January 8, 2018

January 8, 2018 - Opie's Diary of Daily Doings at Rikki's Refuge

Good Moooooning ..... the day started with beautiful  sunshine .....   and every one out sunning  ....  the morning started off warmer than it has been for days .... windy and not above freezing .... but headed but on the way.... let it sun let it sun let it sun ..... we were all crossing paws that the percip later today would stay water and not be frozen slush !

Uh Oh ...  somebody thought that nice new fresh straw looked awfully inviting .....  he booted out a doggy and took over !!!   We use about a pick up truck of fresh straw every day in the really cold weather.  One more way we spend the money you kindly send us.  Warm, dry, soft, comfy bedding !!

We have very talented kitties at Rikki's .... Ice Skating in livestock water bowls is a new sport this winter !!

Herman and Wally decide to go ice skating !!  No, this is NOT a poised picture.  Yes, Herman jumped in on his own.  He loves that bowl ... even though it's really too big for his kind ... every morning he hangs out by that bowl till it's filled ... lots of other choices around ... but only this one will do !!!!

This morning he stuck a paw in and tested it out. Then jumped up inside !!!  When he jumped in there was a little slipping and sliding ... back and forth in and out a few times to try it out .... then he finally waited till it was dumped and refilled to drink !!!

Every square inch of Rikki's Refuge must be sanitized every day no matter what.

And it's a lot of floors that get mopped and scrubbed till they are shiny clean !!

With slightly warmer weather .... only 34, but feeling like a heat wave ... and not having to dump ice and refill bowls all day long ....

we had a little time to work on cat roof replacement.  For years they've been mesh.  For years Rikki's Refuge's 450 acres has been surrounded on most sides by even more woods.  People sell their trees for lumber ... well for money ... but they turn the trees into lumber.  When they clean cut hundreds of acres, it displaces thousands of animals.  And where can they go?  Their home is destroyed. 

They come to Rikki's Refuge and live in our safe woods.  That increases all kinds of wildlife.  Including many who are looking for a meal.  Some will climb up to rip open the mesh roofs hoping for a free buffet or birds ... or cat food. 

We replaced the bird roofing immediately the first time this occured to save everybody.  But there's a LOT of cat roofing.  Nobody out there wants to eat the cats.  But they want to come in and eat their food, and probably sleep in their warm beds.  That's not a good idea for a lot of reasons. 

So with your help we bought the metal mesh roofing to re-do all the cat house roofs ... that's like over an acre of roofing !!!!   And it's taking a long time to do the job.  We can only work on chores like this after all the animals are cared for for the day and before evening rounds of dinner and check ups and care.

In the afternoon the freezing rain started

and Buttercup decided she did NOT want her feet to get wet !!!  the trees overhead protect her from the freezing rain too.  Most of the animals prefer tree cover to house cover. 

Except the cats who head for their houses when freezing rain starts. 

 Looking out from the protection of a cat house and wondering why that silly duck doesn't go inside!!  But they don't, not till dark.  It just doesn't matter what the precipitation is .... the ducks want to be in it !!!

HELP ... we need volunteers to help bag used cat litter .... amazon is now selling it used .... we've been praying for a miracle way to sell the dang stuff instead of paying to take it to the dump !!!! Come on out with appropriately sized bags and fill 'em up !!!!

And that crazy evil weather hooman's forecast of dropping to 32 and then going up to 36 after dark really happened !!! So it's just rain and nothing freezing ... may it stay that way all night or as long as the rain, or any form of ick falling from the sky, persists. Won't it be wonderful for the hoomans at Rikki's to NOT have to be out all night busting up ice and giving everybody fresh water !!!!

Love, Opie