38 DEGREES, UGH....!!!!

Glad to see his donkeys are appreciated

Well I guess we should expect "cooler" weather since it is October, but I don't have to like it.  The days are almost perfect, but as soon as the sun goes down, it gets chilly in a hurry.  I'll be racing tonight and am seriously thinking of wearing long jons.  I would rather sweat than shiver.....!!! 

Got a call from Mocha and Tucker's Mom yesterday.  They did live in Las Cruces, New Mexico, but have moved to Lordsburg, N.M. which is just about 60 miles from here.  January has never been here, said she plans on coming over to see our donkeys soon.  Of course we will go over as soon as we get a chance to see how much Tucker has grown.  She said they are spoiled rotten, which isn't a big surprise.  Tucker is 2 years old and still smaller than Mocha.  I don't know how much more he will grow, since he was premature he might always be small.  His daddy Beau, wasn't very big either.  They have the run of 62 acres of pecan orchards with great Pyrenees dogs as playmates and January to anticipate their every want or need...!!!! LIFE IS GOOD.......!!!!  LOL

We talked about not participating in the Open House this year, but have about decided to go ahead.  There's a lot of people that come back year after year and we hate to disappoint them.  We will need volunteers to help, Saturday and Sunday, December 7th and 8th, if anyone in the area would like to come out for a few hours to show people around.  If interested, let me know:  hiestand08@mtecom.net  This year if I can get the feed room cleaned up we're going to leave the dutch door open, so people can see the donkey's favorite room.  They all know where the "chow" comes from, if I have the door open, there are always heads inside watching me.  Max the big red horse was big enough he could take the lids off some of the cans, which added a sense of adventure to the whole operation.  

Penny did real good yesterday with her feet, I picked all 4 up and held them till I decided to put them down, while scraping with a hoof pick.  She was just fine.  I have been using a clicker and she really knows what that means, which helps I'm sure.  Tomorrow John is going to see if she is willing to let him pick up feet.  If that goes well , then we'll see if Lysa can pick them up Monday when she's here to clean pens.  Then the next barrier will be when Courtney comes to trim.  Will Penny let her pick up feet?  Guess we'll find out.....!!!

EVERYONE OUT & ABOUT......!!!

This morning we had friends over to see the donkeys.  After they left, we got the pens cleaned, & let everyone out, except for Ruthie & Aaron.  Even the mini mules went out with the herd, since they were out all day yesterday anyway.  They are a hoot, every time they see you outside here they come to see if you "might" have a treat.  Molly especially looks like she's had too many treats in her life, she's a chunky little girl.  Jack is just about right, maybe a little heavy, it's hard to tell, they both are shaped exactly like Shetland ponies.  Jack has a chest that looks like he could haul a tank out of a mud hole.....!!!  I told John maybe it's time I learned to drive, get them a little wagon, with some eye catching harness........!!!!  Hmmmmm, they sure would be cute.  Right now they are busy, exploring & begging treats......!!!  Don't think work is in their vocabulary.

Everyone was suppose to disperse away from the pen area, so we could let Ruthie & monster out.  They dispersed, but as soon as Ruthie came out, they all came back to "see" him, which drives Ruthie absolutely crazy.  She's actually not as bad as she was, he got in one of the pens with Frijolita one time which Frijolita thought was interesting.  Ruthie was outside, read the situation, came in the gate, & just got between Aaron & Frijolita without having a hissy fit. 

One of the couples that was here this morning saw him a couple of days after he was born.  They said he's really grown, it's hard for us to tell since we see him day after day.  If we had a scale I would imagine he's at least 25 pounds heavier than he was when he was born.  That would be about a pound a day. 

Justin as usual, tried to chase him.  He did the same thing with Tucker when we first let him out.  Mocha was less of a "helicopter" mom, Ruthie let Justin know he better find something else to do in a hurry..........& he did. 

Aaron is in love with the golf cart.  We drive thru the pens on the west side to deliver the hay.  He meets it at the gate coming in, runs around it & checks out all the "parts" while it's in the pen sitting still.  On the way out gate #2 we really have to be careful, he is so quick & doesn't seem to see anything wrong with standing between the golf cart & wagon.  

He's also got running past & kicking up his heels down to a science.  So far he's usually far enough away that it isn't a problem, he really isn't kicking at us, but I'm sure those little hooves would hurt if they connected.  

He came into the world head shy for some reason.  Loves to be rubbed & scratched all over, pick up feet no problem, ears are good, inside the ears GREAT......but the face is pretty much off limits.  My foal halter went with Tucker when he & Mocha went to their forever home, so I'll have to get another one when we go to town.  Maybe haltering & learning to lead will make a difference.  Although we have noticed that he is pretty opinionated about anything he doesn't want to do.  If you try to hold him still, that left rear hoof starts kicking pretty quick. 

Everyone else seems to be doing good, we'll have our first tour of the new year today.  It's some friends with visiting family, which we get a lot of this time of year.  

Haven't heard anymore about Diega the last couple of days.  Cindy is working on getting x-rays of her feet & since I haven't heard anything, I assume they won't be bringing her this week. 

