Tag Archives: animal sanctuary volunteer

September 21, 2020 · 6:50 pm

On Their Level

When I see an animal, I have an overwhelming desire to smoosh my face against theirs. Horses, bearded dragons, birds, dogs, cats, unicorns. We’re taught at a young age not to do this because the animal might get spooked and react, understandably, violently. News flash, this is not a deterrent for me.

I want to get as close to them as possible. I’ll throw myself on the grass in front of a chipmunk whose made the mistake of popping its head out of the ground. So far, they all flee in terror but I’m not giving up. If it’s a dog, I’ll put my face right in theirs and go in for a snuggle.

When I met my aunt’s newest dog, I flopped right down in front of her and dispensed kisses and belly rubs immediately. My aunt’s response was, “You really get down on their level, don’t you?” Every time. If I’m looming over an animal, I feel like I’m intimidating them, when all I want is for them to love me. I want to make myself as small as possible to make them as comfortable as possible.

When I’m hanging out with Julian at Winslow, I’ll be on the cobblestones cuddling him. He’s eight inches tall, tops. I’m almost 5’7″ and tower over him. I want him to feel safe, so chicken poop be damned, “hello, ground.” He falls asleep in my arms almost on contact.

Person holding rooster
My little love, Julian

I was hand-feeding George the tortoise once and manipulated him into climbing on me. All 35 pounds or so, precariously balanced on my kneecap, as he tottered back and forth. Painful? Yes. Pure joy? Also, yes.

Tortoise climbing over a human knee.
I didn’t take a picture of George balancing on my knee, so I tried to get him to do it again.
Him climbing over a corner of my knee was as close as I could get.

One time I brought mini donkeys Zorro and Bianca a few treats and sat down on the floor of their hut with my back up against the wall. They may be “mini,” but they’re wider and longer than I am tall. On the ground, they’re the looming ones.

Close up of donkey
“Oh. Hey there, pal.”

For me, it’s just better access for snugs.

Zorro decided to check for more food by biting and stepping on my extended legs. Repeatedly.

Donkey
No biting, Zorro!

Bianca put her face right up next to my ear and stayed still. For minutes at a time. Her soft breath was audible as I gave her kisses on her snoot.

Person with a donkey
Yes, she is whispering sweet nothings to me in our glam shot.

I was barely visible, surrounded by hundreds of pounds of donkey.

Person with two donkeys

I left bruised and happy.

Get down on their level. Sure, it might hurt sometimes, but it’s worth it.

Leave a comment

Filed under animals, donkeys, julian, photography, roosters, tortoise, winslow farm

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

June 18, 2019 · 2:46 pm

Seen at the Sanctuary

Here are a couple of my favorite moments at the sanctuary this last week.

george

Seeing George always makes me happy. Seeing him munching on greens makes me happier.

mia1

The cats often find the best places to perch. That doesn’t mean they want their photo taken though.

mia2

No more photos, thanks.

Leave a comment

Filed under cats, tortoise, winslow farm

Tagged as , , , , ,

March 3, 2019 · 1:29 pm

Alpaca a snack

Many years ago, when it was just Pisca, Karolina, and Noelle (plus Star but he was from a different location and was kind of on the outskirts of their clique), I set out to socialize these beautiful creatures. They’d been living at an alpaca farm with many others and when the owner was no longer able to afford them, all of them needed new homes. These three came to Winslow to live out their days in peace.

They were very people-shy and uninterested in human touch. One of the ways that I try helping at Winslow is to socialize animals who’ve given up on people. I worked very hard with Athena, the sheep who lived on a median strip on 495, and by the end, I was able to lie down with her. I continue to work with Justice, a once-feral goat, who now eats a treat from my mouth. And I’ve focused a lot of energy on these beauties.

Before Pisca passed of old age (r.i.p. little lady), she was pretty comfortable eating grain out of a bowl that I was holding. Karolina became comfortable enough to eat grain right out of my hand. And Noelle would grab a bite from the bowl now and again.

Once Fern and Charlotte, and then Leia and Sundae, arrived at Winslow, there were a lot more personalities floating around and trying to hand feed seven alpacas became less of a focus for me. Until last week.

