Thursday, April 19, 2018

April 18, 2018


April 18, 2018 -  Opie's Diary of Daily Doings at Rikki's Refuge
What a lovely morning we started with ......   the sun is streaming in bright and beautiful ....
                                                                                           photo compliments of Rick Sharp
                                                                                           photo compliments of Doug Deal
                                                                                            photo compliments of Clarence Deal
though my paws are a bit chilly out there ....
                                                                                            photo compliments of Clarence Deal
YES !!!   That is ICE this morning ....  29 degrees !!! 

So guess I will stay put for a bit and do puter work ..... wow I just noticed how much more green is on the bush outside my window that was there yesterday morning .... it's really amazing how fast some of these things grow.   I wanna get some bamboo .... I hear you can watch it grow .... and then the panda bears come to live in it ..... I've never seen a panda bear for real ... we have black bears here .... you think they'd like to live in the bamboo here?
                                                                                            photo compliments of Lolly Busey
See my new sign ?  Thank you Uncle Ron !!!

My big friends are really happy the grass is growing fast and green.
                                                                                            photo compliments of Clarence Deal

We all love catching the morning sun !!
                                                                                           photo compliments of Doug Deal

Faces to the sun !
                                                                                            photo compliments of Clarence Deal
                                                                                            photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Stuffed ....  Muddy ....   Sunny .....   what more can you ask for in life ?
                                                                                           photo compliments of Doug Deal

Sunny side of the cat run !!!
                                                                                            photo compliments of Clarence Deal

The most important part of the day ...  Nums Time !!
                                                                                           photo compliments of Doug Deal

                                                                                           photo compliments of Doug Deal

                                                                                           photo compliments of Clarence Deal

                                                                                           photo compliments of Clarence Deal

Hi, I'm Baby, and I've lived at Rikki's round about 15 years.
                                                                                           photo compliments of Clarence Deal
I'm a really lovely nice kitty and I like being outdoors, I love being outdoors.  If you try to make me be in you'll be real sorry !!!   I love marking my territory ....  everywhere.  I had a few homes before coming here and it always ended in me being dumped ....   But Rikki's has let me live here forever. 

You know April is Cats vs Dogs month .....   Cats have ruled the refuge since I've been here.  I support our Ruler, Opie .....   and Vincent before him.  I have a lot of respect for them.  They work really hard ....  I see the light in their office on early early in the morning ....   and late late at night. 

I could never do that job ....  geesh .... having to be inside workin on a puter ....  I've heard spraying your mark on puter stuff makes it not work so good.  

I'm really thankful for Opie and all the work he does.  And I really hope YOU will vote for him in the Cats vs Dog contest .....   www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate?purpose=Opie

We need canned cat food ....  all the time.  I know it's a big job to feed us.  We're half the refuge population.  Isn't that cool?   That's why if the vote was up to us animals here .... there'd be no question ....  cats for sure. 

Those dogs are always trying to take over .....  but really ?  Are they going to work day and night to see that all of US are fed?  I doubt it.  Opie, he works to see they get fed, and everybody else too.  Every single critter here.  Opie takes care of them all.  Big and small, no matter what they eat .....  as long as it's not each other. 

I'm not so sure that would be the way it worked if the dogs won .....

Sometimes you just can't trust them ....

                                                                                           photo compliments of Clarence Deal
WHAT are YOU talking about, Baby?  I did not just finish off all that cat food ........

Quite frankly, I think it's a conflict of interest to have a carnivore in charge around here.
                                                                                           photo compliments of Clarence Deal
I think cows should rule.  We're the biggest and the strongest ones around here.  Opie says we can't type so we couldn't communicate well with our friends and volunteers and supporters ....  I'm sure they must make plus sized puters for us bigger folks. 


And we have lots of time sitting around ruminating and chewing the cud to be chatting with you.  Don't YOU think Cows should RULE?

Yeah !!!  Well said.  We need somebody big enough to throw their weight around ruling this place.
                                                                                           photo compliments of Clarence Deal
Not some gimpy little orange dude.

I'm with you !!!
                                                                                           photo compliments of Clarence Deal
We're gentle and kind, yet can strong enough and big enough to be quite a force.   Let's go overturn that office and shake up that little orange dude a little !!!!   

Well YOU just remember when it was cold and the grass wasn't growing and the ground was covered in snow and you were hungry.
                                                                                           photo compliments of Clarence Deal
Who went out and found hay?  Who went and got the hay?  Who made sure YOU had enough to eat every day? 

Are you going to stop ruminating all afternoon and really get out there and work? 

I think the little orange dude does a pretty good job.  I've sure never seen the dogs do much for us but chase us here or there.  Remember, it's the little orange dude that enforces the rule that anybody who wants to chase has to live in a secure place they can't get out.  You think those dogs will uphold THAT rule? 

