1ST HORNY TOAD OF THE SEASON........!!!

I've always loved these little guys.  I spent a lot of time when I was a kid, catching them & finding an ant hill for them.  I'm sure they could find ants to eat without my interference, but for some reason I thought it was necessary to "help" them.

We usually only see a few each year, when I was a kid in west Texas they were everywhere.  I would imagine a lot of donkey feet pounding the ground isn't conducive to having horny toads habituating with them.  Very rarely see any snakes either.  

The toads here are different than the ones in Odessa, Texas, ours were more sandy colored rather than an off gray color, & had spines on their backs.  These have spines all around their head, but their body is relatively smooth. 

Everything is going pretty good right now for a change.......well except for cute little Wister & his favorite past time.......removing fly masks from anyone that will hold still.  His poor long suffering Mom, Ruthie pays the price when they are in their pen to eat.  She can't get away from him, & the next thing we hear is the sound of velcro  being ripped apart.

BlackJack has been coming in without a mask for the last few days.  Really didn't think Wister was that brave, but you never know.  The mesquite beans are getting ripe & the donkeys know it.  John caught BJ, sticking his head into the middle of mesquite trees, & shaking the trunk to make the beans fall.  Our thought is, when he pulls his head back, chances are the masks are getting caught & off they come.  I think there's 3 of his out there right now.  

We've already started cutting down on hay because of the beans & watching poo piles with a judgemental eye.  Coquette, Penny, Frijolita & Daisy have already went on short rations.  We have to be careful not to cut too much hay, because they need to eat hay to make sure the beans don't go thru their system in a ball.  The local rancher said he has found cow skeletons with a ball of beans as big as a basketball,  they couldn't pass.  I hope we don't have to put any of them in pens until the beans are gone.  Poor little Buddy usually has to spend the summer in the pens, letting us know how mistreated he is every time he sees us go out of the house. 

YESTERDAY FIRST DAY OF MONSOON, TODAY OUR FIRST RAIN

 Checking out the courtyard & my tomatoes...!!

We had clouds this morning & a few minutes ago we got the first rain of the monsoon season.  It lasted about 5 minutes & was enough to "connect the dots" on the courtyard, but that's about all.  Heard from Patti & our son, they live on opposite sides of Tucson & both were getting hail.  Glad we didn't get any.  

When I was a kid in west Texas we had the mother of all hail storms one summer.  When I hear people talk about softball size hail, I know what they are talking about.  Talk about destructive........!!!!!   Cars, roofs, windows, you name it got destroyed.  My stepmother had a big old Chrysler New Yorker, & she drove it to a gas station with an awning, which saved it from getting dimples all over it.  

At that time my Dad had his own sign company.  For the next few months he was so busy he couldn't keep up, & of course couldn't find enough people willing to work.  He did a lot of neon signs, which were quite popular then.  Of course the hail destroyed probably every neon sign in Odessa, Texas & the businesses wanted theirs fixed, NOW.........!!! 

When it was all over Daddy decided he didn't want to do signs anymore & went into commercial painting, hospitals, businesses, shopping centers, which he did until he retired.  Still stayed busy, but people didn't get so excited about walls as they did about signs, which was a good thing.  

Have a call in to a wild life rehabilitator.   Patti sent me info about feeding baby squirrels & one of the first things is, DON'T FEED THEM COW'S MILK, or nuts & seeds.  We haven't been doing nuts & seeds, but I am feeding him cow's milk.  I guess too little calcium is a big problem with these little guys.  I've never heard of Esbilac powder before, but I guess that is the primary replacement food for baby squirrels.  That & monkey chow, who would think that...!!!

Our son is racing tonight, so we won't be here, unless she calls soon.  I'm getting ready to go out & feed, but I'll check the messages before I leave.  I was trying to figure out how to take Skeeke (I won the naming contest), but will feed him before we leave, & when we get home. 

I copied this information from a message on the Donkey Group.  Having worked with ex-roping donkeys over the years, I know from personal experience how horribly scarred both mentally & physically these gentle loveable creatures become after such horrible treatment.  Please take a moment to express your thoughts with Van Horn, & also share this information with your e-mail list.  This cruelty needs to stop, before the next generation is indoctrinated into this type of "entertainment".

Take a moment to contact the Van Horn Chamber of Commerce with your nicely worded ( not nasty) thoughts. The phone number is (432) 283-2043, Monday - Friday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. On their website the email address is- patriciagolden@vanhorntexas.org

The City website shows their contact info as:

Mailing Address:

Town of Van Horn
PO Box 488
Van Horn, TX 79855

Phone Number:

866-4-A-HOWDY (424-6939)

eMail :

info@vanhorntexas.org