A Typical Day at VOTK

I thought it might be interesting to document a complete day at VOTK. I'm sure I will miss some pieces but you, the reader, will get the general idea of what I do. I apologize for the run ons and lack of breaks but that pretty much is how my day runs.

Sunday, June 13 was a 7 hour day. I started at 10am.
As soon as I get out of my car I say hello to Chewie the camel, Chunkie the llama, RC the blind horse, Monchie & Rainbow the seeing eye donkeys. I get my usual response from RC & donkeys, lots of whinnying and braying. They know that breakfast is on the way and that really nice lady is here to bring it to them. All the outside tinies ( the domestic cats) check me out and I have to tell them that Carolyn will be along soon to take care of them. Carolyn loves to feed the tinie's. We all have our favorite things to do for the animals and we respect. each others space. I hurry to the back of my car to change into my work shoes. I clock in, check for any special notes or chores I need to take care of, there's nothing posted.
I make a quick check on the barn chickens & ducks, they all need water and the baby ducks & momma need a dry floor. I move further back to say hello to Seava & Zipper the tigers and give some quick lovin' and baby talk. I check to see if Chaucer the lion is in or out, he is out and then on to the cougars to say good morning. I quickly take care of the water needs & bedding, then grab the feed for the animals in the pole barn.
I bring the buckets of grain for RC, Chewie & Dusty to my car to add extra goodies of romaine, sliced carrots & apples. Chunky gets carrot ends because they are easier for him to eat and slices of bread.
Dusty the colt is in the pole barn temporarily while the new fence is being built in the pasture. He is being kept away from the mature horses for his own safety.
Next is checking the upper compound, I pass by the wolves and of course have to stop and say hello to them. I always give attention to Nadia, she loves her back scratched and the conversation of course.
I am always talking when I am with any of the animals. They know my voice and it makes me feel good to be recognized. I also hello to Tessa, she is a beautiful wolf but not as controlled as Nadia. I check the duck feeders and now on to the horses in the pasture. There are 5 horses and a burro in close quarters while the new fence is being built. I love the horses and I feel very comfortable with them while I am out in the field. I go in for my quick "horse" fix and to check their hay. I notice that the hay in the feeder by the entrance is moldy and will have to be removed later in the day. The hay most likely got moldy from being wet and not rotated when new hay was added.
Hello to the bunnies, ducks, geese, change water and check food. Peacocks get new water, food is good, remove eggs because we don't want baby peacocks.
Goats and sheep need hay, say hello to Emu's. Beth is here today so she will take care of the emu's. I will miss my one on one time with Gus but I have a big project to tackle today.
My project is to clean out Homer, the warthog/razorback's house. I wrote a story about cleaning his house in March. It was a big and smelly job. But I still have other chores to do before Homer's house.
I get the hay for the goats and bring some extra bales for Homer's house. I say hello to all the big cats as I walk through the front side back to the pole barn. Time to clean the living quarters for Chewie, RC & Dusty. I always start with Chewie, then RC and since Dusty is around I have to tidy up his area too.
I bring down the water hoses to start filling up the tanks for the cows & bulls, then I will get RC, Dusty & Chewie's filled. In between I grab some bread, veggies and feed them snacks as I clean. I brush RC because she loves it and it is our bonding time. She loves when I talk to her and cradle her neck. She will rest her head on my shoulder while I brush her neck. Pole barn area is done. On to Homer's house. I fill up a bucket of food goodies to entice Homer out of his house, it works like a charm. Thankfully his house is not as bad as it was in March. The warm weather has kept it fairly dry. I discovered that Homer has a new roommate, a beautiful female duck. She wasn't quite sure what to do when i was cleaning but she made it clear she was not leaving. Three trips to the bone pile to discard the old bedding. All done & just got the message that the horses in the upper compound need 6 bales of hay. That is 3 trips back & forth with 2 bales per barrow load. On the last trip to the hay feeder it starts to rain and the wind picks up. As I toss the hay into the feeder part of it comes back and sticks to me, I don't realize how bad I got plastered until I make it back to the prep room and everyone asks what happened to me. Apparently I am wearing hay everywhere, in addition to being soaking wet, I'm sure I looked quite attractive- LOL. The rain let up enough to venture back out, there is still a lot to do
I grab 2 more bales of hay and go out to feed the bulls. That means I have to get through the cows. They are hungry because their feeder has not been filled up yet, that is done by the owner and a big loader. To get through the cows I have to give them sacrifice hay, which means I have to distract them with hay so I can get through. I have to be careful because they can get pretty aggressive when they want food. I have had cows head butt me while I am carrying a bale or run into my wheelbarrow or try to pull the hay out of the barrow. It is not fun but I have figured out several diversions. Earl & Monty, the bulls are happy, fresh hay, yahoo. On my way out of the cow pasture, Nicole comes up to me and asks if I have seen the loose cow. what? crap, no way I let a cow out, I locked the gate. I see the cow, tell Nicole thank you and try to figure out how to get her back into the field. Karen is 99% done with breaking up the bread for the cows, perfect timing. I grab a big loaf and start laying down bread chunks for the cow to follow, it works. Karen wheels the bread wagon through the gate and the cow follows her right in. Whew. Now I need to check the perimeter to figure out how she got out. This is not fun because there is now a lot of mud from the earlier rain. Chris & I find the spot, I am amazed she squeezed her big cow behind through it. Chris works on blocking it to prevent future breeches.
I am almost done, sort of. I promised Carolyn I would haul some sand buckets over to the raccoons, I get that done, play with the house dogs for a bit. Ivy the panther is out so I have to talk to her too.
I have some chicken legs & quarters for treats. Chaucer is first because he has been eyeballing me every time I walked by because I told him I had treats earlier in the day. I give a quarter to Nash but he is being anti-social. The wolves always get legs, except for Nadia, she is not allowed treats because she has a kidney disorder. Festus the lion perks up and tells me he would like a treat too. He hops right down to get it, he usually is not that enthusiastic. Lena, the tiger, is in the back by her feeding area so I give her a quarter and she takes it into her house. I tell her i will see her on the front side.
On to Homer, I promised him apples, he loves apples. As soon as he hears my voice he pops up to get some. Lily, the pig also wants apples. Good thing I brought extra. Lily is so much fun to feed apples too because she smacks her lips when she eats. Jasmine & Chelsea (tigers) are checking my bag of treats. They are not on my usual list because they always get treats when we have visitors. Czar was not interested, Chelsea took his share. Finally I make it over to Lena & Thena. I like to spend one on one time with Lena & Thena, more so Lena. They are the newest big cats, coming from a federal seizure this past March. They have both adjusted well and totally enjoy their new spacious homes. Lena & I have a neat bond. I enjoy getting down on her level and talking to her face to face. She has been playing more with her toys and she gets so excited when she sees me. Today there is a barn tiny squalling away by Thena. I can't figure out what she wants, she is skittish but looks okay. I go to the prep room and get some dry catfood to bring out for it. Hopefully that is the ticket. Jill the owner is out and of course I have to stop and talk about the animals etc. I am thankful that Beth came today and brought a friend to help. They tackled the moldy hay, cleaning up the peacock area, scrubbing & filling up Lily's water tank, the emu's and various other odds & ends. Any extra help on a Sunday makes a tremendous difference. Usually it is just Carolyn & I doing the farm chores year round. I take care of the bigger animals and Carolyn handles the smaller babies. That is my day in a nutshell. Time for me to go, I still have to play 2 hours of softball to play after I get all this hay off my body...

