This week I received the notification that our newly adopted chicken, Vivien, had passed away. This is a fate not too uncommon for layer hens, but one which was far preferential than the fate she would have faced had she not been rescued. While it makes me sad, I am glad to know that she passed with dignity among people whose mission it was to treat and care for her. It is another reminder for me of why I believe so strongly in this organization. Along with the sadness, there is a ray of happiness as we have now adopted Indigo, a truly handsome rooster, into our extended animal family. I was quite upset that I had never had the chance to meet Vivien in person, so I decided that I would not repeat that mistake again. I was off to the Sanctuary!
After two previous trips, the drive has become more familiar to me, although given the already boring nature of the drive, I guess that only means it is becoming more so. I had purchased some CDs to listen to on the drive in order to help it pass a little quicker. Bill Cosby's "Why is There Air?" and "I Started as a Child" had been childhood favorites of mine, so when I stumbled across them at Streetlight Records I had to pick them up. Like music I haven't heard for years, but haven't forgotten either, the comedy routines were familiar and as amusing as I had remembered. The only problem was that they weren't long enough! They only covered the first hour of the trip leaving me with 2 hours of listening to the only station I could pull in on the radio. This was also good for some laughs, however, as it was the Oakland Raiders pre-game and they were deluding themselves into thinking they had any chance against the vastly superior New York Giants. What a riot!
In my teens, I could have been mistaken for a Raiders fan because of the fact that the "Silver and Black" coats and hats were so "cool" I felt that I had to wear one for illusory purposes. In my adult years I had been a bit more ambivalent about them. It wasn't until going to my first Raider's home game that this changed to total disgust and hatred. To be fair, the feeling was more toward their fans who were the biggest bunch of lowlife, drunken, jerk-wads I have ever seen massed in such numbers. The Raiders subsequently have become guilty by association because if this is the company they attract and keep, they must suck. As a Colts fan myself, I just have a hard time picturing a die-hard fan in the stadium throwing stuff, berating, and actually threatening someone who happened to commit the crime of wearing the other team's colors. And even if such a lousy Colt's fan exists, I tend to believe the legions would serve to keep him in-line. Maybe I am just naive, but I will maintain my dislike for the Raiders and continue to relish their failures as an on-going embarrassment to the Bay Area. At least their perpetual suck-itude makes working where I do seem not as bad in comparison.
So after listening to this drivel for the remaining two hours, I was there. As usual I was early; only an hour this time. I patted myself on the back for my daring and rewarded myself with a trip to Subway for a Veggie Delite on Italian bread, their one Vegan approved sandwich. I was pleasantly surprised to be offered spinach for my sandwich since I never get that back home. It is funny how the Subway folks will often try to compensate for the fact that I don't want cheese or any of the dressings or oils by offering more or different veggies. I take their attempt to ensure fairness as a sign that there is hope for the world after-all. I take the fact that the weather is cool and breezy as another indication that all is well with the world. On the previous two trips, I had to double check the GPS to make sure I hadn't inadvertently typed in "Hell", "Solar Flare", or "Most God-Awfully Hot Barren Patch of California". At approximately 75 and with a light wind the scene was so much better. My new found faith in humanity and the world soon fades as I return to the car and the Raider's game. Oh well, as they say, hope is fleeting.
Just nine more miles down rural country roads and I find myself in the familiar surroundings of the farm. As always, I drive super-duper slowly up the dirt road to avoid creating any choking dust clouds and park at the "People Barn". Since I am still 40 minutes early, I start my self-tour and I am immediately drawn to a site near the Main Office. It's Coco! Coco, is my adopted goat and the last time I saw her she was new to the Farm Sanctuary and looking particularly rough. She is about five years old, but she had not been treated with compassion for any of those five years. She was severely emaciated, her hooves were seriously over-grown making it difficult to walk, and she had a major case of mastitis. All in all, the prognosis was not good for her. When I first saw her in late June, she was looking better than the pictures I had seen on the website, but it was still a heart breaking site to see. Despite the horrendous hardships she had endured, you could see in her eyes that she wasn't ready to give up and that she had a special spirit. Somehow she had not given up on people and I am so glad to see that her faith was not misplaced.
This is Coco's picture from the website when she was first brought to Farm Sanctuary after being rescued from her abusive situation. Even now that I know how the story unfolds, this picture still haunts me and makes me feel a mix of despair and rage.
Here is the first time that I met Coco in June of 2009. While she looks a lot better than the first picture, she was very slow moving, nervous, and still had to have surgery for her udder. When I visited again in August, Coco was at Davis Veterinary School for her treatment and I didn't get a chance to say "Hello".
While I love the previous picture of my first time meeting Coco, the next one is my favorite of all because it shows how far her recovery has progressed now that she is being tended to and afforded the respect due a living breathing, and feeling creature. It is an illustration of the redemptive aura that permeates Farm Sanctuary. Her surgery was a success, she has put on weight, and she was not nervous anymore. It was truly a miracle to behold.