SUGAR "HELPING" JOHN WITH THE TRACTOR A FEW YEARS AGO

I guess baby donkeys are mechanic "wanna a be's"

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN

I'm always amazed when the weatherman gets it right.  They said rain & we actually got 3/4 of an inch of rain overnight. 

Needed the rain, BUT, the vet was suppose to come out this morning to check Jenny, pull blood on Cisco & Rusty, & probably removed a growth from Buddy Brat's sheath.  They called & cancelled, can't use x-ray, etc when it's raining.  Besides wet donkeys aren't going to be the most pleasant patients. If there is anything a donkey hates worse than being wet, it's being touched when they are wet.  Really puts them in a cranky mood........!!!   

Cisco actually choked yesterday morning on a piece of carrot.  I sure hope we can find out what is wrong with him.  So for now, he will be getting animal crackers as a treat, rather than carrots.  

Also have a problem with the ACTH test for Cushings for Rusty.  It seems right now they are not manufacturing the testing material according to the vet.  It can be compounded, but of course compounded medicine is usually more expensive.  She suggested trying Rusty on a low dosage of pergolide & see if it helps with his exuberant hair growth. 

Both Pepper & Daisy are on 3mg of pergolide a day, which I get in 1.5 capsules.  Too high a dosage to start out on, so she was going to figure out a good starting dosage & let me know.  

We talked about the fact that Jenny seems to be walking a little more comfortable & the drainage from the foot is almost gone.  I haven't put a sugar/dyne poultice on for over a week, & am only soaking her foot twice a week in epsom salts & betadyne.  She thinks it might be time to see how much proud flesh we can get off & use a pressure bandage.  She was also pleased that the hoof wall growing in at the coronary band looks to be good growth.  She said because of where the proud flesh is, the new hoof growth will basically push the proud flesh off the foot as it grows.   Not sure I want to see that.  

Ruthie is still bagging up, as they say, but no other changes.  I keep remembering with Mocha, that she didn't even look pregnant, but Tucker showed up anyway.  Ruthie usually hangs around the house & pen area, but this morning when John went out, she wasn't to be seen.  He took off frantically to find her.  She was down below the house vacuuming up mesquite leaves that blew off in the horrible wind that accompanied the rain last night. 

YIKES.........I'm really getting behind.  This time of year is when I do a newsletter for Christmas.  I know, a lot of people HATE newsletters at Christmas, but that's the best I can do.  Besides I don't talk about who is at the top of their class, or has a new job  that pays twice what the old one did.  Like that's going to happen in our economy right now.....!!!  Or talk about people that unless you know them, really doesn't make a lot of sense.  I look at John he looks at me, & we ask, "who are they talking about"?  Anyway I talk about the animals & what they did this year it's usually more interesting than than what people do anyway.  So far I haven't gotten started.  But I have good intentions & nothing planned tomorrow, sooooooo.......!!!!!

The vet is coming out next Friday to test Rusty the mule for Cushings.  He is getting hairy & I don't remember him doing that before.  I have all my information printed out to back up my request for an ACTH test rather than the Dex test for Cushings.  Some vets are coming around to the idea of one blood draw & no threat of laminitis & using the ACTH test.  But it is vital that it be handled properly.  The last one I had done, had to be done over...........the lab didn't do it right.........!!!!!   Hmmmmm........as I recall we had a discussion over why in the world I wanted that rather than the gold standard Dex test..........!!!

While she's out, I'll have her draw a CBC on Cisco.  He's just not right.  We had his teeth done, but he still eats like he's got something going on.  We were going to haul him in for an endoscope, but since the vet was coming out for other animals, decided to get a CBC & see if it tells us anything, then we can do the endoscope later.  Buddy Brat has a small sarcoid on his sheath. I've been putting Equaide on it & it is holding it's own or getting smaller, but won't hurt to have it looked at.

And last but certainly not least is Jenny big girl needs to be re-evaluated for her foot.  We're still soaking, & poulticing, & fighting proud flesh.  I don't think it's any worse, but have no clue if it is getting better.  The proud flesh drives me crazy, which is actually a pretty short drive..........but the vet says we can always take care of it later, we need to try to take care of the oozing.  I don't see how the hoof wall can grow correctly, if it's got this blob of "stuff" in the way.  It does look like we are getting some hoof growth at the coronet, but below that what happens, when the growth reaches the proud flesh? 

So if I don't update for a few days, don't be surprised.  Patti left me with a "dummy" blog to play with.  I got into it a couple of nights ago, & I think it will be easier to set up another dummy blog than to try to straighten that one out.  It's amazing how much damage one person that doesn't know what they are doing, can do........!!!!!!  LOL

Just got a call from Mocha & Tucker's Mom.  You might recall that they also took in Missy the Great Dane someone dumped in our area.

It seems that during the night Missy knocked down the fence & attacked Tucker.  He's OK, but has a gash on his side, his ears have been chewed & he has some bites on his hind quarters, poor little guy.  She also killed the ducks & geese.  Missy's been there for a couple of months & none of us have any idea what happened to set her off.  Like January said we don't know her history, so we'll never know, but obviously she shouldn't be around other species, don't know about dogs.  January said she got into a fight with one of their other dogs, over food, but that's different.

