I was shown the door early this morning to see what damage I could do to the rodent population. I mean seriously early. It was my plan. It is important to start the howling process early (a Maine Coon can howl like no other. Keika, who's a calico, has tried to imitate my howl. It's a pathetic imitation). I don't give a hoot that it's Sunday. Every day is Sunday as far as I'm concerned. Female handler was part of my plan, and she obliged me by giving up the thought of sleep and by letting me out.
From there, it's go go go!
I hit the driveway out to the road, I check out the underbrush, I climb a few trees...and then I'm back at the house at about 8 AM, a bit tuckered out. Since I know the bed is empty for the day, that's where I go for a little peace and quiet.
The problem is that when we have a Sunday like today where I like to start the day off early, the Handlers have this overwhelming sense of wanting revenge. Tranquilo yourselves... is what I tell them. They rudely yank me out of bed and throw me outside. DUDES, mellow on the physical treatment.
Since I was outside, I made the most of the day. I found a lizard to chase. And chase I did.
Honestly I don't normally go after these guys, but I knew the sun was too high up to find some decent rodents. I chased him into a roof top drain pipe. A bit of his tail was hanging out, and I enjoyed antagonizing him for a couple of hours.
The handlers seemed too consumed with their own activities to document this event. Apparently the area where the youngest kid's umbilical cord had been attached had become swollen and now was host to 100+ maggots. They had managed to carved our a cavity nearly as wide and as deep as a bathroom sink drain. Both handlers were consumed with cleaning it out before the maggots could reach the inner recesses of this tiny female goat. Female Handler (FH) was holding her down while Male Handler (MH) cleaned the cavity out with tweezers and alcohol. This process took about two hours. In the meantime, I was monitoring my drain pipe and then I disappeared, along with my lizard. And how this story ends...is anyone's guess.
As for the female goat, she has temporarily turned into a Belted Galloway goat ....with an Ace bandage holding her insides in.
Fortunately, mini-Female Handler has been working on an herbal salve consisting of lavender, plantago, and olive oil (from our neighbor), and that's what they used on the goat. Within a few hours the opening had closed significantly and by tomorrow she'll be able to rejoin her brother out in the pen. In the meantime, she's in a cat carrier in the sun room/mudroom which is free of probing flies.
So, the day is ending, and I've found myself exhausted on the couch between the Handlers. It was quite the day with the lizard. Let's see how long it will take for the Handlers to find the skin, which I am told is coveted for wallets and shoes... but not by cats of course.
