What's In A Name

In the past, before living on a sailboat, we have owned several different properties. Some were small, a village lot, and others were larger with the biggest one being 25 acres. All provided a space to grow a garden and most had room for livestock. What none of them had, with the exception of the sailboat, was a name. They were just “home.”

For whatever reason, when we bought our current property we felt the need to give it a name. Possibly the urge to name our spot in the world was due to having always referred to our sailboat home by name. Or perhaps we felt that this piece of land was going to be our permanent home. Then again it could be that right from the beginning we knew “The Hovel” would have to be replaced by a more accurate description at some point.

Along the way, in addition to “The Hovel”, we have considered several options. My brother’s suggestion, “The Estate” seemed way too presumptuous for us or the property. Other suggestions just didn’t feel right. We did know early on that whatever name we chose had to reflect the actual land. For us the property was the important aspect as opposed to us or what we were doing on the land. This mindset allowed us to eliminate many names. That’s right, there would not be a “George and Kathy’s Retirement Place.” Nor would we consider a name like “Regenerative Farm” or “Permaculture Pastures.” “Markham Homestead” was also not going to make it to a short list.

Fortunately we weren’t in a rush to find the right name, after all “The Hovel” still worked quite well. So we watched and listened to the nature around us. We heard the owls calling at night, watched as the marsh hawk hunted for its dinner, cursed when the voles ate our beets and carrots, donned our boots when the Spring thaw and rain flooded large parcels of the property and held our breath when the winds blew so strong that we weren’t sure if our roof and trees would survive. Through it all however, there was one constant, the coyotes.

From our first summer, when we spent the nights in a trailer, we would listen to the coyotes call to each other. When we moved into the house we could still hear them call when the windows were left open. Sometimes they were loud enough that we heard them when the windows were closed. We didn’t know how close they were or how many there were we just knew we had coyotes in the area.

Our first winter on the property provided us with proof that our property was part of a well-used trail. We could see where they had come out of the trees along the fence line on the east and head west. They always moved in the same direction, east to west. Occasionally they would check out the bird feeders or the workshop. We have even saw evidence of them digging in the garden for voles and moles. (thank you very much) Infrequently we have been lucky enough to spot them moving across or along our property during daylight hours and we have even seen them hunting for rodents in neighbouring fields after the harvest.

While the presence of this predator may bother some folks for us it means that we have natural rodent control. We aren’t naïve enough to believe that the coyotes will leave our pets and livestock alone. We know that they will happily help themselves to a fresh chicken dinner if the opportunity arises. We also know that weasels, raccoons, hawks, stray dogs and cars on the road are equally dangerous to animals not kept in a safe environment. Put simply, we see it as our job to make sure our livestock isn’t their easiest target. We don’t leave temptation around to attract them and we simply enjoy listening to them rather than harassing them.

To date there has been no evidence of the coyotes going anywhere near the chicken coop. The only animals harassing the chickens to date have been a raccoon that spent a couple nights trying to get into the coop and our puppy who tries desperately to get the hens to come out and play when we’re collecting eggs. We are doing our best to live in harmony with the nature around us. Chemicals, traps and poisons are absent from our property and we recognize that we are the outsiders in this scenario.

So we will continue to provide a safe spot for our livestock. The marsh hawk and owls can eat knowing we haven’t poisoned their dinner and we will plant extra food to compensate for what the voles, rabbits and groundhogs eat. And yes we will welcome the coyotes as they cross our acreage and it they prefer to use the ploughed driveway when the snow is deep that’s okay too. After all this is “Coyote Crossing Acres” for a reason.