She's already checked with a Great Dane rescue in El Paso & they will take Missy.   I feel terrible about this happening since I was responsible for putting Missy into that home.  As they say, no good deed goes unpunished, & in this case the ducks, geese, & poor little Tucker pay the price. 

This morning when I took the gauze off Jenny's foot, it was stuck with some of the goo that oozes out.  It's not much, probably wouldn't cover the end of your finger, but does dry out enough to make the gauze stick.  When I pulled, it caused it to bleed a little.  I hadn't soaked it with White Lightening since last week, so figured it wouldn't hurt.  I'm thinking about having the new local mobile vet come out & see what she thinks.  The only other option is to haul her up to Gilbert again, this would be 4th or 5th long trip.  Megan could do a scraping or swab or whatever she might need to do, to find out what kind of bacteria we're dealing with. 

Ruthie is getting bigger & bigger, but so far no changes to make us think she's ready to have her baby.  This morning when John checked her, he got thumped, when he put his hand on her belly.  Guess the little guy didn't appreciate John's attention.........!!!!  That's our first "relationship" with him or her or them.  She lost twins last October, & it would be fun if she had twins, as long as they were healthy.  That way they'd have a playmate.  Poor little Tucker didn't have anyone except Momma Mocha, & believe me she paid the price.

When I went out to feed tonight one of the 1st things I noticed was Frijolita is 3 legged lame, as in abscess lame from the way it looks.  I guess all the rain & damp weather we had for this year's monsoon, has been a little hard on some of the donkeys.  Frijolita usually has real good feet, if it is an abscess I hope it pops real soon, she is miserable.

I hate to have to give Jenny anything by mouth.  I called the vet clinic at Gilbert today to see if she might need some antibiotics.  She popped an abscess awhile back, & it is still oozing & occasionally bleeding a little bit.  So they said to give her SMZ for 10 days.  I always taste anything I give them, don't have to taste this stuff, I remember what it tastes like.............very VERY bitter......!!!!  I know their taste buds are different than ours, otherwise they wouldn't think lemon rinds are a treat, but even making allowances for different taste, this stuff can't taste good. 

I mixed it up with some molasses, stuck it in her mouth, plunged it in & she has a gift of being able to reject most of it.  She doesn't make a big deal about it, the stuff just dribbles out of her mouth, doesn't matter if you hold her head up, or what you do, it doesn't go down her throat.........GRRRRRR..........!!!!    We have 10 days twice a day to make this work, & I have a feeling we won't be feeling the "love" before it's over............!!!!!   LOL 

Heard from the other clinic about Gus' test for infection.  He has staph & a couple of other bacterial infections I can't pronounce.  So now besides getting Naxcel, he's going to also be getting Gentamicin for a few days.  He is such a sweet boy about getting shots, of course he knows there is a animal cracker when it's over.

Tomorrow morning Missy is going to her Forever Home.  We had just about finalized the hand over of her to a Great Dane Rescue up in the Phoenix area.  But Mocha & Tucker's Mom decided she would like to give her a home, & has had Danes before.  We won't even have to deliver her, Claude is coming thru here tomorrow morning on his way home to Las Cruces from Phoenix.  I think she will be a great addition to their family.  

TUCKER & MOCHA, THANKS JANUARY

This is a picture taken by Tucker & Mocha's mom.  She said the hat originally was on Mocha, but if you'll notice there is a piece missing from the brim.  Tucker took a bite out of it when it was on Mocha, & I guess when Mocha got hold of it again, she tore it up until it wasn't wearable anymore. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TUCKER.........!!!!

One year ago today this is what greeted John when he went out to start the round-up for morning feeding.  It was a rough & rocky start for the little guy, but he made it.  He & Mocha went to their new home a couple of months ago & according to the phone call from their momma this afternoon, are spoiled rotten. 

I know when I answered the phone, I could hear them braying in the background.  I assume she had just came in from "messing" with them, & they didn't appreciate her leaving.  

Courtney came & trimmed last night.  When we took Jenny's foot bandage off, there were some maggots in the open part of the hoof.  The only time it's ever been uncovered is when we were letting it dry out uncovered in the garage for 30 minutes or so.  There were a few flies around, & I guess they were quick to lay their eggs.  Disgusting, & since maggots only eat dead tissue, I assume there is some dead tissue somewhere in her foot.  

Her foot really looks good & we decided to leave the bandage off to let it air dry.  I covered it with a couple of layers of gauze & we left her in her pen last night.  This morning it looked good although it did bleed a little from an area high up on the hoof.  This morning soaked it for 20 minutes, actually I didn't make the White Lightening deep enough to soak the whole hoof, I'm relying on the gas it produces to get in all the nooks & crannies without the softening, actual soaking might do.   

JOHN, THE HUNTER

Probably doesn't look very exciting but I was "ecstatic"  when John came in the door carrying Jenny's 2 missing boots.  After the rain I had given up on ever finding them.  They are hard enough to see if she just lost them.  These had been missing for days, a couple of hard rain storms & lots of opportunities to get stepped on & squished into the ground.  