I was going about my chores, getting ready to feed the donkeys who were loudly exclaiming that it was taking too long. Gabriele, the llama, was lurking around the barn during this, which was a little rare. He usually goes to his little house, perched in the alpaca enclosure, without much protest. As I grabbed the donkey food and was setting out to feed them, Gabrielle put his nose right into the bowl and started eating it. I feed him a couple of fortune cookies each week as a little bonding ritual so hand-feeding him was normal but he’d never just shoved his nose into a bowl while I was clearly on my way to do things.

gabrieleeat

The donkeys were like, “Hey! That’s ours!”

zorrohay

But Gabriele was like, “So? Mine now.” I gave in and let him munch, refilled the bowl, and went off with to the two cursing donkeys.

I came back and he was still there. It was clear that he wasn’t going to budge from his spot and I realized that it was because it was icy and he was not having any of it. Here I am on the other side trying to coax him to come over.

gabrielenothanks

To be fair, it was pretty terrible out.

So, yes, I started bribing him.

I finally got him to trudge through the ice and continued feeding him from the bowl inside the enclosure. Good boys must be rewarded! This peaked Karolina’s interest and she started heading my way. Soon enough, she was eating out of the bowl while Gabriele was eating a handful out of my hand.

The rest of the alpacas watched curiously. “What is she doing?” they seemed to say. “She’s never done this before.” And they stood, stock-still, behind her contemplating this new arrangement. Noelle came forward to eat but Karolina kept squawking at her to back off. I kept encouraging Noelle to ignore her but her daughter won that round. She waited until Karolina was done and found all the leftovers on the ground.

noelle

Alpacas are wonderful, curious creatures. They have interesting quirks that I haven’t found in other animals. They blink differently, they argue with each other in amusing tones, and most fascinating to me, they scream at big dogs. I’d never heard anything like that the first time I heard it! I’ll see if I can dig up video.

Mostly, though, I’d like to get into a big snuggle pile with them. I’m not holding my breath that it’ll ever happen, but I’m definitely crossing my fingers!

 

Leave a comment

Filed under alpacas, donkeys, llamas, rescue, sanctuary, socialization, winslow farm

Tagged as , , , , ,

June 2, 2014 · 8:33 am

Jackson is shocked (SHOCKED!) that I said I’d write more frequently and then didn’t!

Jackson_Say_What_MindingTheMinis*SMH*

Sorry, Jackson!! I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter (@mindingtheminis) for live tweets from the farm on Sunday afternoons.

Leave a comment

Filed under goats, winslow farm

Tagged as , , , ,

Aside

You’ll be missed, Apricot…

I realize that it’s been practically forever since I’ve posted and that the recent ones are all about the sadness in losing friends. I’m sad to report that this one isn’t much different as I found out yesterday that my little friend, Apricot, passed away. She’d been in poor health for quite some time and had fought through it by continuing to be as sweet as pie. I’ll miss her little under-bite. She was always moving around a lot so I have only one photo of her to share that I can find right now. But if I locate an under-bite pic, I’ll post it.

Apricot

You’ll be missed, sweet sweet girl.

And I’m going to try to start writing regularly again. I love love love my job but it keeps me busy. I always get to the farm to visit my friends though and will try to bring those adventures back to the page. I’m still live-tweeting/gramming while there, so please follow me on twitter (@mindingtheminis) or Instagram (@mindingtheminis).

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week. Hug your two-legged and four-legged friends close.

Leave a comment

May 19, 2014 · 8:51 am
November 18, 2013 · 12:04 pm

Sweet sorrow

I realize that I’ve been pretty silent for a long time now. My job has really taken off and my focus has definitely shifted. That’s not to say that I haven’t been at the farm! Just that the mental energy I’ve put into documenting my adventures has been redirected. In addition, there has been a lot of sadness for me at the farm recently. In a week’s time, two of my very best friends passed away suddenly.

