VOTK 3/8/2009

I got a call before I left that no volunteers showed up on Saturday and that all that was done was feeding the 'farm" animals. My job is to take care of all the "farm animals" which is all but the big cats, bears & wolves. ( Even though I do spend a fair amount of time with the wolves they are not on my chore sheet). With 2 days of constant rain the sanctuary grounds were a mud mess. There were more than a few times I almost stepped out of my boots from being sucked into the mud. We even had thunder & lightning, even worried about a possible tornado ( crazy day to say the least). Got everyone fed. Had a small scare with Lily the orange pig/hog wondering why she was sleeping outside but after some bread treats she was moving around and I chalked it up to Homer the Razorback being a dink and not allowing her into the shelter. We decided to give the duck eggs to the artic foxes ( the eggs are unfertilized & usually thrown away), the foxes loved them- score!. Went out into the field to give the horses bread. They are just so cool and the heirachy is interesting, they do get pushy when there are treats involved. The pen with the 3 wolves are warming up to me and were waiting for me to come over with biscuit treats. I also got to spend some good, though wet time with the other wolves. By the end of 5 hours I was soaked through and ready to go home. I headed home in the rain, when I pulled in the driveway it was hailing and 10 minutes later it was snowing. I am home safe, sound,showered, dry and relaxing. Another good day at the sanctuary.

As a follow-up. The foxes were not allowed to have the eggs. Even though they love them, there is a chance that the eggs have been sitting out in the sun too long, too dangerous. The foxes will just have to make due with all the other wonderful, safe treats they receive.

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...

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.