enough about my politics and baroque dating schemes

Do you know that I have to SNEAK up on the new chickens each night to try to shut the coop up, because when they hear me, they come out of their coop in the dark to see if anybody has old spaghetti or grated moldy cheese for them? If they hear something moving around in the dark they come eagerly right out of the coop to greet it. Why this matters: dark is the main chicken predator time, and being in a secure closed coop is what keeps the chickens safe. An open coop (it is hard to catch them in the dark, and I can’t shut them up in it if they are not in it!) and the chickens running to greet the predator with open wings is not good, except for the predator. Hm. Predators are usually stealthy. Loud bumbling predators will be instantly successful. Stealthy predators will take 10 seconds longer silently making it all the way into the open coop.

I think they recognize the noise the house back door makes. It is rattley metal and the doorframe is tight. Lately I go quietly out the front door and around the side to the back, open the side gate very carefully, sneeeeak up on the pen.....HAH! It works. I can’t take the keys on this (rattling noise in pocket) so the front door is unlocked for the duration of the operation. If I come back inside one day and a ravenous bear is in the house, I am going to be mad.