By NANCY JANE KERN
A BARN IS expected to house animals like cows, sheep or horses. Animals are protected by their combined heat in winter, a roof that gives shade or relief from rain and snow, and barn walls that keep out wind and most predators.
Farmers could find comfort there too, and it was always nice to get out of the winter cold and into our warm dairy barn. My family’s old barns were located in the Town of Austerlitz, with sections dating back over 200 years. These barns had field stone foundations in places, weathered siding and doors, and some windows in the barn peaks left open year round for ventilation.
Besides shelter, animals need food, and parts of the barn stored hay and grain. Water was piped in from a well and was available in pails, chicken waterers, and cattle drinking fountains.
In summary, the barn had everything that many forms of life could want; food, shelter, water, and ready access through windows, open doors, cracks and knot holes. The most abundant and unwanted wildlife was mice and rats. Some came in through holes in the floor of the chicken house which was attached to the east side of the barn. We avoided using poisons, so there were traps and several cats on patrol. Some cats were afraid of rats, so we often had to shoot these vermin. Firearms were a necessity in keeping down problem wildlife inside and outside barns.
The hay mows were cozy places for opossums, rarely skunks, stray dogs, raccoons, and foxes. Several times we found dead foxes that were horribly deformed by mange and possibly had rabies. Their suffering was unimaginable and it was a heart wrenching sight. My father would remove the dead animal and hay with a fork, and take it out for burial so no other animal would be exposed. The fork was disinfected, and we were lucky not to get infected ourselves. The poor animals came in to find a place to die. Once, our dog got mange and fortunately recovered after several trips to the vet for treatments.
Snakes, particularly milk snakes, were found during warm weather, and ate mice. We would find shed skins as they grew larger, and they were treated kindly as efficient rodent control. Years later it was learned that these snakes track mice by smell.
Bats sheltered behind loose boards and shingles and caught flying insects at night. Dozens of barn and cliff swallows would feed on insects during the day, built their mud nests up on high beams over the hay mows, and entertained us with happy chatter. The constantly cooing pigeons were disliked by my father, along with the raccoons which ate grain and messed up the barn and hay with their feces.
One summer a buck deer adopted our herd of cows, followed them into the barn during milking, and would eat grain from a hand held pail. He disappeared during fall so we assumed he had found does during the mating season, and we hoped he escaped the hunting season.
Regular summer visitors were kestrels which are small hawks, sometimes called sparrow hawks because they eat birds in addition to mice and snakes. My father liked their presence, and left a pile of hay bales against the old siding so they could use it for a nest. Kestrels are cavity nesters and would come in through a knot hole in the siding and into the space between the bales. Sometimes we could carefully view the eggs and watch the young grow.
Who would think so many creatures could live in an old barn, but then, it really has it all.
