Tuesday, June 13, 2017

UPDATE ON FIRE AND OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS



Boaz begging and Quilla having a snack.  I think they like Colorado

The Lizard fire is 40% contained, they are fighting it, but between the dry hot conditions and wind it's not easy.  They've evacuated some of the areas, to allow for free movement of the fire fighters.  Not sure how I feel about that, people's lives are disrupted enough without having to find a place to stay, especially if they have animals.  The firefighters are feeding and watering animals left by their owners from what we've heard, but doesn't that take away from their job of fighting fires?  That's OK, I get cranky about the police shutting down the road or highway when there's been an accident, so they can investigate, too.  If there are other roads in the area it's not that bad, but in the case of I-10 to Tucson, there are 2 detours of about 60 miles that you can take.  But........what if you have already passed the turn off before you find out the road is closed?  If we have appointments we always make sure to take the phone number with us, just in case.  I've also been known to cross thru the median making a u-turn, when I hoped no one that could give me a ticket was looking...........LOL  

The water in the holding tank is still brown and still smells like Clorox, although it's getting better.  The equine, (I'm using generic, since we have a mule and 2 horses besides the donkeys) have been drinking water, but not as much as I'd like.  John put on his thinking cap today and said he thought he could rig up a hose directly from the well, before it goes into the tank.  We went to Benson this afternoon, he got his "toys" and within 15 minutes it was ready to fill buckets.  He put two 18 gallon buckets in the back of the golf cart and it sure doesn't take long to fill them up with a 1 1/2 inch hose.  I went around and emptied and cleaned all the buckets in the pens, and Doug and John came behind me with the golf cart and delivered water.  If I counted correctly there are 18 buckets and the 75 gallon Rubbermaid by the well house.    We'll fill the buckets like this until the smell is gone, it's just too hot and dry to take a chance on them not drinking enough.  

Krista came out night before last to reassure Mel and Apache that they hadn't been deserted.  They really seemed to enjoy her visit and Mel started eating, which she had just been picking at her hay and pellets.  Krista was worried because I guess Mel likes to eat..............a lot....!!!  Krista is still in a pre-evacuation area, so the girls will stay here until she gets an all clear.  

Casper is still behaving himself for the most part.  He and Mel really don't like each other, I think it's a control thing, they both want to be in charge.   Casper will come thru to visit with Apache, he seems to think she's pretty cute, which really upsets Mel.  So Mel starts threatening him thru the panels and of course he isn't going to let her get away with that.  So they yell and scream and lunge at each other for awhile, with Apache pretty much ignoring both of them.  At least with mares he goes off and actually spends most of his time with the donkeys.  When Gizmo the mini mule was here, Casper spent a lot of time, threatening him thru the fence, and I assume that's what he does with horses that are geldings.

A magazine writer was out yesterday to get information and take pictures for an article she is writing about donkeys.  She did an article last month on the donkeys that was in  Edible Baja Arizona magazine, and decided to do another one on roping donkeys.  The donkeys always come up to people when they come for a tour and they showed up when we went out looking for picture subjects.  Casper was with them, and we warned her he probably wouldn't come close.  Not only did he come close he actually let her touch his nose.  These animals never fail to surprise me, which is what makes them such fun to be around. 

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