Having a farm you learn to let go of your fear or at least suck it up...take a deep breath and do what you have to do.
The pigs: Having pigs has been very interesting. At first, I was terrified of going into their pen because of the barrow-Porkchop (who likes to bite my hubby), Munt (boar) and Dottie (female and mama to the piglets-Penelope, Peppa, and Petunia) are huge. We have an electric fence plus regular fencing to keep them in but it has to be checked at least once a day and I am the one who does it most of the time. When they have thrown something on the electric fence it has to be taken care of so they don't escape. Yes, they are escape artists! In the beginning it was scary but now I just go into the pen and fix what needs to be fixed. I also pet them and now even the piglets follow me around. Penelope likes to investigate my boots and licks them. They are adorable. I no longer fear the pigs!
The sheep: Earlier this week the ram, Janzo, got out of his enclosure and rammed me a couple of times until our beautiful LGD, Valor got between him and me. Giving my hubby time to come and rescue me from Janzo. I was not hurt just a black and blue on my leg. Now, I am scared of him and am very careful when I go to lock them up usually my hubby helps me locking them up. Yes, he will have to be butchered or sold as he is a danger to me but for now, we are keeping him until we can get another ewe to keep Wren company. So, I have to suck up my fear.
The longhorns: In the beginning they terrified me but as time passed and I have to go make sure they have water and are in the pasture when hubby cannot do so. My fear has decreased to the point of nearly zero. The one thing I do though is drive the truck to their waterers in the lower pasture and then walk up a very steep slope to the upper pasture to check on the water up there. I have also walked the pastures looking for a missing cow which usually means they have had a calf. In the pastures you can usually see deer and turkeys, occasionally an armadillo, groundhog, and lots of insects. This morning I saw 3 turkeys. So now I am no longer fearful of them.
I have never been scared of the chickens (except mean roosters and those don't live very long) or the bees (or any insect for that matter) but last night I faced my worst fear...a snake! It was in the chicken coop right beside my broody hen. It was late and hubby was asleep. Valor and I went to lock up the coop and get the eggs. First thing I saw when I lifted the cover to the nesting boxes was a king snake about 3 feet long. My mind was going a hundred miles a minute figuring out what to do. I was not going to wake hubby up as he had to go to work in the morning. So a got a stick and convinced the snake to go into the coop away from my broody hen. Then I convinced it by using the stick to exit through one of the main doors that I opened up for him to leave. I don't think he was after the eggs but hunting mice (I haven't seen many this year). Once it was done, I realized that I was not that scared of snakes.
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