I had about decided to order a couple more, when John said he was going to go out & stay out until he found them.  I thought about sending him out with a bedroll & food, since I didn't think there was a chance.  He was gone over into Burroland at least 2 hours, just walking back & forth.  She usually stays on the trails or takes a side trip to the wallows, so that's where he paid the most attention. He said they were actually pretty close to each other on one of the trails.  One of them was turned upside down, which made it look weird.  He said the extra Vel-cro I sewed on, showed up pretty good, because it was white.  I've got to sew some more Vel-cro on the other one, she only had it on 1 day before she lost it, & I hadn't put the Vel-cro on it yet.  The regular straps probably would fit on a "normal" hoof, but aren't long enough to fit over her bandaged foot & stay secure.  

I called to see how Tucker & Mocha are doing.  Sounds like they've got the household up & running to their standards.  Unfortunately George the Goose got helped to make his final journey by Mocha.  He flew over the fence to challenge the donkeys.  January said they tried to ignore him, but he got right in Mocha's face honking & threatening.  Geese can really be nasty if they want to be.  So Mocha stomped him.  Our donkeys aren't getting along very good lately, first Honcho with the goats & now Mocha.  January doesn't blame Mocha, she says it was George's fault, but he was a pet, & I know they all feel bad about it. 

Heard from Bill that Maddie is lame on her good front leg.  He said her & Zorro didn't come in to eat, so he started looking for them on 40 acres of heavy brush.  Said he spent hours & couldn't find them.  Finally Zorro showed up to eat & when he finished, he led Bill to Maddie.  They have had a lot of rain, & Bill said her feet looked like softballs from a build up of mud.  He cleaned her feet, but said her knee looks a little swollen.  She probably fell off to the side with her feet built up like that & twisted her knee a little bit, sorta like falling off your high heels.  He's going to watch her for a couple of days & if she isn't better, I'll probably go see what's going on.  

John noticed some quids in the mini pen this morning. Cheyenne has lost some weight lately.  Actually she looks really good, we're so use to seeing overweight donkeys that seeing one that's in good weight, looks funny.  We had talked about getting a blood work-up on her, to make sure everything was OK.  So now this...............we'll try to look in her mouth tonight & maybe we can see something if she has a problem. 

WE'RE HAVING FUN NOW........!!!!

You know the old saying, "I'm so busy I don't know if I found a rope or lost my horse".......well I about there I think..........!!!! LOL

Let's see where to start.........  I called Mocha & Tucker's new Mom this morning.  They are fine, have become the center of attention & spend their time standing by the bedroom window probably looking in, wondering where why someone doesn't come out & entertain them.  January said the geese even like them.  She said Tucker is mouthing her sleeve to get her attention.  I told her when he did that here he got his nose popped.  She told me how cute it is, so I would imagine he's gotten his "last" nose popping for awhile........!!!!  

Patti gave me some ideas of supplements that might help Chester be more comfortable with his osteoarthritis we can try.  I also have some Move-Ease that I'm not using, I'm going to give it to Linda to try first.  If that works, great, it's really pretty cheap. If it doesn't work, we'll try some of Patti's ideas.  If that doesn't work, there is always CosequinASU.  It's good stuff, but a little pricey.  I've been using it for Pepper (cracked hip & blown knee), & Cisco (roping donkey in a roping school), & they are both doing real good & have been for quite sometime.

Jenny lost a brand new Hoof Wrap Boot & we can't find it.  We've actually been pretty lucky at finding her boots, they seem to come off when she rolls around in a dust bathing area.  John saw the direction she came from & when he looked at the Gorilla Tape boot, he said it wasn't hardly dirty & had no scuffing at all.  Common sense would say it should be not too far from where John 1st saw her coming in.  We've both looked & haven't found it.  Wish it had been the old one she's been wearing rather than a 2 day old one. 

Last night when I fed Skeeke, I noticed he wasn't using his right front foot.  I have no idea what happened to it.  They grasp food with their little hands, so he's at a definite disadvantage right now for eating solid food.  He's really gotten into eating his formula & takes more each feeding, which I assume is a good thing.  He's also quite lively, even with a bum hand like, hanging onto a tiny fragile little greased pig.........!!!   Vic our neighbor said he might have got it caught somewhere in the cage or even in the terry cloth towel I had in there.  I never thought about him getting a nail caught in the towel.  Got rid of the towel & am now using some of John's t-shirts I've been trying to get him to throw away for a long time.  Seems if I say anything, they all are his favorites............!!! I sure hope the little guy gets OK.

It looks like my Mother will be moving out of her house & coming out here to stay for the duration.  The last few months she has been getting frail & probably should have come out earlier.  But there is nothing wrong with her opinion & what she wants to do, so we had to wait until it was her decision.  This morning she said it's time.  Our house is more eclectic than comfortable for someone that needs everything to be easy.  Bathrooms are on 3 different levels & the only one on the bedroom level is about 20 feet away from the bed.  John & I had already talked about maybe getting a compost toilet, we'll just have to see how it goes.  She told me awhile back she wouldn't come out here because I'm too bossy...........hmmmmm.........should be "interesting" to say the least.  

