Prairie dogs and warm day


Do you see what this is??? It's an OPEN kitchen window.... We actually had windows open in the house today! It was 50 degrees F, about 10 Celsius. Super windy, but even the wind wasn't cold.

Everything is a wet, wet, mess however. It is suppose to freeze and snow in the coming days, but it still feels nice even if it is only a teaser.

Oh how nice it feels...




Now lets just pause for a moment and look back to 2008....


No this winter has not been hard, but I am glad to see signs of spring in the air. Snick was after Maggie today (the turkeys) so even they feel spring!
Everyone in the barnyard really enjoyed the warmer day.

Lambie AKA Braveheart

Lavender with her tongue out

Snick and Levi- buddies

Lily

Lila, my more mature ewe is getting closer to lambing. All the ewes are, but Lila is telling me what's going on. I've always been able to read her best. She has started spending a lot of time around Max, our Pyrenees who guards the sheep, because she feels more secure. He's been laying with her during the day.

I forgot to share in my last post that one of our Prairie dogs, Dale, passed away earlier this week. She has been declining for sometime due to age, she was about 12 years old. Although I'm comforted she is at peace now, we miss her terribly. We still have four other Prairie dogs, but now all three of our original dog town crew have passed, and they were like no others. All three of them had such special personalities, and we bonded closely to each of them.

Snuggles


Snuggles just wanted to be cuddled all the time, and he was tiny. He loved his treats and was gentle all the time.

Chip


Chip was absolutely one of a kind, he had a huge personality, was a complete suck, loved exploring the house, and playing with the dogs and rabbits. I remember one night he decided he was mad at Kevin, but not me. Kevin would go say hello to him and he'd chip away at him. I'd go over there and he was sweet as pie. We laughed at how he was holding a grudge with just one of us and not mad at both of us. He was always making us laugh and smile, especially when he had fresh timothy hay from the field, he loved his sweet potatoes too, but he hated carrots, wouldn't eat them if it was the last thing on earth left to eat.

and Dale, our little girl, she loved to be held upside down in my arms where she would go to sleep as I rubbed her tummy. She bit me pretty hard several times in our early days together before I realized what she was trying to tell me... She loved being out of the cage, and when I'd go to put her back, she'd bite me. So I learned in time to put her in a trance by rubbing her tummy and then gently putting her back, and she never bit me again. They have their own language, and once they accept you as family they expect you to understand what they are saying - and once you do, you have no problems. Dale and I had a very special relationship.



We learned a lot from these three, from our years with them, and they introduced us to a bond like we had never known, it's similar to a bond with a dog, but different, hard to explain. They are such emotional animals sometimes it's like dealing with a human being.

Our remaining four are a different bunch, always on the go, always building and tearing stuff apart. But they are not loving and gentle like our original three, they are much more independent. Our house feels different now, but it's not without constant yahoos yet, whenever we sneeze, open the wood stove door, or say something in an excited voice. Prairie dogs actually do yahoo - they yell it and throw their hands up in the air with great excitment.

Last night I put our chick order through, I'm waiting for confirmation the birds I requested will be available. If so, we've got  Narraganset turkeys coming,  Broad Breasted Bronze (these are to sell), a few Amerucana hens, Cuckoo Maran hens, and 6 Silver Gray Dorklings coming, straight run, so hopefully I won't get all roosters. The turkeys are straight run too, I don't care about the Bronze but I hope I don't end up with only Narraganset toms, not a good start to the Narraganset flock. We've got 30 chicks total, so I hope we don't take too many losses but I didn't want to get more than 30. This will be enough. I'm hoping to get either mid May-late May hatching dates, that will give us time to fix the old chicken coop up since I am planning on moving the girls from the barn this spring back to the old barn, which doesn't have a good fenced yard anymore.

Kevin is fixing our dishwasher tonight because the motor is going on that. We could not unload the evaporator because of the wind, which is even worse tonight. We need to use straps to lift it and that's not a good thing to do in the heavy wind.

So I'm off to relax with the dogs and me and Norman will dream of this:

Green fields!

Comments

Denise said…
Aww I'm sorry to hear you've lost the last of your original prairie dog pack. I'm betting that's really hard.

We have three prairie dogs, all with their own original personalities and we sure do love them.
luckybunny said…
Thank you Denise, they are just so special, and you would understand. I can't imagine how life would have been not knowing them, even for a short time. Our four remaining Pd's who have been here a year, I'm grateful for.... they just lived a bit different life before they came to us than the other 3 did... so they have different behaviors, but our bond is growing more too, even with "Nervous Nelly!" :) You can guess how she is by her name! Thanks so much for visiting.
Chai Chai said…
This is the first I have ever heard about anyone having Prairie Dogs as pets. The picture of Chip on the floor is wonderful, I'm so sorry for your loss.

Ordering birds is always exciting, good luck.
Alla said…
How nice to open windows! It was 50 here today also, but the wind was not warm. I love your sheep! Do you spin? I'm hoping to get some turkeys this spring only not to sell, not quite ready for that. Sorry about your little prairie dog.
hornblower said…
I'd never heard of having prairie dogs as pets either! So cute! Sorry to hear that your pack has diminished.
luckybunny said…
Thank you so much everyone :) We are really lucky to have been able to have these guys in our lives. They are so smart and social, and just amazing!
Anonymous said…
I had such a bad week and today I just gave up and cried. Then I came across your family. How great!!!! Made me smile and feel a bit better!
You are living the life I would love to have! I bet many people feel that way.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Barb (fiberaddict)

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