Peafowl

We have a fluid population….you don’t really keep peafowl, they just decide to live with you if you provide the right conditions. There is a large wild population in the general area. Over the years we have had white, pied and India blue peafowl living with us. Sadly many of the most beautiful have been run down by careless drivers on the road. Every year some come, some go.

We also have a red-fronted macaw, called “The Inspector”. He flew in in fall of 2007. We are sad to announce in January, 2016 that he seems to be gone. This very beautiful bird brought us many hours of fascinating antics which we will very much miss.

 Cats

One of the hardest lessons of moving to the country has been the loss of many of our beloved cats to predators. Coyotes and foxes are a constant threat to all our animals.Our cats are pets, but also serve a valuable purpose–they catch and kill rodents which would overrun us. Currently we have eight cats. We’ve had a lot of cats “dumped” on us by irresponsible people who dispose of unwanted litters of kittens in this manner. We’ve done our best to take in all we could. Socks, Sybok, Ghost, Darkness, Mom, Storm, Luna, Magnus, Timms and Sirrus are no longer with us, and are missed.

Tish and Gomez playing “feather”. With audience.

Castor and Pollux, resting after a hard day.

Castor (a.k.a. Bean) with Leda…but she’s not a kitten anymore!

This is Psycho. The name isn’t a joke. He came to us damaged mentally and physically from the neglect he endured at the hands of our former neighbors. He isn’t good for much, but….there is a certain entertainment value.

Sanguine, another “drop-in”. He came into our room and jumped on the bed at 5:30 one autumn morning. Oh well. He is the worst cat anyone could ever wish to have, bites are free.

Beren, our beautiful Plott Hound, is still a puppy at this time. Beren does a variety of jobs…he finds and digs to expose active gopher tunnels, allowing us to place traps in just the right place. He is trained to run at birds that are not supposed to be in the vegetable gardens, chasing them away. He traps and stays animals like skunks, raccoons or opossum so that they can be eliminated. We’re not trying to be mean, these animals kill our hens and rob us of eggs. And in case anyone worries that we work him too hard…nah.

Beren is now an 80lb dog and is joined by Maia, who has exactly the same coloration though she is a different breed. Beren has loved having a “sister” and the two of them live fabulous lives doing Dog Things on the farm.