Last Wednesday, June 23, I took off early in the morning to meet a friend for a day of errand running and a little shopping. I had been up to my eyeballs in work on the ranch with spring mowing, garden planting, and a little early vegetable harvesting. And of course, with Ruthie deer’s snake … More A Simple Surgery… and a Brush with Death
This past week, Ruthie deer began showing a little more interest in venturing outside of her straw-lined room in the barn, especially in the early mornings and just before dark. Her sisters often gather just outside the deer pen as if to check on Ruthie and keep her company from the other side of the … More Showing a Little Interest
Forrest and I realized very quickly that Ruthie deer’s venomous snake bite was going to require a greater level of rehabilitative care than we had dealt with in the past. As soon as we managed to get Ruthie secured in the deer pen, and prepared the fawn section of the barn with a deep layer … More Ruthie’s Road to Recovery
If ever we needed a miracle on our little ranch, it would be now. We are faced with a rehabilitation scenario more challenging than any other we have ever encountered. The Wednesday before Memorial Day, Ruthie deer did not return home in the evening with her three sisters. We did not think much of this … More A Venomous Strike
Warning. The images posted may be disturbing. During the first few days of March, we found the bodies of three coyotes on the leased property along the Washita river. It appeared they were shot the day prior. We figured the owner of that property, a friend of ours who leased the property to us for … More Footsteps of a Killer
The first reports of our four rehabilitated, orphaned fawns venturing into the residential area east of our property, came from neighbors across the street. Neighbors just north of us reported seeing them in their front and back yards, as was the case with both Daisy and Tukker deer when they were venturing out and exploring … More A Little Too Much Adventure
Walking along our driveway one morning in Mid-March, I noticed something odd in one of our blooming Forest Pansy redbud trees. As I stepped a little closer, I discovered a female mourning dove sitting on a nest, with purplish-pink blossoms all around her. I wondered how long she had been sitting on the nest before … More Gentle Mourning Dove
Forrest had to put in a lot of work to keep the wildlife feeders and water tub filled during the recent winter storm. Normally, we hand-carried five-gallon buckets of deer feed down the slope to the feeders, but more than ten inches of snow cover made walking to the bottom much too treacherous. So Forrest … More Playing ‘Possum
Last month, I found myself making the usual preparations for the cold weather and deep snow that was forecast in mid-February. I called ahead for a propane delivery, even though I still had forty percent in the tank, as I wanted it topped off while the weather was still favorable for our propane guy to … More Surviving the Siberian Cold Snap
I remember, all too well, the day the city police animal control truck drove up the driveway, with our first rehabilitated and newly released fawn, Daisy, lying in the truck bed, unable to move except to loll her head around with eyes rolled back, making light grunting sounds. Apparently, she had ventured into a neighborhood … More Meeting the Neighbors
The weather generally dictates my schedule for the week. Lately it’s been cold and windy, so I’ve kept to indoor projects. But the last week has been a different pace, with Forrest now retired. There is an ease to everything – staying up later watching a good movie, getting up later than usual as a … More Watching and Waiting
Day by Day the Farm Girl Way... 