Animals In the Shadows: November 2014

Lady Sky

This is Lady Sky, who is also know as Turkey Lurkey and The White Reaper.

She is a Broad Breasted White Turkey and currently weights 22 lbs.

On 3-13-14, we bought her at the Ace Hardware store for a companion for Sir William. At the store, the other poults were pecking her snood and once it started bleeding, they would not stop. That is how I picked her out of twenty or so adorable, little fuzzy chicks.

After we brought her home, she lived in a box with Sir William, Mary Ann the Amberlink and Ginger the Golden Comet.

They were around a week older then Sky, but got along fine.

They quickly grew and were moved from the box to an outside pen.

Once they were big enough that they were safe from red-shouldered hawks, they were free to roam the yard during the day.

Sky and Will were never far apart.
They snuggled together, roamed the yard together and talked to each other.
Will was beginning to strut and had not yet learned to gobble, when a mysterious sickness overtook him.

The next day, on 6-13-14, he died.

After Sir William's sudden and tragic death, she spent most of her time with her chicken sister, Mary Ann and Ginger.

Some people are afraid of her, but she is a gentle giant.

She loves to sit on my lap or beside me while being petted, sometimes falling asleep.

She is very talkative and makes many different sounds, including clucks, chirps and coos.

She also screams when she sees food that she really wants and sometimes wines like a dog when she wants out.

She dislikes anyone who does not give her the respect that she deserves, including Commando.

When she gets angry, she puffs up her feathers and her head turns white or red.

Her best friend is Squash, a one-eyed rooster who, after surviving an owl attack, was bullied by the other chickens.

One of her eyes is half light blue and half brown.
Sky fallows us around the yard, comes inside the house every chance that she gets, and tries to help with everything.

She is a very funny bird.

When we dig new potatoes, she sits down in the hole and takes a dirt bath.

I tought her to pick up rags that fall when we are hanging clothes on the line to dry.

If she does not get her treat quick enough, she shakes the rag like crazy.

When my dad is mowing, she will run right in front of the moving lawnmower to catch a bug, with no apparent regusrd for her own safety.

She does not like roosting beside black hens for some strange reason.

She loves food and tries to eat almost anything she sees, and will trample anyone who gets in her way.

She gets grumpy when she has to stay in the chicken pen and starts picking on the top-ranking chickens.

Although turkeys make great friends and companion animals, most people don't keep them for that reason.

If some other person had of bought her, she would most likely have been killed to be eaten.

It is very sickening and heartbreaking to know that more than 45 million turkeys are killed each year at Thanksgiving and more than 22 million die at Christmas, each one just as speicle as Sky.

The only reason being to taste their decomposing flesh.

If every person knew turkeys as well as we know Sky, then they would look upon eating them with as much discuss as most currently do eating cats and dogs.

Click here for more pictures of her.

Swifty

This is my mother's cat.

On 11-26-13, in the New Leaf parking lot, Swifty found us.

It was a cold and rainy day, and we were heading towards the car when we heard someone meowing. One of my sisters spotted the black and white cat hiding under a truck.

He walked right up to us when we neared him and never tried to get away.

He was skinny and one of his ears was scratched.

Once we got into the car, he eat all the bread and cheese puffs that we gave him.

We took him into Sam's Club store, hiding him under my jacket.

Although he never complained, his long tail kept hanging out and my sisters had to warn me when people came near.

We brought him home and tried to find his family by posting him on Craigslist and hanging up a flyer in New Leaf, but with no success.

He had no microchip or collar, nor was he neutered.

We know that he was under a year of age because he still had at least one baby tooth.

We named him Swifty after Swiftpaw, the ThunderClan apprentice from the Warriors books.

On 1-27-14, we took him to the vet to have him neutered.

Now, although he is unable to contribute to the growing number of unwanted cats who are killed in shelters every day, his personally has not changed in the least.

On 5-22-14, he was bitten by an unknown venomous snake, which caused his paw and leg to swell to many times it's normal size.

As soon as we saw that he was bitten, we wrapped charcoal around his paw with gauze.

Several days later he was as good as new.

He has learned a lesson and is now afraid of most snakes.

