Patsy waiting for breakfast
I’m off to a slow start in my return to this blog! I haven’t been completely absent from the blogosphere, though. I wrote about a couple books I read recently over at Animal Rights & AntiOppression. First up was a post on The World Without Us. It’s a book with a premise that fascinates me: what would happen if all humans simply disappeared? It’s a thought experiment, and it’s a fascinating one.
Second was a post on Ninety-Five, plus a bit of my rambling thoughts on activism. A discussion cropped up in the comments on whether education works to create change, inspiring Mary to write a post On Measuring Success, which I highly recommend. She’s been writing up some of the lessons-learned through her four years of blogging at Animal Person lately, so check out part 1 and part 2 (with more to come!) of this series.
In Sanctuary news, I should mention that Poplar Spring now has both a Facebook and a Twitter presence, though the Twitter account is primarily a feed from the Facebook page at this point. Terry and I both post updates to the Facebook page (mostly Terry), and it has become a great way to get some of the most current information on new arrivals.
This past weekend was the 7th annual Run For the Animals, and it was a great success despite the rather yucky weather. I helped in my usual way, by going to the sanctuary and doing chores.
There were only three of us helping Dave, and one of the other volunteers was late because on his way to the sanctuary he saw a hurt duck laying in the road. He stopped traffic, got her out of the road and into his car, and drove her to Second Chance, a wildlife rehabber, before coming to help with the chores. When he got to Second Chance, she was much more alert, which seems like a good sign.
By the time we were working in the pig yard, it was lunch time for the piglets. They knew it was lunchtime, and they know that Dave is the one who feeds them their lunch, so they were gathered around him, pushing at him, stepping on his rake, basically making it impossible for him to work! It was pretty cute. I didn’t get any pictures of that, but I got a little video of them getting fed:
It’s been a while, so: Morty is the all black one, Truffles is the largest reddish brown one, Timmy is the medium sized reddish one, Patsy is the smallest one and is reddish with a white stripe across her shoulders, and Izzy is the small black and white one. Otis is the big black and white one who makes a couple cameo appearances as he stands in front of the run where the piglets are fed. Izzy was across the creek when Dave brought the food, but he came running when they called!
Invisible Voices 
I really enjoyed your book reviews, I’d like to get both of those books, especially 95.
I live vicariously through your sanctuary work. I so wish there was something like that in this part of the world that I could work at. Being close to all those amazing animals, what an experience. You are very lucky, and they are very lucky to have you!
I love the under-the-fence maneuver. 🙂
@TVV – glad you enjoyed the reviews! I think you’ll love 95, especially because you are so far from any yourself. I’m definitely lucky to have one so close; I think about that a lot, because the DC area is not that great a fit for me, and I can’t imagine I’d still be here if it wasn’t for the sanctuary! (Though I do admit the job market is better here for my skills than most places, so that helps too.) If you’re ever in this area, definitely visit!
@Gary – so do I! Just too cute, aren’t they? I was thinking about how there is this little tribe of piglets this year…and Truman will join them too!
They are absolutely lovely! great picture! 🙂