#5........

John left early this morning to head for the airport.  He is going to his 60th high school reunion and also to a family reunion in Indiana.  He'll be back Monday and in the meantime Doug and I will hold down the fort........!!!  

We've had a roadrunner couple raising their babies in one of the mesquite trees over by BlackJack's pen for the last few weeks.  It's fun to watch them, except for the destruction mom and dad are doing to our lizard population.  The parent spend all day running around and usually when we see them they have their latest catch and are headed to feed the kids.  We had no idea how many were in the nest, this morning Doug managed to get a few pictures of them.  There seems to be two.

Here are the babies, you can just barely see the one behind. 

 

Looks like mom has been shopping........UGH!  I know the kids have to eat, but I love my lizards.....!!

I had to go into Tucson to take some household stuff into our grandson.  He and Hunter our great grandson are moving into a house and they have nothing to set up housekeeping.  So I loaded up the pick-up and took a few things.  When John gets back, we'll take in some furniture.  

I was surprised, it's a 3 bedroom house and the only rooms that have ceiling lights is the kitchen and dining room.  The living room and all the bedrooms have no lights. so we will be trying to find about 8 lamps, 2 per room........... thrift shops, here I come.  And I'll make sure any lamps also have shades.  Shades are expensive and it's hard to find replacements that match the lamp.  We are using 2 lamps in our living room that need the shades replaced and I haven't been able to find the right size or shape.  

When I came home Doug met me at the gate, with the news that Frijolita had been bitten by a rattlesnake and Dr. Jeremy was on his way.  It struck her on the left side of her muzzle, he said it had been about 20 minutes since she came up to him to show him what had happened and that it was dripping blood when he first saw her.  She was calm, but didn't want it touched.  The left side was swollen and the right side was beginning to swell.  I stuck my fingers in her nostrils to see if they were swelling shut and they were open about half as much as usual.  I knew John had cut some garden hose pieces for such an emergency.  If the nostrils swell completely shut they can suffocate.  But garden hoses are pretty stiff and bigger around than a donkey needs.  I knew John had a piece of clear plastic tubing, like is used in fish tanks, but couldn't find it.  So I greased a piece of garden hose and put it in her nose.  She actually was pretty good about it which was a surprise.  

About then Dr. Jeremy and his dad drove in and he went to check on her.  By this time the right side was swelled up almost much as the left side, but her breathing was normal and she wasn't stressed, so she got a shot of dexamethazone and an antibiotic.  As long as she gets no worse, I will give her dex for the next 3 days  and she should be OK.  If she is worse in the morning, Dr. Jeremy will come out and treat her with anti-venom.   This is a new protocol I guess, he said it really helps with the swelling and they are back to normal within a couple of days.  I always heard they didn't treat equine with anti-venom because they have enough body mass to handle the venom, unless there is too much swelling or some other problem.  She actually tried to eat some hay, although her face is so swollen she really couldn't eat.  

It's hard to really see how pathetic she looks, I took more pictures but they came out blurred.  I might try to get more pictures in the morning if she is still swollen. 

She can't close her mouth, this is it, which of course means her mouth is going to dry out pretty bad.  Years ago when Quilla got bit and couldn't eat or drink for 2 weeks his mouth was so dry, it was terrible to see.

She is the 5th rattlesnake bite we've had, they've all been in September, when the snakes are moving around more getting ready for hibernation.  Shaba was bitten on his canon bone, which is somewhat like our shin.  Daisy was bitten underneath her jaw and looked nasty, but healed up within 2 weeks.

Daisy's jaw the 2nd day

Quilla was bitten on his muzzle, Boaz on his canon/shin bone.  The canon bone bites were easy, very little if any venom was released, so they basically were just like any sore.  Daisy obviously had venom to contend with, that gaping hole under her jaw was where the skin sloughed off, every morning it would be hanging and had to be cut off.

Do you notice a pattern here, they are bitten either on the muzzle, when they are looking for food, or on the leg, when they stumble on probably a sleeping snake.