Chewie the Camel and Nash the Cougar 1/3/2010

It was super cold today. I hadn't started chores and my hands were already freezing, I was ready to cry.
I had on 3 layers and that was not going to be enough so I took my bulky mittens and decided it would be well worth the hassle to keep my hands warm. I checked on Chewie the camel, his stall was a poop factory. I wasn't able to clean it last week as he was not going to leave his stall, it was too cold. Well, same story this week. I tried to coax him out with my arsenal of carrots, apples and bread. He stuck his head out but kneeled on the ground. Ugh, that is his way of telling me" I am not going outside, forget it, no way, but I will eat the treats". Soooo, compromise was needed. I gathered my cleaning tools, pitchfork, rake, shovel and sled. I started raking behind Chewie and he was cooperating. He moved up and started kicking back some of the yuck towards me, he was letting me know that he understood that I was trying to clean. He likes clean and he likes dry. When it was time to put the shavings down he got all excited, he started kicking the piles around, laid right down on it and started rolling. He was so happy to have a clean dry stall, he was like a little kid rolling and snuggling in the shavings.
I wish I could write well enough to express how much pleasure the above gave me. The positive energy and exchange at that moment was incredible.

Nash the cougar.
I had found out a few weeks back that Nash had been a guard cat for a drug gang. When there was a drug bust Nash found a new home at VOTK. Nash is a bit anti-social and I imagine it is from his history. Nash's den is situated in an area where the workers are always walking by. I would always say hi to him but never stopped to talk.
When I heard his story something shifted. I could "feel" Nash and I knew that he wanted more attention.
It has been my mission to spend time with him every Sunday and talk. He loves it, he paces,shows off and chirps his pleasure. I loves being told how handsome he is. I have recruited Carolyn, my farm chore buddy, into the Nash project.
Nash thinks life is good.

