January Photos

Here are a few of the photos I have taken since the beginning of the year. First one is of Wiley Cat. Hubby had been bringing in wood and got warm so took of his jacket and tossed it on the steering wheel of our John Deer tractor. Wiley thinks the tractor is his and is on it frequently. He thought the jacket on the steering wheel made a perfect place to curl up. His horse friend Nita was watching him.
   Some of the other pics are of a light snow (if you can call it that) that we had one morning. It was more like a sleet and looked like someone had dumped tiny starafoam balls out of the sky. I took a pic of them on one of the hub caps I use to water the birds in, our dog Tuffee had to see what I was doing and help by scattering them. for some reason that photo would come up.
    There are a mix of other photos. After the hub cap with the sleet are 3 photos from the small village of Placitas, that is about 45 minutes to the northeast of us right at the base of the Sandia Mountains. I didn't get many photos as there isn't much to take pics of there and I had forgot my spare battery and the one in the camera died. Do you see the helicopters in the pic with the house which was what I was trying to take the shot of but the house and clouds like really good. Then the last ones are of an old old old Juniper tree out on the desert. From what I have learned about the junipers here this one is probably around 300 years old. There is a powerline pole right beside it and the powerline is right over it. I am glad the power company didn't take it down when they put the line is as they do so many times. I really hate to drive out on the desert and see all of these wonderful old trees laying on their sides, dying, because someone decided they were in the way of progress. They are all worth saving. They don't get all that big because they are an extreamly slow growing tree due to being in the desert. But the wood is very hard and becomes beautiful with age. For the past hundred years or so cows have been in this area and they stand under the trees for the shade. They rub on the trees to scratch themselves, breaking smaller branches but also rubbing and rubbing on them until some of the wood is polished to a high, glossy shine. This one is bigger around but not as polished as some I have found.

Pets

Some recent photos of my pets. Twinkie, the cat, Tuffee, the Border Collie,

 Tuffee, and Ziva playing.

 Twinkie, and Murphy trying to out do each other on getting up in the world.

Wiley

Twinkie and Murphy again.

 Ziva wanting in.

 Traveler, the pinto, and Stormy, the mini.

 My Quarter Horse mare, Bonita,  and in next photo is
Bonita, and my mustang mare, Star

Notice in this one of the ponies and dogs how I caught Ziva with her rear end in the air since she and TTuffee had been running around the outside of the pen while ponies ran inside the pen.

Cats and Dogs

Some photos of my cats and dogs. Tuffee playing with a toy. Twinkie and Cassie, the cats that we adopted last year.

 Tuffee and Ziva resting after running around on the outside of the horse pen while ponies ran on the inside.

Wiley Cat.

Ziva cooling her feet while getting a drink.

 Tuffee and then Ziva showing how they get in and out of Star's pen, my blind horse, so they can chase off the nasty neighbor dog that barks at Star. The dogs are very protective of her. Ziva will spend most of the day in her pen with her when I let her, even thou she would probably be more comfortable is some other part of the yard.

Unwanted Pets

Again, I had to call animal control and have them come get a dog that had been discarded on my street. We see way to much of this. We never know if the dog just wondonered off from it's home (I had never seen this one) or if someone thought they could throw the dog out here and 'someone will take her in'. It doesn't happen. We already have as many pets as we can take care of. So do all the people who live here. We love dogs, cats, horses and all animals but, as are all people that love animals, we are limited on how many we can finanally care for. And it seems all of us are at our limit. As the animal control officer told us if you can't care for a pet any more bring it to the shelter. Yes, it might have to be put down. But isn't that better than starving to death out on the streets. At this time of the year with all the extream heat a dog will die from lack of water faster than it will from lack of food. Is this the end you want for your animal?
    Or do you just not give a damn what happens to it? I think this is the case most of the time. So why do you take in the animal to start with if you don't want to feed it, and get it proper vet care - shots, and spay or nuter.
    This dog wasn't more than a year old. She was a pit bull mix but nice looking. At first she seemed vicious, but when I put my dogs back in the house she calmed down and was friendly to us. First she wanted water. She could smell it in the horse buckets. We let her have a good drink while I called animal contol. He responded quickly and the officer was really nice. He said the dog would be taken to a 'no kill' shelter since she was friendly. I do hope that someone adopts her. She needs a good home. I would have adopted a dog like her if I didn't already have so many pets.
     Good Luck to you little dog.