I'm voting for the Orange Dude !!!   www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate?purpose=Opie

I wanna be the SHOW Animal ....  we don't need a SPOKES Animal ....   we need a SHOW animal  ....  I'm more beautiful than all of YOU put together ....   look look look ... just look at me .... me ... me ... me ....
                                                                                            photo compliments of Clarence Deal

YOU?  I don't think so, Pete.  Look at ME ...  Look at ME ...  Look at ME ...  Look at ME ...  I'm prettier than YOU by far ...  Look at ME ...  Look at ME ...  Look at ME ...  .......   Vote for ME for SHOW Animal
                                                                                           photo compliments of Doug Deal

Me and the 399 other ferals ...we're voting for CATS ....  we trust cats ....  we don't trust hoomans or nobody else .... 
                                                                                            photo compliments of Clarence Deal
Opie is a good kitty, and he understands us, and he gives us a place to live.  So much of the world is cruel to us, telling us we don't belong, coming along and taking our lands away and then saying we're a nuisance ....  But not Opie, and not Rikki's Refuge ....  they say we have every right to life ....  even is we don't like hoomans. 

Feral temp pens, cleaned up and set up and ready for some arrivals.
                                                                                            photo compliments of Clarence Deal
Feral kitties hate being in cages.  It's totally terrifying.  Yes everyone who moves to Rikki's must go thru a quarantine period for everybody's protection.   Our Cat Director Ron .... who's official title is Director of Serving Cats, cus he really gets it .... built large outdoor quarantine pens that feral families can live in during their quarantine time.  This way they are together, they can move and climb, and they don't feel so cornered and threatened as they do when in cages. 

Ferals usually come in in groups.  We've just allocated space to some who's home has turned into a construction site.  And they are no longer welcome.  They don't have a place to move on to.  They will be killed if they stay.  Now they have a second chance at Rikki's where they will make friends and live safe and loved ....  even if they never want hooman love.

TNR - Trap Neuter Return is the best thing ever for ferals .....  only when they can't stay in their home for some horrible, hooman created reason, do we believe in Trap Neuter Rikki's !!!  

Looking down the roof line of cat houses
                                                                                            photo compliments of Clarence Deal
Each house has protected outdoor space that runs 100 feet long.  It's a lot of material and a lot of work.  We had much easier to install and much cheaper plastic aviary netting before.  Now we're installing metal for our aminal's protection. 

20 years ago when we came, most of the land around us was wooded.  Now lots of people have clear cut to sell lumber.  Those trees aren't just money.  Those trees and the habitat the create is home to many many members of many different species.  Species, who, with out wild and wooded homes are considered a nuisance and who are often killed just for their very existence or their attempt to find food. 

Rikki's has 350 acres of land set aside for the wild ones ....  land that will never be cut or developed .... that will be there for generations of native wildlife to call  home.  

Yet when animals from hundreds of neighboring acres have to leave home or die .... it gets crowded here too.  And it makes our animals look like a nice big buffet.  Hence we protect our animals in ways that don't harm the wild ones.  Better more secure structures for ours, while letting the wild ones live. 

Cus here at Rikki's ....  we think everybody has a right to life. 

Don't you?

Mom says she's about 98.4% cat ....  where do YOU fall on the scale?
                                                                                            photo compliments for sharing go to Nora Eldridge

You know ....  I don't just work for the aminals here ...  I work for the hoomans too.  You know what this is?
                                                                                            photo compliments of Clarence Deal
This is the porty potty getting cleaned.  Yes, I make sure that is done for my hoomans.  I know hoomans, like us cats, well most of us cats, like to have a box to poo in ....  and so I make sure they get one too. 

You think the dogs .... who won't use a box for anything other than snackin or sleepin will get one for YOU hoomans AND work hard to make sure it stays clean for YOU?  So really .....  who do YOU want to see running the refuge?

CATS providing you a box ....  www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate?purpose=Opie
of DOGS telling you to go pee on your own tires?  www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate?purpose=DOGS

                                                                                            photo compliments of Lolly Busey
In honor of National Volunteer Week !!! 

I want to thank all our volunteers who have made Rikki's possible and who work each and every day to keep the dream alive !!!!

 And with this here's my Opie's Puzzle of the Day .... along with a special thanks to those of you deeply involved in the Make Rikki's Beautiful campaign !!!!

click to play !

Our beautiful fence is really brightening up things and making every one ... even the animals ... brighter and happier !!!  
                                                                                            photo compliments of Lolly Busey
The sheep now purrfur to eat down by the painted section .....  they know it makes them stand out and it's a more beautiful back drop for them.....  they're really sick and tired of the dingy old fence !!!

As the sun gets low the pigs come in to settle down for the night.
                                                                                           photo compliments of Doug Deal

The sun is getting low
                                                                                           photo compliments of Doug Deal

It must be time to

CAST YOUR VOTE ----  ONLY - 12 more days to make OPIE RULER OF THE REFUGE

or if you have to ....  vote for dogs

but PLEASE .....  do your part and VOTE during April !!!

Love, Opie 
Thank YOU for making it all possible !

You know the highlights, but do you ever wonder what happens every day, even ordinary days, at Rikki's Refuge?  Have you thought of starting a sanctuary and wonder what it's REALLY like?  Ever wonder what those with the animals all day every day see and think?  Follow my diary as I tell you about daily happenings and show you a dozen or so photos taken during the day!  You'll see a whole new perspective of the Refuge ....   See it ... Live it .... BE a part of the Rikki's Family .... get to know ALL the animals on a first name basis !!!!   Keep up with happenings every day of the year at RikkisRefuge.BlogSpot.com ...  every day since January 1, 2018 is archived just for YOU !!!!