Cellar Dwellers

When I told my friend Carel we'd bought a small farm, she waxed nostalgic and was excited for us, embarking on a new adventure. Carel had spent years living on a farmstead in southeastern Minnesota before moving into town. She was happy to share her opinions on what we ought to expect living in the country.

There will be mice, she said. And stray dogs and power outages that drag on for days. And you won't get any trick-or-treaters stopping by. Oh, and watch out for rogue motorcycle gangs...

Rogue motorcycle gangs? I admit I was more concerned about the likelihood of a rodent infestation but I listened carefully to her advice because I'd never before lived in an old home set in a wide-open space. I'd grown up in a neighborhood with houses aligned so closely you could hear the next-door neighbor brushing his teeth.

At the one year anniversary of our move to Four Cedars Farms, we've dealt with a few mice, suffered a few power outages (brief ones), been visited by one stray dog and never saw a single trick-or-treater. It's worth noting also that no rogue motorcycle gangs have descended upon us.

What we battled through the first months, however, were slimy black and yellow spotted salamanders that kept appearing in the cellar -- ultimately outnumbering the mice at a rate of six to one. Their presence on the farm was related to our proximity to water; it took quite awhile to figure out their presence in the cellar!

For weeks, while we searched for the entry point, we collected the slimy buggers, placed them in buckets, and offered them to a friend who is an avid muskie fisherman. He was thrilled!

Eventually we won the battle against the cellar dwellers and this year, with the drought, we haven't spotted a single sally on the property -- not inside or outside. That said, the summer-long string of sunny days has inspired an awful lot of motorcycle enthusiasts to thunder past our door. Hmmmm.