Horse Hay

We went and got some hay for the horses this morning. Got Bermuda grass hay at $21.50 per bale and they are the 3 strand bales that are about 130 pounds each - that's a heavy bale. Each will last about 5 days since I am adding alfalfa hay with it for the horses. No, I don't even try to pick one up. The boys at the store load it on my truck and hubby unloads it. With all my back problems I don't even unload the smaller 60 pound bales any more. Because hubby is so good to help with the hay I have to find some way to pay him back. Cookies or a cake usually works.
I have plenty of alfalfa hay but asked the price to see how much it had gone up - $12.99 a 2 strand bale that is about 75 pounds. In December alfalfa was only $9.50. Hay for any kind of hoofed critter has gone up drasticly in the past year and especially this winter. I was actually surprised the Bermuda hadn't gone up from the last time I got some. No, I hope it doesn't as it is all I can do to afford it now. Because of the drought that has hit New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, and Oklahoma so hard the hay farmers are going out of business rapidly. And if they aren't going under the certainly haven't been able to grow enough hay to supply those that need it. Those that have hay are charging more and more.
Because of the hay shortage there are more and more people that are having to try to sell their horses. Or even give them away. Especially if they only have a few backyard pets. Many people are unable to continue feeding large dogs and horses are starving in many places. I hear of more and more horses being turned out onto the desert and in the mountains to fend on their own. Just as many people are just tossing out their dogs and cats into the same area. Needless to say most of these thrown away pets are dying a long, slow death from lack of food. I can't believe how many people don't know that their pet cat won't be able to find enough food if no one is feeding it. No, most cats are really not that good at catching mice or birds. Some have no idea how to catch anything. the more hungry, the more they arn't in good health and they get the less able they are to hunt. This is even more true of tossed out dogs. Many dogs end up staving, if they don't get hit by cars, and at the most all they can do is scavenge through someone trash for a few rotten bites.
As for the horses - they, too, are staving. Most of them are used to good hay and grain to eat and suddenly find them selves with only a few sprigs of grasses along road ways, or some of the bushes that are eatable. Many horses get so hungry they start eating the plants that are poisious to them and end up in worse shape.
There are lots of rescue groups trying to help unwanted pets - horse, dogs, cats, goats, rabbits, rodents, reptiles, and birds, as well as the wildlife rescue groups. I hope no one finds theirself having to give their pets away but if you do, don't just throw them out thinking they will manage on their own or someone will take them in. It usually doesn't happen. Check with your local rescue groups and humane shelters.
And if you can, give these groups a helping hand. They need food, beds, toys, old towels, blankets, and of course they need money donations.
I have adopted a puppy and 2 kittens in the past 2 years. No I really can't afford to feed any more mouths, but I wouldn't be able to live with my self if I didn't try to help as many animals as I can.

Sounds of Wildlife

We get lots of sounds of wildlife where we live in the high desert of New Mexico. Most common are the sounds of birds. We have the common English sparrow, the red headed house finch, some sort of black bird, several types of doves, ravens, quail, and owls. The owls make some of the most unusual noises we here, and recently we think we are hearing the calls of a pair of great horned owls doing their mating calls. We usually have one of the large birds in our yard doing it's hooo-hooo-hooo while another bird is answering it from a few yards away. The past few nights the hooo-hoooing has been so loud I have been able to hear it from my bedroom. I like the big owls as they do eat lots of mice and rats, but I have heard that they will catch and eat cats and small dogs, too. As I have cats I am very careful to make sure that they are in the house by dark. In fact we only let the two boy cats out. The girl kitten are not allowed out. I wish I could convince the boys to stay in but after several hours of running back and forth between doors and meowing I usually give up and let them out.
I also worry about the coyotes chasing after the cats as they will take cats and small dogs, too. I understand that the coyotes and other wildlife were here before I was and do my darnest to live with them. I see the coyotes sometimes but I am hear them even more. In fact just about any night if you listen long enough you will usually hear some coyote yipping as it calls to the rest of its family. Sometimes it's just one or two howls but other times it goes on and one as they 'sing' to each other. I kind of enjoy hearing them like I do the owls and other birds.
Another of the animal sounds I really enjoy hearing I only hear when we are in the mountains. We hadn't hear an elk bugle for several years until this year when we were cutting firewood last November. We had just finished for the day and were getting into the truck to leave when we heard a weird noise. It was a bull elk bugling near by. An elk bugling is a strange noise and bugle is the only word for the noise they make. This bugle can cause chills to run up and down your spine especially if you have never heard it before. But I love this noise that is usually heard only in the fall when the males are fighting for the females. I wish we had been able to see the elk that was bugling but we didn't. Maybe next time.

Neighbors Dogs

My neighbors dogs playing in the snow. A few years ago I bought one of the indestructible balls for horses to play with and of course my horses that play with a cheep football wouldn't have anything to do with the special ball I bought them with the handle on it. My dogs didn't like it either. My friend wanted something her Great Pyrenees couldn't destroy so I gave her the special ball but she didn't like it either. But my friends other two dogs thought it was the perfect thing for them. They love it. Finally some a pet likes the ball.