Yesterday I told John I needed to go to Tucson & try to find the formula for Skeeke.  Since it was Sunday I called around to different pet stores & was amazed that they had it.  Guess just because I haven't heard of it, doesn't mean it isn't available.  

The 1st store I went to only had it in a very large can & it isn't cheap.  So I decided to try another store & did find a smaller container.  He's just a little bitty squirrel, it would take a lot of squirrels to use that much.  

Got it home mixed it up & he turned his nose up at it.....!!!!  Ungrateful little beastie, tried him again before bed, & he just turned his head away.  After I went to bed I came up with a brilliant idea.  When I carefully measured out the powder it was packed in the spoon.  I had noticed it was rather thick, much thicker than Mother's milk would be.  So I got out of bed, made a new batch, after fluffing up the powder before measuring.  Seemed to make all the difference, he's eating it just fine now.  According to the information I got off the internet regular tree squirrels will eat formula to the age of 10 weeks, don't know about rock squirrels, but would imagine it's about the same.  Using the chart for tree squirrels, he seems to be about 6 weeks old. 

I e-mailed the Arizona Desert Museum to see if they could help.  Got back an e-mail 2 days later, telling me it's illegal to keep a wild animal, to turn it over to a wildlife rehabilitator.  Great idea, unfortunately the rehabilitator didn't call back, so we'll just press on like we know what we're doing.  

He's a little watermelon freak, loves the stuff.  Cucumber, a big no, carrot on a scale of 1 to 10, maybe a 4.  Necterine, mmmm  not a biggie.  Soaked dry cat food, pretty good.  I'm not sure if cat food is OK, so not feeding it anymore.

We got up early this morning to feed & hit the road to Gilbert.  Linda & John got here with Chester, just as we got thru feeding, so we loaded him, got Jenny loaded, &  hit the road.

They made the trip just fine, so did Skeeke had to take him so I could feed him every 4 hours.  They thought Jenny is doing just fine.  Dr. Voss cut off some of the excess hoof & rebandaged her foot.  I was anxious to see how the "real" experts do the bandaging, found out not much different than I do, although I did pick up a couple of good ideas.  They were quite impressed with our Gorilla Tape, as opposed to duct tape to make a boot for the bottom of her foot, although they did agree that it's harder to work with & much stickier.  I try to not let it get too hot, but I think it was probably 110 up there this afternoon, so it was pretty sticky.  

Dr. Voss trimming Jenny's foot, not sure what John is doing

The main thing we have to look for is the square opening in the front of her hoof collapsing as the hoof grows out.  If that happens we'll have to take her back up for them to put a metal bridge across the opening to stabilize it. 

Then it was Chester's turn.  About 5-6 years ago he had surgery on an infection in his elbow area.  Linda wanted to know what the problem was since he's started limping lately.  They x-rayed & found osteoarthritis with some bone spurring going on.  Recommended a good joint supplement.  Might have to try a few before finding the best one for him.  But Linda is a "helicopter Mom", so she'll keep looking until she finds what works for him.

Haven't heard how Mocha & Tucker are doing, guess I'll call tomorrow.  

WATERMELON ANYONE?

John said one of rock squirrel's favorite foods is new mesquite shoots.  This one seems to really enjoy watermelon.  This is the first thing I've tried him (yes, him) on besides milk & water.  He seemed to think it was just fine, & managed to eat a pretty good sized piece before he keeled over in a dead sleep.  He seems lethargic to me, although I have no idea how little rock squirrels normally behave, maybe all they do is eat & sleep.  If so, he is being very typical.  

Yesterday afternoon we managed to get everyone fed, Mocha & Tucker loaded & got on the road at 4:10........!!!!  We were shooting for 4:00, so that was pretty good.  In all our planning we did forget about the one hour ahead in New Mexico, so instead of getting in around 8, it was about 9:30 their time.  They were anxiously waiting for us, we unloaded Tucker & Mocha, they were headed to their pens & the geese started honking.  Mocha decided she didn't need to go any further & planted her feet.  Of course she planted her feet, guess what Tucker did?  We cajoled, we pushed, we tried bribery.  Just about the time Mocha would decide, to maybe move a foot, one of the geese would honk..........Grrrrr......!!  Finally Tucker got a little antsy about just standing there, showed a little interest in moving.  Claude & I literally dragged him into the pen, with Mocha not far behind.  Whew!  Usually they are right in your hip pocket, I wonder what they thought of the geese this morning in the light of day?  LOL  They will be sharing a fence with the geese, so they better get use to them. 

We said our good-byes & headed home.  I had taken the squirrel with us, so I could feed him.  On the way home I got a brilliant idea.  I've heard of people putting little critters in their bras to keep them warm.  He didn't seem to care for the air conditioning in the truck, so I took him out of his cage & plopped him in between my boobs.  He snuggled right down & except for the tiny little claws it wasn't as weird as I thought it would be.   I read about a woman one time that literally hatched some type of bird by carrying the eggs around in her bra.  Now THAT is dedication, can't imagine how she kept from breaking the eggs.  

Haven't heard from January yet today, about how Mocha & Tucker are doing,  I would imagine she's too busy playing with them.  She already had friends lined up to come a see them, so maybe they are having a party.......!!!!  LOL  Should be a great home for them, & I'm thrilled they could stay together & grow up together, since Mocha was only 26 months old when Tucker was born. 