Lunar had a blockage in her stomach that needed emergency surgery. Dan and Connor, two of the incredible teens that devote so much of their time to the sanctuary, spent hours trying to get Lunar onto a trailer to get her to the vet. They struggled with her, attempting to get her up the ramp in any way that they could. And at the moment that they almost had her all the way up, her halter broke and they had no way to hold onto her. They couldn’t go on and she was unable to go to the vet. She was healthy in every other way, but because this was so serious, she ended up having to be put down. I found out about the blockage when I went to volunteer and spent a bit of time with her while others helped out, thinking that she would get better. I found out that she had been put to sleep when I visited on a Friday because I would be missing my Sunday shift. I never really got to say goodbye to her. When Deb and I talked about it, she said that by not being able to get Lunar on the trailer that she knew she wouldn’t survive. They did everything that they could to get her to surgery and Lunar would not go.

While I was there, she mentioned that Athena was not doing very well. Her eyesight had deteriorated a great deal and she was having problems walking. I stayed with Athena for a while in the sheep area just chatting with her. And then she did something very interesting. When I squatted down in front of her, I put my face close to hers and she actually put her nose right up against mine. Her soft, fuzzy nose was pressed up against me. She stared into my eyes and then she walked away.

I went off on my weekend trip. And on the drive home late Monday, I received a text from Connor. He said that he was really sad to tell me that they’d had to put Athena to sleep unexpectedly that day. She hadn’t been able to get up and was suffering. I went to the farm early the next morning and spent time with her resting body in Gully’s pen. I haven’t cried like that in a long time. I held her for a long time and kissed her sweet face and told her I loved her many last times.

In addition to my two friends passing, there were two other sweet creatures that also passed in the same time frame. Crazy Xena, the goat and beautiful Shiloh, the horse, both left us. To say the least, it has been a sad couple of months, peppered with the joy and beauty that surrounds me when I’m there. Gully and I continue to be the best of friends and the alpaca girls actually approach me for food now. I will tell stories about that transformation soon. But all of the animals will be missed.

The first week back without Lunar and Athena, which landed on the same Sunday, was really tough. Everything felt so empty without them.

Lunar_Athena_Empty_Stall_Winslow_Farm_Minding_the_Minis

I still look longingly into Lunar’s stall and Athena’s empty space at the front of the barn. I am sad that I never got to say goodbye to Lunar and sad that I had to say goodbye to Athena.

Lunar and I always had an easy friendship. My favorite thing that she did was to scratch her head (and often almost knock me over) on my leg. She was a sweet, wonderful friend.

Lunar_Horse_Winslow_Farm_MindingtheMinisBeautiful, beautiful girl. I miss and love you.

My relationship with Athena blossomed from a shy friendship to what I am convinced was love. By the end of her days, she trusted me enough to let me scratch behind her ears and along her soft nose. She even fell asleep a few times while I was petting her. She was a true friend and I will never forget her.

Petting_Athena_Sheep_Winslow_Farm_MindingtheMinisWhen I posted this to Instagram, my caption was “The fact that I can just walk up to Athena and do this is still nothing less that astounding to me.” And it felt that way every single time. She really grew to trust me. And in trusting me, she’d let strangers pet her when I was with her.

Gully_Athena_Winslow_Farm_MindingtheminisAthena and Gully shared a quiet friendship. Now that she’s gone, Gully no longer wants to stay up at the barn (a story for another day). It makes me sad that I’ll never see this sight again, but I’m happy that I did get to see it so many times.

Sweet_Athena_Winslow_Farm_Minding_the_MinisI’ll miss this beautiful smile.

The photos included in this post were all pulled from my Instagram account and can be found in my twitter feed. I take photos every week and post live to Twitter. So, if you’d like to “be there with me,” please follow me at @MindingTheMinis or go straight to the source for photos on Instagram, also MindingTheMinis. Hug your two and four-legged friends tightly. See you next week!

4 Comments

Filed under athena, lunar, mourning, winslow farm

Tagged as , , , ,

July 20, 2013 · 4:24 pm

I haven’t written in two months, so get ready for some photos!

My job is so busy and so wonderful but coming home at night to write has fallen away from me, I’m sad to report. My last post was about sweet Pandy’s passing and I still feel a pang for her each time I visit the farm.

I miss her so.

Pandy_Dog_Mindingtheminis

It’s all part of the bittersweet moments that make up being part of a rescue or having any animal in your life, really. The probability that you will experience their death is always there. So, take all the moments that you can with them.

