Natural disasters

[Farmercharliesblog]

I have been thinking about this a lot and I need to ask, how do you keep your animals save during natural disasters? I live in Great Barrington mass and we recently had a wildfire. It was called the butternut wildfire. I also know that California has been having a big wildfire. We are also prone to blizzards, drought, flooding, wildfires, small avalanches ,and small earthquakes here. Please share how you keep your animals safe. It would really help.

 

[Baymule]

I would load my favorites up in the trailer. Not all would fit. And make a run for it.

Stop dwelling on this. Yes, bad things happen. Make a plan but recognize that it may or may not happen that way. Worrying about this is not productive and just makes you feel bad.

You are 12. I have a whole lifetime ahead of you and have had many losses. You will have losses. Sit down, cry, have a funeral and cry some more. Then get up, get going and start over.

Most of us have losses every year. It’s a fact. Life and death go together. None of us like it, but we accept it that sometimes no matter what we do, we lose. But we have to look at all the things we get right, birth of lambs, kids, calves, baby chicks, and the list goes on. If we quit, we would miss all of that.

I’ll take the pain of loss so I can have the joys of having my sheep and dogs.

If a fire came up and you and family had to run for your lives, hard decisions would have to be made in a split of an instant. Your life and the lives of your family are more important than livestock. If you had no way to carry them with you, you would have to leave them. Sometimes life sucks. But you get up, you grieve, but you don’t quit. You start over.

 

[farmerjan]

For us it would be to grab some clothes, keepsakes, essentials... open gates, and cut fences if necessary, for the cattle... You take what you can gather. load some that are special in a trailer, if there is time or special bloodlines.... get the dogs/cats if possible that are "family"... and turn the rest loose and PRAY. If there is a way for them to save themselves, they will.
We cannot possibly move several hundred animals in case of a natural disaster...

People are worth more than the animals...

You need to have some things already packed.... a "go bag".... if the weather starts getting threatening.. some medical supplies. Full tanks of gas in vehicles...

We get an occasional small quake here... have had several twisters in the area... nothing to do but find a place to hunker down or get out of the way if possible... We get some severe flooding in the mountains here.. case in point in southwest Va, eastern TN, western NC... the devastation of the flooding...
W get alot of icy conditions, some years snow... feeding ahead so that no one has to go into places that aren't safe to be..until the worst of the storms pass. Provide shelter and windbreaks if possible..

Drought is a condition you can plan for... buy extra hay/feed ahead as it gets dry... sell animals that are not paying their way to cut down the stress on the pastures... no free loaders allowed.....

You survive it so that you can go back and pick up the pieces... All the worrying and hand wringing is not helpful, will not change what happens: except the way you prepare for it ahead of time.
It is not your place to worry about all this... it is your parents. And it is not your place to question what they decide at this point. They hopefully have the best interest of the WHOLE family foremost in their mind. You do what you are told and accept that they cannot stop a natural disaster...

Afterwards, like @Baymule said... you cry, you get mad, then you accept that there was no other choice and you pick up and start over.... fix what was... and go forward.

 

[Ridgetop]

Have an evacuation plan in place and make sure that all family members know it. You will probably never need it but it will keep you calm to know what to do.

We moved from southern California to Texas. In southern California we lived in a wildfire area in the foothills. We had a one lane road leading to the 7 homes on our road. The road came to a dead end at our house. There was no other way in or out unless you could ride the horses across the hills. Several years ago there were huge fires similar to what happened this year. Southern California was on fire from Ventura County through San Bernardino County. It was the first time we have been told to evacuate. DH and I were out of town. DD1 and her family were living with us because they were moving. DD2 was a senior in high school. DD2 was living with us but at a training class in San Bernardino. DS1 got the grandkids packed to evacuate. He collected the valuables, 4-H Record Books, and important papers and loaded them in his car. DD1 came from her work and the firefighters would not let her up the hill until she told them she had to evacuate her kids. She loaded up her kids and their stuff. DD2 and her boyfriend walked the horses down the hill and over to the park where the horse evacuation was being staged. Our truck was in the shop so DS1 could not hitch the stock trailer to evacuate anything. DS3 came down from Nipomo (3 hours) through the Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties where fires were raging on either side of the freeway. He drove up to the house, hitched our stock trailer, met DD2 at the park and loaded the horses to take back to his place. DS2 got out of his class, and got a call from DS1 that we were being evacuated. He called his old 4-H friend who now had a goat dary and borrowed her stock trailer and truck. She drove up with him and they loaded up the sheep and took them to a neighbor who offered to keep them for us. One sheep ran off and could not be located in the dark. They had to eave it behind with good wishes for its survival. DD1 and family went to friends. DD2 went to friends. DS1 took the 3 dogs to the animal shelter which was caring for evacuated animals. Two huge Anatolians and a 5 lb. Mini Dachshund shared a kennel run. Then he checked into a motel until we were allowed to return 2 days later.

The wind was 60+ mph and blew the fire in great gusts across the hill around us. DS1 tried to hose down the hay barn but the wind was si string it blew the water back onto him. The firefighters were able to stage with their equipment on the top of our ridge. When they arrived and told him to go, DS1 was glad to leave. Blowing embers were starting to burn his shirt. He was the last one out, leaving the firefighters on the ridge. The fire hit ur roperty line and pipe fence and went around our property. We were lucky.

A lot of the luck was in being prepared and knowing what to do in case of fire. We had discussed it with our kids since they were small. We were stringent about clearing brush. Our fences were welded oil pipe and wire. Our sheep had cleared every inch of our 6 acres.

Discuss an evacuation plan with your family. Know what animals you would be able to save. If you don't have trailer options, open gates and cut fences so they can try to run fron the fire. Arrange a place to meet up with famioy members if you are separated. Have all pets, including horses, microchipped and take those documents with you. Make sure that other livestock is ear tagged, branded, or tattooed for identification purposes. With a mjor evacuation of livestock, owners have to may need to prove their ownership. Identification helps animal rescuers locate the owners.

Good luck and stay safe. And don't worry too much.

 

[Farmercharliesblog]

Thank you!