OOOOPS!!!!!!

Doesn't look like a Happy Camper does he? Believe me, he wasn't & isn't. Two nights ago we set the traps as usual. Later I checked the one on the back porch & it had been sprung. John went to cover it up, came back in & said "we don't have a skunk". What we had was a large very unhappy tom cat. When you have lemons you make lemonade, right? There was no way I was going to let him go, without having a little corrective surgery done on him, first. We got him in a cage, which wasn't easy. In the process I named him Striker, for cause.....!!! (G) Yesterday morning I called the vet clinic & of course they were busy, busy, busy & were going to be until next week, when the vet was going to be gone for a long week-end.

Not all vets will neuter wild cats. To say your patient is ungrateful & will make you pay, if he can, is an understatement. Our local vet puts them in a small crate, puts the crate in a plastic bag & gases them long enough for the cat to go to sleep. Then they can run a line in a vein & proceed as usual. But not all vets are willing to make the effort & take a chance on getting hurt.

But they took pity on us & said they would do it after hours last night. Got a call this morning to come & pick him up. He hasn't lost any of his attack mode, I'm sorry to say. We put him in the 2 x 4 cage we had been using to move the chickens to the garage every night & put him in the hay barn. The first thing he did was turn the food, water & litter box upside down & fling everything everywhere in the cage. Then he hid in the big pile of straw we had put in for a bed. At least he knows how to use that.........!!! (G)

We'll try to keep him in for 5 days before we turn him loose, I'm sure we'll never see him again.......!!!! Hobo the female will not even walk close to the trap, so John is trying to get her tamed enough to hopefully get her in a crate., for a trip to the vet. Then there is a big yellow tom cat that could use a little corrective surgery, if we ever catch him......!!!

John reset the trap that night, & caught a skunk. Caught another one last night, but haven't caught any in the chicken pens for days. We really don't care if they are around here as long as they leave the chickens alone. He will continue setting a trap in the chicken pen for awhile. If we put something smelly & tasty in the trap, if one gets in there, maybe the trap will be more interesting than a chicken.

The donkeys are all doing pretty good right now. I'm still soaking Judy's foot, although she isn't limping very much at all. Never have seen any openings where an abscess broke, so still don't know for sure what was wrong with her. Haven't heard the results of her ACTH test for Cushings yet. Hopefully the lab gets it right this time.

# 11

Well # 11 was in the trap on the back porch this morning. But the good news is, no skunk in the trap over in the chicken pen. So we're debating whether to leave the chickens in their pen tonight, & set the trap outside or go ahead & haul the chickens back to the garage. We'll probably go ahead & haul them, just to be safe. John said when he let this one out of the trap, he wasn't happy & sprayed a little. We think he might be a "re-catch", & knows the routine......!!!!

I got a call this morning that just breaks my heart. A woman & her very ill husband have to move to the northwest closer to their son. They have a jenny, & her 15 year old son. They also have A 26 year old mule & his younger lady who is 19. They are all in excellent health................BUT............. they haven't been able to find anyone that would give them a wonderful home like they have now. The woman is so heartbroken, she is talking about staying here & letting her husband leave without her, which isn't an answer to the problem either.

So if there is anyone out there that would like to give a good home to some nice gentle animals, that are in a situation thru no fault of their own or their Mom, get in touch with me.

Courtney trimmed some of Judy's frog, but didn't find anything really wrong that would make her limp on that foot. She'll be back in a couple of week's & we'll see how Judy is doing by then. I'm still soaking her twice a day & will for the forseeable future I guess.

Martha seemed to think Chester has a little more mass in his chest area & his leg seemed to be looser to work with. Of course he's probably more comfortable now that he knows what she is going to do with him, when she starts poking & prodding. I'm sure that would make a difference in his state of relaxation. Max, the horse almost turns into putty when she works on him. You can tell he really enjoys it. We decided he would be a great horse for a massage school to have. He's big enough to be intimidating if someone was hesitant, gentle as a lamb, & very reactive to being touched. If he likes it, you know immediately, if he doesn't he lets you know, but not in a mean or dangerous way.

