Can't Decide on a Title...

I could call this post

"Warning - Mikey is Contagious!"

Or, "New Kids On the Block"...

Or Randy's suggestion which was

"Randy Has Had It Up To Here!" but I can't type his hand motions

Or how about the next idea that popped into my head when he said that:

"I'm Still Alive!"

I had two things on my agenda today: first, deliver Ruby and pick up Maggie; and second, go with Mikey to trap another dog.

Ruby was delivered to the same nice lady who bought Trooper and adopted Charlie the ex-roping donkey. She's going to try Ruby out and see if our old lady is a better match for her. In the meantime, her gorgeous Maggie is going to stay with us, get some riding and learn some manners and hopefully we can find a buyer for her.

Maggie checking out her new digs...

Our girls checking out the new kid...

They are REALLY anxious to say hello.

But Maggie, not so much - this is what they get.

Maggie finally got brave enough to get close enough to the girls to get a drink.

I left her to settle in and went in for a bite of lunch before it was time to go dog-catching with Mikey. She arrived right on schedule and off we went. Whiel driving Mercy regaled me with the tale of the contents of her Halloween party goodie bag... which included A BALLOON! I asked her if she could blow it up... so she started trying. Meanwhile Mikey and I are chatting and every so often Mikey interrupts herself to say, "Mercy, DON'T SPIT" So of course I had to try and get a picture of Mercy with the balloon, but you can see what she thought of THAT idea!

Kinda caught her here...

Any guesses how many times I heard Mikey say... Mercy, DON'T SPIT!!!

And then... You'll have to go visit Mikey to see the beginning of this part of the story...

But here is the end:


Yes that is ANOTHER donkey. In MY round pen. We spotted him wandering on the way to the dogs. Mikey the instigator says "Why don't you go see if you can catch him. I have a halter and lead rope in the back of the truck! I'll take pictures!!!!"

So Mikey's Mom and I go see what we can do. This little guy actually went between two fence, about a foot and a half apart, and I followed behind him... I was afraid to get too close and get kicked but didn't want him to get to the other end of the fence and take off... But when he reached the end of the fence, someone had strung some wire across in 4-5 places, and he pushed it with his nose but couldn't get through. I went through the pole fence (thank goodness for that, the other was no-climb!) and got up next to his head and got the halter on no problem. Once I had him caught, I looked to see and DANGIT he is not gelded {sigh} so I know Randy will NOT be happy about this... Asked him to back up and he did for a few steps, decided that was annoying and I still don't know how turned himself around... Now I am behind him in this narrow walkway, still holding the lead rope... but he walked on out to the end where Mikey's Mom was waiting and grabbed the rope, snubbed it on a fence post just in case but he just stood there. I thought he was pretty young because he seems so small to me but he let me look at his teeth and they aren't young teeth...

Since Mikey was nagging me I called Randy to bring the truck and trailer but got his voice mail. Darn it, because my plan was to HAND HER THE PHONE! After all, this is HER idea...

Seems we need an alternate plan... well just a bit down the road is a gal I know (where Seth and Abner came from last summer) so my idea is to walk him there and see if she will let him stay in her yard until Mikey can take me back for the truck and trailer. Donkey however has other ideas... we get close to the road and he thinks it's RODEO TIME! We manage to hang on to him and Mikey stops laughing long enough to bring us a second rope. We get him to the next fence post and snub him up again... We decide that "just a bit down the road" is too far to try walking this boy so Mikey's Mom volunteers to stay with him while she runs me back for the truck.

Fast forward to returning with the truck... another neighbor has stopped and volunteered the rest of a bale of hay he had actually bought for Abigail (her many admirers explains why she is kinda chubby despite not being fed much by her owner!) so Mikey has gone off with him and her truck to get the hay... and yet another neighbor is talking to Mikey's Mom... Mikey and the neighbor arrive just as we are getting the donkey to the back of the trailer... Mikey stands back with her camera and laughs at us, but a gentle butt-rope and this donkey just hops right in WOOT!!! That made me VERY happy...

Then it was off to try and catch a dog - after all that WAS our original purpose for this trip. We saw one, but he scrammed when we got there. We managed to get him turned back for the property and were hoping he would make a dive for the trailer door like Starfish #1 did, but he bypassed it all and kept going. Got around him and got him turned again but again he angled away from where we wanted him to go... by this time we are beat and just can't get ahead of him again. We scouted around to see if we could spot any more and came across one female... dead. More on that from Mikey too...

Thought we would call it a day and try again another time. Ran into a neighbor who asked us not to come back, they would like to handle the matter themselves. Long story short we agreed and although it makes me sad for the rest of them, sometimes retreat is just the best option. We will just count our blessings that we got Starfish #1 out of there and got him vetted and placed (yay Max and Janet!!) and that Mikey got Starfish #2 and she will be taken care of as well (yay Lexi!!) - and a HUGE thank you to Lori, Sara & Scott, Juli, Karen and Mary who donated to the dog food fund. The balance of the donations will go to the vet bills :)

And the donkey? I thought I would call him MIKE ;) but he says his name is Billy. And it does not appear that he has much experience with fresh water... see how far back he stands?


But I think he'll be happy to figure it out.


And yes, I'm still alive! For now... although I might have to move in with Mikey!!!