Didn't take the camera since I knew it would be dark when we got there, but hopefully January will take some pictures & send them to me.

NOTHING LIKE COMPLICATING MY LIFE....!!

Yesterday morning I noticed Julius, one of the outdoor cats was stalking something in the back yard.  I went out, yelled, "no birds", I don't bother to see if that is in fact what they are after.  I just teach all cats to run like hell when I yell "no birds".  

Anyway went out & there was a little baby rock squirrel by the back wall.  It was very lethargic, growled a little but other than that just laid there.  I yelled for John to bring a cage.  Put it in the cage, came back in the house & when I checked on him, he was gone.  Guess the openings in the cage were larger than we thought, or he was smaller.  

Looked out & Julius is after something on the porch........guess who?  I picked him up, no growl this time.  I got a syringe of water & he latched onto that like he was really thirsty.  

Right now he is living in a small hav-a-heart trap, on a towel, in our bathroom.  Our house has an open floor plan & 4 cats...............do you see a problem?  I had him with me at the computer yesterday afternoon until Moogee "discovered" him. 

He prefers cow's milk with karo over kitten formula, & has fleas.  Ugh!  John went to town yesterday & when he called asked if I wanted him to get some flea powder?  John is a wonderful person in a lot of ways, but sometimes his animal knowledge gets short circuited.  Of course my knowledge is rather dated sometimes, they might have a flea powder now you can use on "nestlings", but I don't know of any.  So far I've "captured" 3, & haven't seen any "cavorting" since yesterday afternoon.  Maybe they are gone, I hope so, I hate fleas.  

Over the last few days we had found 2 other little guys.  Lysa found one out by the pens & I put it down a squirrrel hole, close to where she found it.  The other one John found dead about 60 feet from where the other one was.  

We're thinking the mother probably got killed, (snake?)  & they were close enough to coming out of the nest to make the effort.  Wish I had known when Lysa found the first one, I would have fed it too.  

Have no idea how long he'll have to be fed.  We'll be hauling Mocha & Tucker to Las Cruces this afternoon, I guess he'll be going with us, so I can feed him every couple of hours or so. 

John wants to name him Pascagula, have no idea how to spell it & neither does my spell checker.  Anyway Ray Stevens sang a song about the Mississippi Squirrel Revival, in Pascagula, Mississippi a LONG time ago.  I told John if we name it that, it will have to have a nickname, Pasca or Gula.  I'm not going to try to say the whole thing on a regular basis. 

The hay truck got here an hour early this morning which makes for a panic attack, since we were still involved in morning chores.  But it worked out OK, well except for the 1st squeeze of 62-64 bales coming apart & having to be restacked, so the squeeze could pick it all up at once.  The other 7 stayed together & it really didn't take the guys too long to get it all in the barn, safe & sound.  

Of course all this time the donkeys were watching all that was going on & letting us know if they were out, they could help with the hay. 

They got to go out as soon as the hay barn was secured.  Of course there was hay everywhere up & down the driveway, which kept them busy, once the mesquite branches were picked clean.  John had to do some trimming along the driveway, so the big truck could get thru without picking up a lot of "Arizona pinstriping".

 Tucker had to leave the mesquite eating "party" to visit with me.  I didn't realize he was in the picture when I was taking it or I would have made him "prettier".   He just looks like a little blob. 

Simmons & Pancho got to go out for the 1st time today.  I figured with all the excitement going on, if anyone did want to act silly, they'd be too busy to pay attention to the new guys.  I forgot about Jenny & Tula.  Jenny is a rather casual "slut".  If they are in the neighborhood, she'll do her dance for awhile.  Then she wanders off.  Tula seemed to keep Simmons attention most of the day, along with BlackJack, Boaz & Buddy Brat.  Silly boys........at least they weren't doing anything except squabbling amongst themselves for the most part & trailing behind Tula just in case.

When it was time to go into their pens tonight, Pancho went in like he knew what he was doing.  Simmons had no clue where to go,  except to stay with Tula.  Tula will NOT go into her pen if someone is following her.  Simmons was like glue, which really irritated her, which really irritated us, since they were the last two out.  It took both of us to finally get him separated & headed away from her long enough, for her to run in her pen.  Then he went in his pen like a good boy.

Got Mocha & Tucker's health certificates today, so they are good to go to their new home in Las Cruces.  The plan is we will feed early Thursday afternoon & hopefully get on the road by 4pm.  It will be cooler than hauling them during the day.   If everything goes OK, we should get home about 1am.  Like John says , it will be like when we go to the races, although it's usually a lot later than 1am by the time we "drag" in.  Have to go eat & do some "bench racing", so even if the races get over at a decent time, we still drag in late.

Took Mocha & Tucker to the vet this morning to get their blood tests & health certificates.  As soon as the results for the Coggins test gets back, we'll make arrangements to haul them to their new home.  Tucker is 9 months old today & we sure are going to miss him.  No matter what he's doing, he always comes up to the fence to greet you, if you are in the neighborhood.  Before this morning I had never seen him kick.  But he did NOT appreciate having his temperature taken & gave one of the "frustrated baby" kicks they do when they can't control what's going on.  Ruger is about 1 1/2 years old & he still does it.  

