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Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day
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As many of you know, when
we get a heavy rain, our bottoms hay field floods.
When I say floods, I mean three to four feet of water
on the field; and it may last a couple of days. From
late August until 1 March, the goats spend their days
on the browse of the creek bank and the grazing of
the hay field. |
A couple of weeks ago,
we have a group of goats to escape from their paddock;
and they made it to the house. When I discovered them
they were browsing around our pontoon boat. I really
didn’t think much about it at the time. But
looking back I wonder. As everyone knows, a ‘party
boat’ must have floatation vests for each person
on board. |
What I had apparently
missed, while the goats were out, was a couple of
the goats had gotten up on the boat and had been checking
out the floatation vests and belts. |
Monday night/Tuesday
morning, we got over six inches of rain and the bottoms
flooded. About 5 feet deep water covered the hay field
and was working it way up the hill toward the goat
barn. |
When I went down to check
on the animals, our herd sire, Hercules, was in his
shelter, knee deep in water. His feet were wet but
his back was dry. I moved him to a new sheltered pen.
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What I found next, you
are not going to believe. I went into the feed room
and looked into the barn and there they were…the
embryo babies, all three of them, had on bright orange
floatation vests. |
That was one of the funniest things I had
ever seen. I tried to figure out how in the world
they got the flotation stuff out of the boat, to the
foot of the hill, and on the babies. I think they
had help. At first I though it was my in-laws, then
I decided they could not have gotten to the barn through
the flooded bottoms. It had to be one or more of the
dog who assisted them. As I looked around, I spotted
a bright orange floatation vest about half way up
the hill side. Yep, a dog has assisted. |
When I started questioning
to get to the bottom of this, I asked Dixie, but she
was not saying a thing. DaleDell hid under a shelter
and would not come out. I decided to ask Venus. She
stuck her head up and walked away, like the Reserve
Grand Champion she is. In the barn, no one was talking.
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I heard Herc begin a conversation with a couple
of does and decided to check with him. I ask what
it was all about. He told me Venus had been behind
it; but when she found out the vest would not fit
her, she talked with Kattie and they decided the Embryo
Babies needed the vests more than any one else. Bessie,
crying over next to one of the shelters, was complaining
that she, our favorite baby, was not offered a vest.
I went over to take the vest off the little girls
and was told, in no uncertain terms that the vests
were to stay on the babies until the water started
to go down. I tried to explain the rain had stopped
and the water should be going down, but was told I
couldn’t remove the vest until they could see
that the water was going down. |
Princess and Duchess,
sisters, both told me, in unison, they wanted to talk
about the current breeding schedule and how they miss
running with Duke. I told them that was for a different
story and went on through the barn. The ‘little
ones’, the does that had been at the top of
the hill (they are all between 3 and 7 months) were
complaining that they had not been given vests but
would not be caught dead in those bright orange ones.
They wanted light pink or any other pastel color.
Moving on through the barn, I looked back and here
came the three Embryo Babies, 2 months old and dragging
the strings to the floatation vest in the mud. They
wanted fed. I explained that I was not down there
to feed but to check on everyone. |
I went into the rabbit
part of the barn. They were all high and dry. Dry?
Yes they were dry; they were without water, so I hauled
water for them. The old bunny buck gave me a wink
and stuck his nose toward one of the does. I looked
at her; she had a twinkle in her eye, so I allowed
her to join him in his bachelor pad….uh, cage.
I went about feeding the rabbits and dogs, then checked
back with the buck. Smoking a cigarette, he asked
that she be, gently, moved back to her residence and
bragged we would soon have additional rabbits to feed,
for she was now in a family way… |
As I return to the feed
room, Venus stuck her head in and said, “Look
here, I’m a Reserve Grand Champion and a Champion
Senior Doe, I want my own private, well my daughters
can join me, shelter. One that is dry and has hay
in it, just like at shows.” After a short conversation,
she went away in a huff, followed by all her daughters.
None have spoken to me since. |
As I return to the feed
room, Venus stuck her head in and said, “Look
here, I’m a Reserve Grand Champion and a Champion
Senior Doe, I want my own private, well my daughters
can join me, shelter. One that is dry and has hay
in it, just like at shows.” After a short conversation,
she went away in a huff, followed by all her daughters.
None have spoken to me since. |
I had fed all, checked
the fences and started back up the hill on my four
wheeler. I passed the Border Collie pen and was informed
by Daisy and Sage that they wanted shavings added
to their pen. It seems that Daisy, ‘Buns in
the Oven’ has begun to gripe about the wooden
floor in their house.
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Up the hill I went. The
young bucks all wanted something…. most wanting
what all teen age boys want - girls. I said I would
see what I could do. I parked the four wheeler and
went into the house, scratched my head and looked
a Shoi, the house dog. “Well what do you want?”
Shoi didn’t say a word. About that time I heard
the telephone ring and I woke up…..It was Pat,
letting me know she had made it to work, finally and
Clear Creek was out of banks and on the road in several
places. She had to detour, several times but was finally
at work. Then she said, “Oh, did I wake up you,
I just wanted to let you know that I was ok and that
I love you,” adding, “I’ll email
you in a while. Bye.”
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I got up, got dressed,
jumped on the four wheeler and went back down the
hill. I looked around; no floatation vests on the
Embryo Babies. The water was high, and Herc’s
old shelter did have water running through it, but
he was ok. I checked out the area. All was well; the
fences across the hay field were washed away, along
with a couple of gates. I would wait until the water
went down before I worked on fixing the fences.
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Ken and Pat Motes
Clear Creek Farms
33 South Clear Creek Road
Fall River, Tennessee 38468
Phone: (931) 852-2167
Fax: (931) 852-2168
Copyright © 2002 -2018 All Rights Reserved
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