PROGRESS PERHAPS.......???

Well last night we didn't catch any skunks..... but we caught 2 yesterday, so we're not closing up our trapping business just yet. We'll set the traps & drag the chickens over to the garage tonight. If we have another good night, tomorrow night we'll set the traps but leave the chickens on their roost. They are getting so use to the drill, they don't even fuss when we pluck them off the roost & put them in the cage.

Martha & Courtney are suppose to come out this morning, so Max & Chester will get another massage & Courtney can look at Judy & see waht she thinks. I'm still soaking her foot, but she's still limping a little. My education on hooves & feet isn't that good, so maybe Courtney will have some ideas.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS.........!!!

Well the bad news is we caught another skunk, but the good news is, one trap was empty this morning. So we can only hope traffic is slowing down. We'll haul the chickens to the garage again tonight & set the trap over in their pen. I had put moth balls in a couple of holes the skunks dug in the chicken pen. This morning there was moth balls thrown everywhere. .!!!! (G) Hopefully the one we caught was the culprit.

It's been getting cold enough every night to put blankets on Pepper & Sha'ba. That means Pepper has to stay in the pens all night. John gives him extra hay, he has a warm blanket, but he still fights like a weak tiger at the gate, wanting to go out. Sha'ba is a homebody, he likes his pen. Right now he is busy eating prickly pear. They seem to eat different things at different times of the year. Someone told me cactus is high in vitamin C. I know he doesn't seem to mind sticking his face all the way in & getting dozens of spines & little tiny hairlike stickers that are almost impossible to find once they are stuck in your skin. He comes in looking like a porcupine with his whole face covered & usually wants to be loved on.........!!!!! YIKES! We've given up on pulling them out, unless they are close to his eye or inside his nose. They don't seem to bother him near as much as it bothers us to see them.

Judy seems to be walking much better although still has a slight limp. I'll continue soaking her foot until there is no more limp. I've been putting ichthammol on the area by her heel bulb that looks like a small split, assuming that is where the problem is. I know one thing, she's got one very clean hoof.......!!!

I MAY BECOME A SKUNK MURDERER.........!!!

We're up to 7, this morning we caught not only a hooded like the other 5, but a striped one. Good grief, they are calling in the neighbors......!!!! (G) Sardines seem to be a big hit. We've updated our approach, instead of taking them 1/4 mile away, they are going about 4 miles now. John loaded the traps into the bronco, left the tail gate open, one of them was rather smelly & hauled them to the Tres Alamos Wash. He said the first one sauntered out & was sitting in front of some brush when he let the 2nd one out. The 2nd one shot out like a bullet & ran over the other one. Now these guys are different types, but the last time John saw them they were running together up the wash.

The chickens are getting use to being dragged off their perch in the dark, & stuck in a cage. This morning while I was removing them from the cage, Rowdy the rooster decided not to wait. He hopped out of the cage & jumped down into the pen with the girls. John cut another "door" in the cage this afternoon, so we can open it & they can walk out, rather than me dragging them out the door in the top.

I'm still soaking Judy's foot. I think the abscess has opened, she's walking good, but I'll soak for another day or so just in case. She also might have some thrush. I've never had much dealings with thrush, so I'm not sure if it's just smelly feet or actual thrush. But it is black & it is smelly. After I soak that foot I've been spraying the bottom with a bleach solution. I am going to change over to Lysol tonight I think. I had planned on wrapping her foot once the abscess opened, but don't want to, if there is a possibility of thrush.

Set 2 traps last night, had 2 skunks this morning. That makes a total of 5...............so far. We were told that you have to take them 15 miles away to make sure they don't come back. That would be downtown Benson, not sure the city folk would appreciate skunks as new neighbors. I bought some sardines for bait today. John says they are probably telling all their friends to come to our place, the food is good, you get to spend the night covered by a nice warm blanket & you get to go for a ride in the wagon, although it would probably be nicer if the road was a little smoother. We've talked about spray painting a spot on them before we let them loose, so we could tell if we have repeaters. But we haven't decided who's going to do the spraying yet.

