catching up on sanctuary news

One of my fellow volunteers from this past summer, who is now living on the west coast, tweeted that she missed the sanctuary. It is impossible to fit any real update in a tweet, so I thought I’d do a general update in a post.

A few weeks ago 10 hens arrived from a rescue when a fighting rooster operation was shut down. Oddly enough I didn’t even see them until today! I just never quite got to the barn they were in the past two weeks. They’re gorgeous, and they’ve got attitude to spare.

Since their arrival meant that they were able to be paired with roosters who had never before had girls of their own, their attitude comes in handy! The boys are very happy, but not exactly experienced in the gentle arts of courtship.

Two weeks ago Jeremy broke his leg.

jeremy

It was during a very icy time here in the DC area, and they don’t know exactly what happened. He came in from the field with the rest of the goats with the broken leg, so they can only assume he was being his normal rambunctious goat self, and had an accident on the ice, causing the break. They took him to the vet, where his leg was set and encased in a cast. The vet sent him home with strict instructions to not let him rough house for at least 4 weeks. This meant he’s had to stay in the quarantine barn, all alone, because the only way to make sure he doesn’t rough house with the other goats is to keep him separated. He doesn’t like being alone, he’s always had Lenny with him.

And so of course he broke out of the barn last night. Literally broke the door off its hinges.

Terry and Dave were a bit shocked when he came down for breakfast with the rest of the goats, acting for all the world as if it were normal. Head-butting Lenny, swinging his cast around, jumping up on everything he could. Not exactly what the doctor ordered!

I got a different stall ready for him, and we carted him (literally, pulled him in a cart) up to the barn again. He was very quiet, and I think tuckered out. As much as he wants to play as if everything is normal, he does need the quiet and the rest.

The eagles have been busy rebuilding their nest and it looks like they’ve got an egg up there as well. “Looks like” is based on their behavior, not a direct sighting of the inside of the nest – they’re very sensitive to disturbance in this period, so we just watch from afar as they swoop down to pick up giant sticks to add to the nest.

Not that we poke around in their nest at other times either! From the quarantine barn, there is a pretty clear view of their nest, and typically you’ll see one eagle on/in the nest, and the other in a tree nearby when they are sitting on an egg. It’s pretty neat, actually. They’ve had this nest for years.

Not sure if you can see very well, but the largish dark blob on the right side is the nest, and the itty bitty white spot is the head of the eagle sitting in the nest. In the left third of the picture a little more than halfway up is the second eagle. It starts to look pretty choppy in bigger sizes, but click the photo for a bigger size if you can’t pick out the eagles in the smaller size.

Three new pigs arrived at the sanctuary in this past week as well. They were from a neglect / hoarding case. I don’t know many of the details, just that when the county intervened there were animals frozen to the ground, and the situation was pretty dire in general. It sounds like these pigs were fed bread and (sorry, this is gross) the bodies of the animals that had died there. They look in good shape now, though, after having been in foster care while the courts did their thing. It is a mother and two babies, about 5 months old.

This is pretty exciting, as it is the first time we’ll get to see a momma pig and her babies together at the sanctuary. When I saw them they were just sleeping all snuggled together, but I have heard that they are pretty friendly towards people, and will approach without hesitation. They aren’t sure yet about belly rubs, but I can’t imagine they’ll hold out for long!

There is a new pig barn now, which replaced an old barn that was on its last legs. In Maryland there is a community service requirement for kids to complete in order to graduate from high school. We get some volunteers at the sanctuary who are there for those community service hours, and one of them from last year not only volunteered quite often, when she had a bat mitzvah she took that opportunity to raise money for a new pig barn. So this gorgeous new barn is thanks to a young girl named Alex.

And, of interest only to anyone who has volunteered at the sanctuary and understands why we wear muck boots, I’m happy to say that today we had ideal pig yard conditions!

curiosity of cows

I was browsing through some old pictures tonight. Well, old is a relative term. These were from January 19 of this year. It was snowy (I am so not ready for winter!), and I remember that Otis and Petey were let out to run around for the first time since they’d gotten to the sanctuary. Crazy little babies they were! And of course I snapped as many pictures as I could. Tucked away in that set were a few pictures with one of the cows.

Here’s the thing about cows. They are often assumed to be sort of stupid. The reality is that they are intensely curious about others. They don’t tend to react quickly, especially when compared to most of the other, smaller, animals we’re surrounded by, but it is our failing that we tend to take the different speed to be an indicator of relative intelligence. Or of anything at all.

Mostly we have no clue.

But these cows…whenever there is something or someone new, you can count on the cows to be right there, checking things out.

And this is harder to put into words adequately, but their curiosity and attention in these situations is focused outward. When my cat is intensely interested in something, it is because she wants to capture it, and likely kill it and eat it. Even if it is a twist tie, that’s generally still her relationship to whatever is sparking her curiosity. Humans don’t seem to be much different, at least not the average human.

Cows are different, at least the cows I have gotten to know. They don’t have these hierarchies that exist in most other animals. They mostly stay together, but they don’t always. There’s no one leader, they are just somehow a group of individuals that have formed a community. They are a collective.

And something about that kind of social network makes them more focused on others than on self. Or that is my theory.

