A weird thing happened soon after they arrived. Jerry and G. were already running the chain saw in the pasture. I was preparing to show the others around when we were aware of a fawn caught in the fence. It was 'Little Buck-a-roo'. He was struggling and crying and making his situation worse. If you have never heard a fawn crying, all I can say is that it is heart breaking.
We ran up to help him out, I grabbed his head and neck, M. grabbed the hind quarters, we got him free of fence, lifted him out, set him down, and he sped away to find his mamma; who had apparently abandoned her frantic youngster. About 10 minutes later, the weirdness began; my throat was constricting, I began wheezing, my face ran with tears and snot, my corneas filled like water balloons, and my face was red hot. Suddenly I recalled the fall incident (read Oct. 15, 2007) when I handled a fawn and had an awful allergic reaction. Immediately I headed in to find drugs, take a shower and change clothes. I suffered for several hours. Odd. Fawns are the only animal I have this severe allergy to. The friends were thrilled to have participated in a real life and death fawn rescue!
The plan for the day was to horse-proof the pasture. Horses, having tiny pea-size brains, tend to injure themselves easily and escape the safety of their confines. We needed to repair and rebuild fence, remove brush and lower tree limbs, and rid the pasture of a couple of ricketty old pens and junk.
The weather was perfect for working out of doors. Every one pitched in, worked hard and we accomplished a bunch. The chain saw provided several large burn piles and lots of good wood for the wood shed. The fence lines are clear of brush. This property is so beautiful and looks even better cleaned up.
The fence posts are straightened and strengthened. The wire is raised and tightened. We want to be wildlife friendly (mice NOT included). Jerry and I came up with a soution to the deer delemma. At the established deer trails through the fences, we will remove the woven wire and have wooden post and rails, we want to prevent the deer getting caught in the higher-stronger fences and getting hurt.
In the middle of the pasture area is a pig pen. An old rotten wood shelter covering a deep pig wallow hole, fence posts rotting out, patched together fencing, piles of assorted junk & wood, and what pig home would be complete without the old bathtub as a water tank. M. was glad to be on the tearing down and burning detail. He did a fine job. It's a guy thing.
T. was a careful fire watcher and made sure all was well. There was no wind and the earth was damp, a good burn day.
The pig sty is gone. All that remains is a pile of ashes, a hole to be filled and a piece of sheet metal to haul away.
This building is Jerry's vision, he sees a Bunkhouse fit for visitors. I see..... well probably the same thing you do.
The end of a satisfying day. Great weather, hard work, and super-duper friends.
8 comments:
Alergic to Fawns? And you like Disney movies? Did you choke up when your watched Bambi, or was that just because his mommy dies? (oops - hope that I didn't spoil that for you.)
Thanks for you VERY kind comment on my blog about my "poo" story on Kelly Jean's blog. (I hope your throat gets better.)
It's all true - except the part about the tree - sorry, but the story needed some kind of positive ending.
Visit my little place on the web anytime.
glad to see the weather is giving you time to clean up the outside. plus lets you get outside without getting soaked. wheres all the standing water? OH YEA! your in the MTS> now. While hunting we ran into a fawn wrapped up in a fence.the bad thing was we had to put it down, the leg was almost torn off.its amazing how they can get so wraped up in two strandsof wire. keep sending the stories and pics. DAVID
did you have to stick yourself with an epipen? keep away from those baby deer!!
No 'epi' Di, just plentyof good drugs. My eyes werte still swollen today.
Dave, Yep it is awful when animals get caught up in fence. We are trying to make this one safe and sturdy.
Rick, your story is still the best! I plan to visit you regularly!
This post looks so awful because I keep getting kicked off my server up here in the boonies and then my blogging suffers. Paragraphs get rearranged, pictures deleted after 30 minutes to upload. I don't know how to fix the large gaps that result. And it is very apparent that I suffer from the missing spell check and poor typing skills. Thanks for coming back and I enjoy your comments.
It is great what you are doing to help the deer in area, and still keep your horses safe. Unreal what you find out about yourself, after so many years, allergic to deer, so sad. Love reading your blog, keep it going. That way can keep up with how you guys are doing also.
I hope you feel much better now. And, yes, I have heard a fawn crying and it ranks right up there with bunny rabbit cries for tugging at the heart strings. I'm so glad you had a good day. It reminded me of days out working with my husband. Take care.
I wonder if its the mommy deer spit on the fawn's coat that you're allergic to. Very odd. Of all the things to be allergic to!
Looks like it was a good day for cleanup! How lucky you are to have so many friends willing to come out and get dirty. I always have to bribe my help with beer and BBQ.
I'm waiting for another good cleanup day around these parts. It's either been too muddy, too snowy or too cold. Today, it's too cold. Yesterday it was too windy and too cold to get anything of any substance done.
I'm so looking forward to spring. I keep looking out the windows or wandering around the property and adding more stuff to the "to do" list.
I have something for you on my blog.
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