Buddy Brat got  a complete blood work-up for Thyroid & also Glucose & Insulin.  I know he is insulin resistant, want to find out how much.  Poor little guy has always had a weight problem & he loves to eat. 

In the "musical" pen dance, he ended up without a pen, & Honcho & BlackJack are sharing a pen with the hay bunk down the middle.  We dump their hay into the bunk & they can both eat from their respective sides.  Well, they would be able to except BJ has decide Honcho doesn't need to eat.  He makes ugly faces at Honcho & Honcho respects BJ's space, although their space is separated by the bunk.......Sigh........!!  I guess Honcho's run-in's with Boaz have made a believer out of him.

Buddy hates not having a pen, so we tried putting a corral panel across the side of the feed room to give him a feeling of being in a pen.  Not good enough, so John is out in the heat of the day, building another pen for Honcho, so he doesn't have to put up with "nasty" BJ.  BJ so loves to have someone that actually takes him serious.  And he's going to put up a "real" pen for Buddy, so he will be comfortable in "his" space.  

This is Simmons on the left & Pancho on the right.  They came in yesterday morning & have already met everyone thru the corral panels.  We'll keep them in for a couple of days to get acclimated without having everyone in their face at one time.  Boaz looked them over pretty good last night, daring them to challenge his authority I guess.  They just kind of looked at him like, " whatever", so I don't think there will be any fireworks like there was with Honcho.  Honcho by the way has been staying out of Boaz's space & everything is nice & quiet.  

Jenny of course came by & did her "slut" walk for them last night.  Poor little Pancho got so excited he jumped on Simmons.  I don't think Simmons appreciated the experience, he seemed to think he should be the guy.  Jenny meets & greets every guy that comes on the property & always has.  She's still got Buddy's attention, he loves to follow her around. 

GROWING PAINS.......??????

Looks like our little family will be growing by two, before Mocha & Tucker go to their new home..............!!!  So the "pen shuffle"  starts all over again.  Wouldn't be so bad, but hay is suppose to be delivered Friday, which means BlackJack has to be moved out of the hay barn.  We think we have it figured out, stay tuned......!!

Friday we went over to Las Cruces, N.M. to do a home study for Mocha & Tucker.  It was an all day trip, I think John said 497 miles, got home late for chores.  When this happens a lot of them wander off to feed themselves.  The ones that insist on being fed on time, are usually standing in close proximity to the driveway with a judgmental attitude.  It usually doesn't take long to get everyone rounded up & where they belong under these circumstances, thank goodness.  

I think Mocha & Tucker will have a wonderful loving home, they'll have a large fenced area that includes the back of the house.  So they will be able to look in the windows & let the people know when it's time to pay attention to them, which I'm sure they will learn real quick.  

This Wednesday they have an appointment to get their Coggins blood test & health certificates to go across the state line.  That usually doesn't take but a few days, so we'll probably be hauling them the next week. I hope it cools off we don't like to haul in hot weather.


Yesterday Bijou got his teeth done.  Stacy had noticed he had some hooks & she was having her dentist come out & do some of her horses.  I got there too late to see how he did, but they said he was a little gentleman.  He sure looks good with his feet trimmed up, & body clipped, as Stacy said he looks like a little show horse.

Thanks for the picture Stacy

He's still not wearing his boots & is doing really well.  Stacy said he is a little "ouchy" out of the soft pen area, but he's been in boots for almost 6 months.  I remember how it use to be when I started going barefooted in the summer, the first few days till my feet toughened up were pretty tough.  

While I was there I took a picture of the little 24 inch mini horse.  She's happy & friendly, but so deformed.

CINNAMON

The idea that people would breed these little guys for profit just turns my stomach.  Even if people are willing to pay big bucks to have one they can keep in their apartment or whatever stupid reason they have, how many people would be willing to furnish the care these little creatures will need for their whole lives?  

LOOK AT THAT LEFT FRONT FOOT

I don't know what they call the little horses, in donkeys they call them Micros.  There's a place in Texas called Golden's Point that has a little 26 inch jack named Tiny Ticket.  His stud fee is $1000, so there's money in it that's for sure.  

HURRAH....GOT THE VIDEO LOADED......!!!

It's down a couple of posts, still don't know what happened.  The last couple of days it wouldn't download, but this morning it worked.........!!!

As soon as chores are done in the morning, we'll head for Las Cruces, NM to do a home study for Tucker & Mocha's new home.  It's about 230 miles over there, so we'll be gone all day, hopefully we'll get home in time to do chores........!!!! LOL

Tonight John's taking me to practice at the race track.

This was last week-end & not real exciting, but at least I stayed on the track for the most part.  I'm the orange slash/white one running around in about 10th place.