We went to town this afternoon & came home to find Judy out roaming around, thanks to Chili. He's such a helpful boy........!!!! I'm soaking her foot twice a day to hopefully help the abscess open up, so it isn't so painful for her to walk on it. She should walk as much as possible to also help it open up. But the vet thought the others might bother her if she was out. Actually I've never seen anyone attempt to intimidate her, so I think she is probably safe to be out moving around as much as she wants to. I've found out she does better in a soaking boot, if she can't see me. If I'm around her, she wiggles & squirms & lifts her foot up. But I found out if I soak her while she is eating her hay, & go off doing other things she stands still.

It looks like Chili will be going to a wonderful new home next week, along with Twinkie, & Frijolita will be coming out here to stay. We will haul Chili into Tucson, pick up Twinkie & take them to their new home. We haven't decided whether to pick up Frijolita at the same time as Twinkie, or come back & pick her up after we deliver Chili & Twinkie. Probably decide once we get into Tucson.

NEW JOB DISCRIPTION....SKUNK WRANGLER

Actually John is getting more experience than I am. We caught one skunk Monday night in the back yard. When John went over to shut up the chickens, we found another one behind the nesting boxes. So we gathered up the chickens, we only have 7 hens & Rowdy the rooster, thank goodness, & put them in the garage for the night. Set the trap & sure enough, yesterday morning we had caught another one.

This is a good way to move a skunk, if you don't want to get sprayed. They won't spray if you cover the trap with a blanket. So John hauled him about 1/4 mile away close to the San Pedro river. When we let the 1st one out it was dark, we opened the trap & it took off. This time it was daylight, with a close proximity to the golf cart. You can guess where this story is going............!!!!

The golf cart looked like a nice dark place to hide, & away he went. John thought that might not be a good idea, got a stick & poked him. It wasn't a full blown spray, but he did let loose enough to let John know he would prefer to be left alone. John agreed, & walked back home. We finished chores, took the quad down & retrieved our smelly golf cart & hay wagon.





Came home took the chickens back to their pen & life goes on. John went over to shut them up last night & there was a skunk running around in the empty pen. Same scenario as the night before, including moving the chickens to the garage, except I had run out of brisket fat & had to resort to tuna salad as bait.


This morning we had another little guest, & evidence where some of his close friends had tried to dig him out of his prison. So we think that probably means, tonight will be a replay of the last 2 nights.

We're becoming such good wranglers & seem to have an almost endless supply of hooded skunks, we're going to borrow another trap & set 2 each night instead of one.

Just got a call from the vet office & they are going to be out in our area & want to come by to draw the blood from Judy Mule for her Cushings retest. That will save us having to haul her into the office again. Right now she is still pretty lame on her left front. I soaked her foot yesterday morning & last night she was walking good. But this morning she is lame again. Which pretty much sounds like a hoof abscess. I poked & prodded when I soaked her yesterday, but couldn't find any place that was sore. I'll soak her again today, but this time I might wrap her foot with some drawing salve & hopefully if it is an abscess it will open & stay open to drain.

The skunks got another chicken last night. We thought we had all the entry areas covered, but obviously skunks are smarter than we are. We are going to try to set the live trap in the pen tonight with something tasty. If we do catch one then we'll have the problem of hauling it off, without us getting sprayed. And where do we haul it, far enough away, so it won't come back. We use to complain about the neighbor's dogs running loose, but at least we didn't have a skunk problem at that time. Guess we should be careful what we wish for sometimes.

Right now I'm involved in a donkey adoption that is going to be more involved than normal. A young woman that lost her older jenny to colic, came to visit a few weeks ago, & fell in love with Chili. Chili actually still has an owner that is having health problems. He had been staying here until she could figure out whether he could come home or not.

