knees wet.

I think the white Ibis may be the best tasting wading bird, at least
that is the rumor ;-)
It is a Chokoloskee Chicken down in Everglades City.

'Operation Everglades'

http://www.floridahistorynetwork.com/july-7-1983---operation-everglades-drug-bust-rocks-everglades-city.html

Nine male members of the Daniels' clan were brought to FCI-Miami and
placed in the holding tank. I joked at them -- "I know were to go
dancing tonight, all the husbands are locked up!" :-)

Mullet fishermen don't make much money. The had all kinds of fancy
boy toys.

wrote:
"cowabunga dude" wrote in message
...

When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top of
the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them
around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around and
eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch, two
large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny. There
were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.
Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.
We always have a pair of sandhills living on/near our 10 acre property.
They often nest in our about two acre pond but I've never seen them forage
in/near it. They do eat critters, I've seen them dig out moles.
A neighbor built an ornamental pond, stocked it with koi. The koi started
disappearing, turned out to be a snake that was living in the rock work
around the pond. You have snakes? Raccoons?

It's a little cold for snakes to be out, and I don't think the snakes we have would swim unless their lives depended on it.

I've only seen one raccoon my entire life around here, and that was probably 20 years ago. The stock tank is 18 inches deep so I'm not sure a raccoon would be in water that deep.

In alt.home.repair, on Sun, 04 Dec 2016 14:17:34 -0600, "cowabunga dude"
wrote:



wrote:
"cowabunga dude" wrote in message
...

When I went out to get the mail a sandhill crane flew away from on top of
the storage building, overlooking the stock tank.

They've been around before and never been a problem. I like seeing them
around when they drink from the stock tank.

When I poured in some fish food I watched for the fish to swarm around and
eat, there wasn't any fish. There had been four large eight inch, two
large four inch, and the rest were around three inches, but skinny. There
were seventeen, now there are none.

I poked around with a stick, and still no fish.
Never before have fish been missing after I've seen sandhill cranes.

As you might be able to tell, I'm disappointed.
We always have a pair of sandhills living on/near our 10 acre property.
They often nest in our about two acre pond but I've never seen them forage
in/near it. They do eat critters, I've seen them dig out moles.
A neighbor built an ornamental pond, stocked it with koi. The koi started
disappearing, turned out to be a snake that was living in the rock work
around the pond. You have snakes? Raccoons?

It's a little cold for snakes to be out, and I don't think the snakes we have would swim unless their lives depended on it.

I've only seen one raccoon my entire life around here, and that was probably 20 years ago. The stock tank is 18 inches deep so I'm not sure a raccoon would be in water that deep.

Outside of zoos, and maybe on the road, I've only seen one raccoon. He
was in my big plastic garbage can. Probably more than 18" in but of
course it was loose stuff, not water. I got a camera and took a
picture, and I thought the flash would scare him away, but he didn't
budge.

OTOH, I don't think he came back, or maybe I put the lids on better
afterwards.

There was a rat** in the front yard once, too, about 25 years ago. I
threw something at him and I thought even though I missed that would
scare him, but he didn't leave until later.

Someone should explain to these animals that humans are in charge.