He often visited the neighbor's cat, Slinky also known by us as Lynx, until she and her family moved.

He is very active and playful, chasing almost anything that moves including chickens.
We have had to rescue lizards, insects, a couple little snakes, a mole and Piglet the vole from him before.

He has lost his collar (with a tag and bell) many times.

He is somewhat picky, but loves bread.

My mother loves him very much.

Hazard

This is Hazard, who was rescues from Wal-Mart on 6-25-14.

He was the only fish left in that tank and thanks to Wal-Mart’s neglect, he had hexamitiasis, also known as hole in the head disease.

With him watching our every move with pleading eyes, it was impossible to leave him to this terrible fate.

Once we brought him home, he quickly became one of everyone’s favorite fishes.

He was shy until he was moved from a ten gallon tank to the twenty gallon.

Now, he swims around and checks everything out, instead of hiding every time a person walks into the room.

He has showed no aggression to any fish, except for goldfish, and currently lives with a Plecostomus, an African Cichlid, two Oscars, an Upside-down Catfish and a Rainbow Shark.

He had tried to eat several crayfish, with no regard for their claws, until we were forced to move them.

He should grow to many times his current size and once he gets bigger, he will be moved to a 55 gallon aquarium.

He is still recovering from his disease and is always happy to see us.

He is my first Cichlid.

Hazard is a Blood Red Parrot Cichlid.

These fish are a hybrid and have many deformities.

The most notable being their mouth which can not close.

Many are also tattooed, injected with dyes or have had their tails cut off.

Although the results can be pleasing to some people, these practices are cruel and cause the fish much pain and misery.

Buying these fish should be avoided at all times.

Quicksilver

This story is proof of what good care, clean water and prayer can to for an animal.

Our local Walmart greatly neglects the live aquarium fishes that they sell.

I have had to rescue many who were wounded, sick, deformed or dying and try to bring them back to good health.

It is a difficult process, sometimes taking up to several weeks before they can be safely moved to a bigger aquarium.

Not all survive, but at least I try.

Quicksilver is a survivor.

On 5-22-14, as I was doing what I could to help the fishes, I spotted a small Pictus catfish who was clearly in trouble.

He was bent to one side and swimming in a tight circle. Watching him gasp for breath, I knew that I could not leave him.

He was the only catfish in the tank and the next thing I knew, we were taking him home.

Once in a clean tank, he recovered rapidly and doubled in size.

He was later moved to a 55 gallon tank, where he currently lives with a Chinese algae eater, several common goldfish, a clown loach and an older Pictus catfish.

Named after the mutant from the movie, X-Men: Days of Future Past, he is very fast and hard to take good pictures of.

For a while, he would not leave the older Pictus catfish’s, Whiskers, side.

He is often under the driftwood during the day, but at feeding time he goes crazy.

Like all schooling fish, Pictus catfish should never be kept alone.

They grow big fast, so 55 gallons is the minimum tank size.

But as always, the bigger the aquarium the better.

Callie

This is the story of my sister's dog. Click here for her blog.

On the cold night of 11-16-09, Callie was born.

She was the only survivor out of a litter of four pups.

Because her mother, a chihuahua by the name of Chichi, bit her head and refused to care for her, she was given to Circle Vitus.

This Yorkie, who had recently lost her pup, Juno, to infection, was very active.

She spent most of her time running in circles around her doghouse, hence her name, and rarely acknowledged Callie except to nurse her at night.

To keep her warm, we took Callie inside during the day. She was introduced to solid food very early and grew quickly.

It was not long before she was ready to come and live with us.

Also called "Goofy" or "Rolly," she is a fun-loving dog with a very pretty face.

Often, when one of us is sitting on the couch, she will climb up on our shoulder and wine, while looking at us with her big, sad eyes.

She has a wonderful nose, excellent hearing and loves food. As soon as we drop a piece of food, she comes running and always watches us when we are eating.

She has been 'mostly' vegetarian for her entire life.

Although she has never been to the vet or had any vaccines, she is very healthy.

Callie is a humble little dog, who does not like strange dogs or people. She is fearful of thunder and anxious during car rides, but loves to explore and go on nature walks.