Here are some photos of other friends at the farm that I’ve taken while my has sat waiting.

Athena_Shorn_Sheep_MindingtheMinis

Athena was shorn along with the rest of the sheep at the beginning of May. Her face wasn’t entirely done so as she’s gotten more comfortable with me touching her (I’ve gotten to where I can pet her without needing to give her treats! Full body pets!), I’ve pulled off what I could. I happen to really like the look though, so mostly I just go for the pieces that are really loose.

And if you don’t like it, this is what Athena thinks of you!

Athena_Sheep_Sticking_Tongue_Out_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

The alpacas were shorn in the middle of June. This was actually a somewhat scary situation because there aren’t a lot of people willing to shear alpacas. It’s a dangerous undertaking for both the animals and the people involved, so unless the animals belong to the shearer, many won’t undertake the risk. Deb sent out pleas nationwide and finally someone came forward to do it. (Thank you!) Alpacas need to be shorn each summer so that they don’t overheat, which they can do very easily and it can be fatal. So, while they remained furry, we kept a special eye on them for signs of distress. I was thrilled to arrive a few weeks ago and see them sans fur!

First up, Pisca and Karolina. I especially love the patch of white that runs down Karolina’s back legs.

Shorn_Alpacas_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

Ms. Noelle!

Shorn_Alpaca_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

A cat nap is pretty glorious…

Cat_Nap_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

…any way you look at it!

Stretch_Kitty_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

Niko is going to have eye surgery soon and I am very happy about that. I haven’t posted about her in a long time, but she’s one of the cats who lives in Mooney’s barn (the name of the barn where Spirit, Lunar, Athena and Gully live) and she’s as sweet as ever, even when in terrible pain.

Niko_Cat_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

Willow and Spirit becoming friends!

Willow_Pig_Spirit_Horse_Friends_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

There is a new structure near the big barn that was built for the goats. They’re kind of terrified of it though so it’s rare to actually see a goat on it. One afternoon, while feeding treats to Mervin at the end of my visit, I decided that he and I should go on an adventure.

Mervin_Dwarf_Goat_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

Here he is checking out the structure. “I don’t think so…”

Goat_Structure_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

His opinion stayed on the “no, thank you” track until I pulled the treats back out.  And climb it we did! He discovered that there was tasty hay on the top, too. He even climbed around on the lower levels and followed me back up for a second trip.

Mervin_Dwarf_Goat_Structure_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

My plan, when it’s not a million degrees out, is to do this with a bunch of goats.

Last week, my friends came to the farm so I spent time all over the farm with them. I haven’t seen my turkey love in forever! He was just as affectionate as always and I plan to get into the bird house again soon.

Turkey_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

Noelle, mid-bite!

Noelle_Alpaca_Midbite_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

I haven’t seen the donkeys in forever. Jezebel is such a beauty and has the sweetest disposition. And she’s soooo soft.

Jezebel_Donkey_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

They got to meet Gully and that’s always the greatest experience ever. (For me. He’s actually pretty standoffish with strangers.) Oh, Gully, my Gull. I love you endlessly.

Gully_Goat_Winslow_Farm_Mindingtheminis

And since it’s July, there are tons and tons of dragonflies around, so I’ll end this catch-up post with another one of my favorite creatures on this earth.

Dragonfly_Mindingtheminis

Have a happy week!

Follow me on Twitter (@mindingtheminis) or Instagram (mindingtheminis) if you want to see live tweets from the farm on Sunday afternoons!

5 Comments

Filed under alpacas, athena, cats, dragonflies, goats, gulliver, horses, niko, pandy, piggies, sheep, turkey, willow, winslow farm

Tagged as , , , , , ,

April 14, 2013 · 10:14 am

One of my sweet, sweet friends at the farm is sick.

Pandy-the-beautiful-border-collie

Dear Pandy has lymphatic cancer. Due to the cold weather, the dogs were often in Deb’s house during my visits and I chalked up not seeing her pretty face to this. A few Sundays ago, she bounded up to me, pine cone in mouth and we played a rousing game of fetch. She leaned into my hugs a bit harder and I figured that she just missed me as much as I missed her.