We found a wonderful home for Twinkie a few months ago, but since then her family needs to down size. Chili actually prefers girls over boys & has never really bonded with anyone here. He hangs with the group, but doesn't have a buddy. Soooooooooo I called Chili's owner & she agreed that this would be a good home. I called Twinkie's family & they also agreed to rehome Twinkie with Chili. So it's just a matter of getting them picked up & taken to their new home........!!!!! Incidently we will be gaining Frijolita, a friend of Twinkie, that is having weight problems. So although there will be donkeys moving here & there, we will still end up with the same number we have now.........!!!!! I don't think we will ever get downsized, although we keep trying.

SKUNK UPDATE:

Two nights ago, the skunks got into the chicken pens & killed one of the chickens. They dug under the fence, that is buried in the ground. We looked around & assumed they left the pens for the day. John fixed the fence, & put chicken wire over the chain link fence areas. Last night he came back from checking on the chickens & said he had a big problem. Both skunks were in the pens & the assumption was they had been in there all day, since John thinks he got the pen fixed so they couldn't get back in. They weren't in a mood to leave, so we took the blind chicken that had been in the pen where they killed the other hen, & put her in a carrier in the house for the night. Locked all the other pens & left the outside gate open. Sure enough they were gone this morning, actually John just saw one in the back yard........tonight.....!! I hope when he goes over to the chicken pen tonight, they haven't figured out another way to get in. I wish they would find another place to "shop". They even dig in the manure piles, looking for grubs.

This morning when everyone came in from Burroland, Judy the mule came in almost 3 legged lame on a front leg. I cleaned out her hoof & tried to check her leg. She seems to be trained to raise her leg if you touch it, which makes it difficult to know if she is reacting to your touch or just being a good girl & raising her leg because you asked her to. She has no swelling or heat in the leg I can find, although she seemed a little touchy around the elbow. She has a history of foundering, but her feet are the same temperature as everyone else, so I don't think that's a problem. She had to stay in her pen today, so I could watch her. She didn't really seem to mind, especially when she got some extra hay this afternoon. Usually when she's out during the day, she doesn't go very far away anyway.

I called to see how Gus is doing in his new home. They said he's settled in & he & Leo the horse are usually hanging around pretty close to each other. That should be a great home for him. We have a couple more that are looking for good homes, although we're not looking very hard.

OH! WELL.......!!!

There are actually 14 equine in this picture. I counted them before I took the picture, but three of the minis are behind some of the bigger guys.

Got a call from the vet clinic today. Although they called the lab almost 2 weeks ago to order the correct blood tubes to run Judy's ACTH test, it seems that the lab sent the wrong tubes. So the blood drawn Wed was for naught & we are waiting for the lab to send more tubes, hopefully the correct ones, so we can do it again............!!!!

The skunks are still around, although they haven't gotten into the house again.............YET! One of them waits out in the yard, until Hobo the outdoor cat, comes in to be fed. Then unless one of us stands by while she eats, the skunk comes in & runs her off. It would be nice if she would come in before dark, like she did for awhile. But for some reason she has decided she would rather eat in the dark.

We've gotten a little rain the last couple of days. I have never understood why everyone donkeys, mules or horse will stand in their shelters until the gate is opened. Then they leave & stand in the rain all humped up & looking miserable. When it's raining, we usually move their feeding area into the shelters. They all accept this change, except for Max the horse, & Tula, our wild child. Max will stand by his hay bunk, in the rain for a long time, even though he saw me put the hay in the shelter. He will stand & watch the hay cart as it moves down the line of pens, like I forgot to drop his off. He talks to me the whole time. Finally when he sees that the cart isn't coming back, he will go into the shelter & eat. Which leads me to believe he knew all the time it was there. But "it isn't like it's suppose to be".................!!!!

Tula on the other hand, hates to go into the shelter for any reason. She doesn't care how bad the weather is, she is a natural lifestyle type of gal, & prefers the wide open spaces. So when we put her feed under the shelter, it's really horrible from her point of view. She will stand in the middle of her pen, & literally scream at me, as I move down to the lower pens. She holds out longer than Max before she will finally go under the shelter. But if there is any noise or if she sees anything move, she pops back out in the open.