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

Life is never boring around here, that's for sure.  This morning when I came in from chores, 3 of the cats were on alert by the eating table.  It was Nigel, Moogee and Sunny, which isn't exactly a normal grouping.  The boys hate her and she hates them and usually when they are in a pattern like this, the boys have had enough of her high handed ways and are going to make her pay.  

I chased the reluctant boys away and Moogee was holding down her spot.  I noticed something under the end of the bench (we don't have chairs we have benches) and it looked like it might be a lizard, except there was a lot of it and it looked like it was wadded up under the end of the bench.  On 2nd look, I went out and yelled at John up in the hay barn that, "we have a snake in the house".  Snakes don't bother me, but I didn't want it to take off and find a better place to hide.  Believe me, this house has LOTS of hiding places for a small snake.  

In the time it took him to get down here, I had found what I hoped was a good "catcher", a large plastic container out of the kitchen.  It actually went really well.  Moogee held her position, John raised the end of the bench and before the snake noticed his ceiling had disappeared, I put the container down without getting any of his body outside.  You talk about one really P.Oed snake, he was NOT happy.  He also was about 2 feet long and only about as big around as a sturdy ball point pen.  In other words a very thin snake.  We looked him over with a flashlight, which went over really well......NOT.......!!!  John came in and check his snake book and we think it is a Lyre Snake.  We've seen them before, but I don't think this big and long. 

We put him out in the area north of the house that is an overgrown jungle.  It's fenced, so the donkeys can't eat everything like the rest of the property and also Saddik the dog can't get to the snake.  There's also some grasshoppers in there, which judging from his size, is probably something he would eat.  

We also got a phone call a little after 6am, from a man with the news that baby # 2 had hit the ground.  Earlier this year he and his wife came out and were interested in adopting a couple of donkeys.  They are about our age and were interested in Wister and Ruger, who are pretty young.  When I asked what they had planned for the donkeys when they died, I caught them by surprise and they had no answer.  So they went home and ended up with 7 unhandled burros, 4 jennies and 3 males, one an older gelding and 2 young jacks about a year old.  As a rescue I would not do that to inexperienced people, but this is the 2nd time this particular rescue has done something like this.  

I must say they are having fun and are really working with the donkeys.  One of the jennies got her head caught in a tree fork and had to be euthanized.  I got to inform them that the other jennies were probably PG.  I also started harping on the jacks needing to be gelded, but unfortunately we were going into the hot season and no Vet would geld them.  

Friday they called when the 1st baby arrived, healthy and a boy of course.  I reminded him that the 2 little jacks are viable and he has 7-10 days to get them gelded.  Poor guy is going crazy trying to keep all this up in the air with another baby on the way. Belle hasn't had hers yet......!!! 

The older jack was a herd sire, probably the daddy of the 2 new babies.  But just because he is gelded doesn't mean he has forgotten his old job and he will try to breed the girls 7-10 days after the babies are born.  The problem is, a lot of times the babies will get in the way and get hurt or killed.  So we are trying to figure out somewhere to keep him for a couple of months until the babies get a little bigger.  I know a place that comes to mind....!!!!!!   So I'm working real hard to try to find someplace else instead.  LOL  He's suppose to call me tonight, so I better have an answer by then.