Right before I left, I was chatting with Deb about my excitement over seeing Pandy and she broke the news to me. The gentle dog had been on her deathbed for two weeks with a grim assessment. But then, all of a sudden, with a little help from Prednisone, her energy returned. Defying all odds, not only was she up and about, she was running around. Watching her closely (she was at my feet while I talked to Deb) I noticed that a change had definitely occurred in her. The extra hugs I thought I was imaging were in fact an actual response from her. Obviously, I don’t think she’s having conscious thoughts about a near death experience, but something has changed in her.

This last visit, I checked in with Deb and she said that during Pandy’s most recent appointment, the vet said the cancer had spread throughout her body. Her energy levels haven’t changed and Deb reported that she’d been active all day and was just resting at that point in the house, but that we all know that Pandy’s time is limited.

I went into the house to sit with her for a while. At first, Freedom tried to hog my time but even she sensed that she should hang back. Different cats kept trying to pile onto my lap and when I became distracted, Pandy reached out with her paw and touched my arm redirecting my attention. She’d never done anything like this before. I gave her lots of hugs and thought a lot about how much I love her. She smelled like the campfire, like the farm, like life.

I don’t know how much time I have left with this beautiful creature but I’ll cherish every moment that remains. If she wants to run after pinecones, that’s what we’ll do. If she wants hugs, they’re hers.

Pandy-pretty-border-collie

Hold your four-legged and two-legged friends a little closer this week.

8 Comments

Filed under pandy, winslow farm

Tagged as , , ,

April 8, 2013 · 7:38 pm

Athena, the shy sheep, continues to melt my heart, piece by piece.

My relationship with Athena has continued developing each week. Where there were baby steps for months on end, it seems to be progressing in leaps and bounds now. When passing through the gate into the corral, she used to bolt by me and now she walks right up to me instead. She even followed me out of the barn and over to the alpacas’ pen when I went to feed them! Like Gully did the other week, she’s started opening the grain room door with her nose to gain access to me (and my treats, of course!). All of these changes feel wonderful but I had an even more spectacular time with her this last visit.

athena-the-sheep-pretty-girl

For the most part, I interact with her now by squatting down. The more time I spend face-to-face with her, the more responsive she is and the more confident she acts towards me. From this position, I gave her treats and kept moving my hand closer to my face with each one. She sniffed around looking for more and ended up touching her nose to my nose and didn’t back off. I had tears a few weeks ago when she nuzzled my hand and they were doubled when she pressed her fuzzy face to mine. Out of this world!

Confidence brimming over, I decided to push the limits again. This time I held the treat in one hand and while she ate it, I petted her with the other hand. The first few times, she backed off hastily. But almost as quickly, she started accepting my advances. Every time she let me pet her, I said, “good girl!” After a few minutes, I was able to pet her without giving her a treat. The pets grew from very brief to much longer ones as the time passed. She even leaned into the ear scratches like she does when she’s lying down! As our bond grows stronger, I am looking forward to even more from her.

To think, a few months ago, I couldn’t get this close without her running off and now look!

athena-the-sheep-pretty-smile

Excuse the blurriness and as I show off how bold she’s gotten!

athena-the-sheep-takes-a-treat

Precious, precious girl. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “A face only everyone could love!”

athena-the-sheep-closeup

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and that the weather is beautiful for all of you! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter (@mindingtheminis) for live tweets from the farm on Sunday afternoons!

4 Comments

Filed under athena

Tagged as , , , ,

March 24, 2013 · 9:38 am

Gully, the goat, is a crafty one!

Gully is all about breaking out of his pen when I bring hay through to put over into Spirit’s area. This week, however, I was a bit behind on getting his food prepared (made even longer by the fact that I took photos of this) and he decided to go right to the food source.

“Oh, hey there!”

Gully-the-goat-thinks-about-getting-in

“Soon the grain will be mine!”

Gully-the-goat-tries-to-get-int

“Almost there…”

Gulliver-the-goat-opens-the-door

“SUCCESS!!!!”

Gully-the-goat-is-successful

Don’t forget to join Gully and me on the farm on Sunday afternoons (@mindingtheminis). Have a great week!

6 Comments

Filed under goats, gulliver, winslow farm

Tagged as , , , ,