That’s what comes through when you see them watching, fascinated, as baby pigs run around outside for the first time, checking everything out and running with absolute glee through the inch of snow on the ground. That’s what you notice when you see a giant cow delicately following the antic-filled lead of a baby pig.

Cows aren’t stupid. They’re not placid. And though one of my coworkers claims that cows don’t want to live, he is wrong.

do pigs like pumpkins?

Just a little.

Every year, at least since I’ve been going to the sanctuary, a truckload of pumpkins arrives after Halloween. A church donates the ones that don’t get sold during their pre-Halloween pumpkin sales, which is pretty cool. They make great decorations, and they’ll be used for the Thanksgiving With the Turkeys event, but they also make great treats for the pigs.

I love when we feed pumpkins to the pigs. They just love them. It is so much fun! Inevitably you’ll see someone with most of a pumpkin in his or her mouth, trotting away from the crowd to eat their prize in peace. Of course, also inevitably, someone follows them. But that’s okay, despite the complaints they send up, the pigs are pretty good about sharing.

And there are always plenty to go around.

For anyone who is wondering how things are going with the folks who were moving into my heating ducts last night, I haven’t heard them yet today. Either they have a much more active social life than I do, and won’t get in until late, or they decided that the community just wasn’t up to their standards.

In any case, the only nails I’ve heard clicking overhead are of Kylee, my upstairs neighbor’s arthritic and extremely sweet dog.

Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary: Open House 10/12/08

Next Sunday is Poplar Spring’s Open House. This is their biggest event, and their events tend to be pretty big. I think last year they had something like 1,000 people show up.

It is a fund-raiser for the sanctuary, but it is also a great chance to introduce a lot of people to the deliciousness of vegan food. The food for this event is catered, and it is definitely delicious. The majority of the people who will come to the event are not vegetarian, let alone vegan.

I find that interesting. But if I think back to my pre-veg days, I can imagine myself being one of those as-yet-clueless supporters.

I bet I would have found the path to veganism faster, though, if I’d had a Poplar Spring in my life back then.

Outreach is one of the points of sanctuaries for just this reason. Offering free food and the chance to meet these amazing rescued animals, and it is no surprise that the events draw a lot of people. I’m sure there is always a percentage that has never had vegan food before. Guess they get to see first hand that we eat more than just bunny food, bark and twigs!

Today doing our normal volunteer chores at the sancutary, we ventured further into the pig yard than normal in preparation for next week’s event. It was a gorgeous fall day, and a lot of the pigs were out enjoying the weather. We had a lot of rain in September, so things are super green too.

One of the pigs was almost entirely hidden, lounging in the creek, with the weeds all around him. He was so pleased with himself to have found his little spot!

avery

Another pig, who must have spent quite a bit of time in the creek herself, joined us when we were about done, standing in the way of the gate so that we were forced to give her some attention. I don’t believe this was an accident – the pigs are clever! And adorable.

Charlene has an especially cute face. I had never really noticed her face the way I did today, but it just was extra cute, reminding me of a teddy bear somehow.

charlene

Poplar Spring Farm Tour, 2008

The Farm Tour is actually a county type of event – all the participating farms in the county are essentially open for visitors on this one Saturday every summer.

There are hay rides, pulled by a tractor, and your typical food-for-purchase that are likely sold at every farm, but at Poplar Spring, of course the burgers and dogs are vegan.

Last year there were about 800 visitors. I’m not sure how many there were this year, I couldn’t really compare because last year I worked the food table, and it seemed like we were busy constantly the entire time. This year I was working the cows/horses/mules area, and that meant I had almost nothing to do. The horses and mules were staying cool in the barn, almost the entire time, and the cows were not seen the entire day, sticking to the woods and stream.

I always wonder how many people coming to the farm really understand ahead of time what they’re coming to see, whether (if they’re going to several farms) they find it jarring at all to experience groups of people with two opposite attitudes towards animals – one group focused on saving them, the other focused on making money off them. I wonder how many people have a veggie dog or burger for the first time, too worn down from the heat and humidity to have their usual “I’ve never tried it, but I just know it must be absolutely horrible” reaction.

I met cat rescuers from Baltimore, and various other people who seemed to have come specifically because it was a sanctuary. Perhaps they didn’t visit the other farms. Most of the visitors, however, make a day of it going to the various farms.

It is too bad that we have no way of knowing whether a message gets through, whether what they see and experience changes them.

Someone recently left a message on my Mork and Mindy post, about two of the most recent piglet arrivals:

I visited the sanctuary on Saturday and met Mork and saw Mindy sleeping. Mork was muddy on his face and lower half so I scratched behind his ears. I loved the pig barn! Loved it.

s.

It made me smile. There is something about those pigs, messy, muddy, curious, intelligent and loving their belly rubs. Seeing them sleep is one of the most peaceful things I’ve ever seen. Having a giant half-asleep pig roll over for you to give them a belly rub, or having a muddy pig approach you and flop over on the ground for a belly rub…I find it amazing. Especially considering some of the things these pigs have survived. Bellies are vulnerable area for just about all animals, rolling over to expose our bellies requires trust. When the new pigs roll over for belly rubs for the first time (many, it is clear, have never had anything like it in their lives), that’s when we know they’re about to get over their wariness of humans.

I’m so glad that “s” had a chance to feel and experience some of that on Saturday.