Tonight at practice I want to work on going into the turns, that's where I'm losing about a second on the lap.  John thinks I need to barrel into the turn & not tap the brakes.  Hmmmmmmm  sounds like a good opportunity for some "agricultural racing".  At least there isn't anything close to our track, so if you go off it's just a matter of making sure you keep the wheels on the ground rather than in the air, crank the wheel & head back for the track.  Hopefully there isn't someone already on the track where you come back on........!!!  LOL

 DAISY RESTING UP FROM PLAYING WITH THE BOYS

We let Honcho out of his pen yesterday & everything seemed to be going well, no one paying attention to anyone else & life is good.  

Last night right after we went to bed, we heard the thundering of hooves, grunting, braying & in general lots of commotion going on.  Got out of bed, put on enough clothes to survive in the mesquite brush, grabbed some flashlights & went out to see what was going on.  

Good grief, almost EVERYBODY was running as a group, some of them running from & others chasing.  Boaz & Honcho were running as a couple, & when I flashed a light on Honcho's forehead I noticed it looked rather rough, like he'd ran into a tree.  (I've seen this type of wound before from crazy boys)  No one, & I mean no one was paying the least bit of attention to us, they were too busy, trying to escape or having fun, depending on their involvement in the "party".  We finally got Honcho trapped in his pen, & then it was fairly easy to get Boaz to go into his.  

Once they were corralled everyone else stopped & stood around looking confused, they aren't use to seeing us at midnight unless we're coming home from the races.  

Honcho was overheated, dripping sweat & breathing so heavy I was afraid he was going to collapse.  I grabbed a rag & started soaking him with cool water, much to his disgust.  Donkeys are NOT fans of water.  It was hard to tell who was the aggressor, so we left both of them in for the night & I finally got Honcho cooled off.  

We also tried to find Pepper, Jenny & Tucker to make sure they were OK, & hadn't gotten in the line of fire, but in the dark unless they want to be found you could walk within a few feet & not see them.  

Went to bed, got up this morning & I told John to let the warriors out before feeding to see what they would do.  Next thing we know we're having a repeat performance, but in the daylight we could figure out what was going on.  This time Honcho was chasing little Tucker & Mocha was trying to protect Tucker.  Honcho was ignoring her like she wasn't even there.  Boaz was trying to engage Honcho, but everyone was moving too fast.  So I would imagine last night Boaz was trying to protect Daisy who was leading the pack when we went out.  I guess he sees everyone as part of his herd, & Honcho is an outsider.  It took awhile to get them separated, but once Honcho was in a pen, everything slowed down.  

Tucker was just fine, & so was Pepper & Jenny.  I have no idea what is going thru Honcho's little brain, but he's going to have to stay in a pen until we get it figured out.  I also have an appointment for blood tests for both him & Buddy.  I need to find out where Buddy's numbers are for Thyroid & also Insulin Resistance.  He has always had a real problem with weight & with the numbers maybe we can figure out something that will work.  Honcho will be tested for testosterone.  He was gelded at the age of 5 by a vet, so I wouldn't expect him to be proud cut, but I guess stranger things have happened. I wouldn't say all his behavior is stud like, a lot of it is just Honcho.  Maybe coming into a situation where there are so many donkeys, just got him all excited, who knows.  We'll find out. 

Looks like Tucker & Mocha might have a forever home in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We are in the early stages of adoption, but it sound like this might be a good home for them.  Next step will be for us to do a home study, so we'll do a day trip over, have lunch & should make it home before time to feed. 

Eeyore will be going to the vet tomorrow morning, he's still not interested in eating anything.  We even tried syringing soaked hay soup into him last night & he just wasn't interested.  John discovered a lump underneath his throatlatch area, probably thyroid, at least that's my "don't know what I'm talking about" guess.  Enlarged thyroid isn't unusual for older equine, I doubt that is his problem. 

Everyone else right now seem to be doing great.  In fact I'm having to put Pepper on a diet.  The old buzzard is getting almost chubby.........!!!  Hasn't been down, not able to get up for quite awhile, but he doesn't need to be carrying anymore weight on his poor old legs than necessary.  About 3 years ago, I wouldn't have bet he'd make it thru the winter.  Every morning when I went out I was surprised he was still breathing.  That year he had to stay in at night, he was so thin & frail, he was blanketed & wore boots every night.  But somewhere along the way, he's done a turn around, still perky & still chasing the girls, BUT getting less to eat these days.  John is getting tired of him using his hard old head to try to get you out of the way so he can get to his mush though.  Also digging a hole at the gate as he waits impatiently for you to bring his mush.  I've told him if I fall in the hole he's dug & break a leg, he'll be sorry.  Unfortunately I don't think he cares.........!!! LOL  John put a stall mat at the gate, so now he's digging at the edge of the mat...........grrrrrr....!!! 

We changed Jenny's foot bandage this morning.  It's looking good, but I don't see a whole lot of hoof growth above the open area.  I've never dealt with a hoof resection before, so don't really know how it heals.  The only problem she has is one of her heel bulbs just won't heal.  They were icky when she came home from bandage pressure.  I managed to get one side to heal, but the other one is really being difficult. 

Courtney is going to try to get out this week to trim Jenny & Gus & whoever else needs it.  I noticed this morning Jenny has a false sole on her other rear hoof, at least that's what it looked like, didn't have much of a chance to look at it.  I don't know if she can stand on her "bad" foot long enough for Courtney to work on that sole, but guess we'll find out.