Noisy Neighbors

When Jill & Eric lived in Omaha, their downstairs neighbors complained that they were loud. At the time, they were at work during the day. They didn't have a  5 year old or 2 year old running or jumping or dancing. I guess they walked too loudly. (I think that downstairs neighbor had an unrealistic view of apartment living, but it's not like I'm an expert on that particular subject.)

We, on the other hand, have had some really noisy neighbors this winter. The shrieking and racket were enough to give anyone a headache. (Watching the video may give you motion sickness, too. I've never claimed to be a videographer.)

Several weeks ago, we got multiple phone calls a day from hunters who wanted to invite themselves to the geese's party. Our land is leased to hunters already. And, at that time, the snow geese were feeding on a neighbor's milo stalks, so they weren't on our ground anyway. On the day I recorded the video, an out-of-state pickup was also watching the ballet of the swirling, twirling cloud of geese.

For the past week, we've again had geese on some wheat ground, both morning and night.

 

Every time I go by, I honk and shout to send them on their way. Hungry geese can decimate a wheat field fairly quickly. No Kansas wheat farmer wants to provide a never-ending buffet for tens of thousands of geese.

Some of the trespassers weren't phased by my attempts to shoo them away.

Last evening, Randy started running toward them, clapping his hands to try to get them to move.

They listened just about like stubborn 2-year-old toddlers, but they finally took off with a little encouragement from the farmer.

Every time I run them off, I figure they are laughing at me. They probably circle back the minute I drive on down the road, but I still do my farm wife duty in the moment.

 

This past week, the geese have been joined by bigger "cousins," sandhill cranes. They have been using our neighbor's milo stalks as a feeding ground. 

These itinerant neighbors are even noisier than the geese!

(I don't have a fancy camera, so the photos aren't great, but I still thought the story was worth sharing.)