I'll add that while I was cleaning RC, Monchie & Rainbow's stall, my boots got tangled in the sled line and I slammed down hard on my knees on the freezing ground and frozen horse and donkey poop. I will also add that this was one time I did not laugh at myself for falling.

Homer the Razorback

Homer is a razorback hog at VOTK. I love Homer. Homer's buddy, Lily the pig was moved to the front of the compound about a month ago. Even though they were separated by a fence due to Homer's poor judgment ( he had injured her hind leg), they still cared for each other. They would meet at the dividing fence and chit chat and just enjoy each others company. Homer misses her, I can see it and feel it. I always make sure that I spend some time talking to Homer and bring him apples ( he loves, loves apples). However, because I have been so busy with chores and projects at VOTK, his area was getting overgrown with weeds. I was back visiting with him while he was trying to navigate the 8 feet tall weeds ( no exaggeration) to go potty. When I checked him later he seemed stuck in the mud while trying to get to his feeder. the look he gave me tugged at my heart. That was it, I made the time. As soon as he was back near his house and I felt it was okay to go in I pulled every jungle plant out of his enclosure, packed hay in the mud pond by his feeder and put in gravel/sand near his house so he wouldn't sink in the mud. I promised him that I would clean his house & water tank the following week. I made sure that his area was at the top of my list. Clean house, lots of fluffy hay and extra apples! A happy Homer is a wonderful thing. I love Homer and I know he loves me, I see it in his eyes. There is beauty in everything, even a scary looking razorback with a heart of gold.


Who’s Walking Who????

It is a beautiful Fall evening. I had no trouble deciding if I wanted to finish mowing the yard or take the dogs for a W A L K while there was still daylight. Lily & Lena picked up my thoughts immediately and were sticking to me like glue to make sure I didn’t forget them. It always brings a smile to my face to see how excited and happy they are to go for a W A L K. We go through the ritual of bustling out the door into the garage where I keep the leashes. They prance around impatiently waiting for me to hook them up and head out. Lena, as expected, takes a dump within 10 seconds of leaving the driveway. I guess that is a good thing because then I don’t have to carry around the poop bag for the rest of the W A L K. As I take out the poop bag with the skull and crossbones on it, I wonder why they didn’t put the warning symbols on the inside, because you always scoop then turn the bag inside out. So I decide that from now on I will flip the bag so that the skulls are on the outside. I’m sure the people at John’s Disposal will be happy for the warning.
I adopted both dogs as adults. I have had Lily for two years, she is about four years old. I picked her up on the day she was going to be euthanized. I have had Lena for one year, she is approximately eight & a half years old. She came to me through a friend of a friend of a friend who knew I loved german shepherds. I know for sure that Lily had never been walked until she came to live with me. Lena, for sure not in the past year prior to my adopting her, her super long toenails were a big clue. For that reason they both love to go on
W A L K S.
As we continue on I embrace the peace and quiet of the outdoors and inside my head. I like to enjoy the clean air, the smells, trees, grass, all that nature gives us. It’s also a full moon tonight, I’m hoping the clouds will clear soon. I also like to watch the interaction between Lily and Lena. They have the same body build and walk and are always in unison. When they turn their heads to look at something, to stop and smell, etc, they do it together. Lily is very sensitive to other dogs and their energy. She tends to get anxious when we get to certain houses because she can “feel” the dog that lives there. When that happens I have to keep repeating her name to keep her mind distracted and on the task of walking. It is so much easier when we are about half way through the walk, the excitement has toned down and we walk fairly normal.
We are about half way through the walk and I think to myself, “I wonder what wonderful founding father of Whitewater decided it was a good idea to plant black walnut trees on the terrace?” And we keep moving, the dogs lead the way and I dutifully follow behind. There is no point in trying to make them heel. I decided it is so much easier to just let them walk me, we keep a good pace. Three quarters into the walk Lena starts to slow down, this is when her age starts to catch up with her and wins out over her enthusiasm. I remind Lily that Lena is getting tired and we slow down so she is comfortable. We stop to let a young man walk by and he comments on how beautiful they are and I reply “thank you”. I know he is right, they are and I am so blessed that they are a part of my life. These beautiful dogs who came into my life because they were discarded by someone else. I am the lucky one.
We are back home and I let them off the leash so they can run to the door. It is a mad dash by both dogs to be the first one through the door. The mission: to chase the cats if they happen to be lollygagging in the kitchen. They never seem to realize that the cats are not stupid, they know the dogs are home as soon as they run to the door. Silly dogs.