Since I was so excited, I decided to check to see if Carolyn was available to introduce me to my "barn", starting with Coco, of course. There is something so therapeutic for me when I am around animals. While feeding Coco celery or petting her, all the crap from the previous week just seemed to fall away. Her gentle and trusting face was all that mattered in that moment. I plan to be a life-long supporter of Farm Sanctuary, but Coco will always hold a very special place as my first adopted goat.
Since I brought my video camera, I quickly switched from stills to video so I don't have any pictures of the rest of the gang from the trip, but I was able to meet most of my new friends. We headed up next to meet with Ady (Pronounced "Awed-e", which is how it is in the native sheep tongue). Along with his brother Colvin and his buddy Bleu, they were atypically social sheep. My experience with sheep in the past has generally been at a distance since they would not generally come up to you (That may be because it involved petting zoos where kids have a tendency to pull wool). Here, in this environment, however, they were quick to come up and lingered long for pets and rubs. Since Ady and Colvin were born at the farm, they have another feature that I had never associated with sheep. They have long tails which reach almost to the ground and are thick and wooly. Apparently these are docked in the farms, most likely as a matter of convenience (To the farmer), and I had spent all my life thinking that sheep had the tiny "duck-tail" which was all I had previously seen. Ady and Colvin share their area with several goats and I had the chance to meet many of them as well. Unfortunately, when it comes to names, I am not much better with animals than I am with people so I won't lie and claim to remember them all. I do distinctly remember Molly. I had met Molly previously as well and she is easy to recognize due to her past. She had been tormented by dogs that had bitten at her ears and torn pieces off leaving them scarred and torn. She is a real trooper though and she likes to play. Carolyn showed me how to play Molly's favorite game. If you press firmly on the top of her head (Molly's not Carolyn's), she likes to push back. It is kind of like the natural head-butting they would do, but a human/goat version. Once she gets going, she will push you around and then get very excited and start licking her lips. It was quite amusing to watch and I like the fact that she really seemed to enjoy it. I was briefly introduced to Persia, a Barbados sheep, before the sounds of the food truck could be heard in the distance and all the sheep and goats mysteriously became distracted.
Not wanting to be involved in a mass introduction via trampling, it was time to move on to the next stop, the Recovery Barn. As we approached the barn, I had the chance to see another example of how compassionate and considerate the staff at Farm Sanctuary is. Many of the animals in the barn wear collars with bells on them. These aren't cow bells, but more akin to jingle bells. They are there because one of the sheep in the barn is blind, and the bells keep the other animals from inadvertently spooking and stressing him. It is the little things like this that make a big difference to me. Years ago I read about how the band Van Halen used to have a very bizarre request on their tour rider (A document that specifies food, drinks, and other amenities required backstage prior to the show). In addition to the standards, they required a bowl of M&Ms with all of the brown ones removed. To most, this seemed like the typical prima donna rock-star behavior that was associated with the time, but to them it had a special significance. Their stage set was a highly complicated and elaborate one and there were a lot of things that had to be done just right to ensure a safe and enjoyable show. There was no possible way for the band to check out every aspect of this every night. That is where the brown M&Ms come in. They figured that if the venue paid attention to the smallest details, like taking care to remove all of the brown M&Ms, the rest of the more important details would have been attended to as well. This is an analogy I have used many times at work, mostly in a negative context, but here at Farm Sanctuary I saw a perfect example of the "Brown M&M" concept at work and it further convinced me (As if I needed more convincing at this point) what a high caliber organization this is.
Whitaker, the juvenile cow, was the next friend I got to spend some time with. He was feeling pretty mellow and let me do as much ear scratching and cheek and neck stroking as I wanted. For a young fella he is already probably 750 to 800 pounds, so to be in the company of such a large and gentle animal was very impressive indeed. When you aren't used to seeing animals up close and personal, it can be quite surprising to do so. The size is hard to get over. I can't wait for the chance to introduce my wife to Whitaker since I think that he will do a lot to reverse her fear of cows. Later in the day, I would have the opportunity to meet some of Whitaker's herd mates; Harrison, Casey, and Phoenix. After marveling at Whitaker's size, I was even more amazed by these "three amigos". Harrison was particularly social and he gave me my first experience with a cow tongue since he was very licky. Having never been licked by a cow before, it was a wholly new experience. The best way I can describe it would be to say that it is like rubbing a brick with high grit sand-paper across your skin. There is an aspect of texture, similar to a cat's tongue, and a significant weight. After having my leg licked many times, I had to keep checking to make sure my leg hair, or skin, wasn't gone. I think he fancied me as a scratching post as well which was cute at first and then started to make me a little nervous that his horn stubs would get caught in my short's pocket and rip them right off. The amount of power that you could feel from him was awesome, but I am not quite sure he had a sense of how strong he was. His sense of self-awareness has also been the question of some of the care-givers since he continues to try to nurse from his mother although he is practically the same size. This either makes him a perpetual mother's boy or proves that you just can't pass up a free or easy meal. Casey and Phoenix were a little more on the mellow side and were content to have their heads, necks, and flanks rubbed while chewing their cud. They were all very sweet animals and looking into their faces you could see all of the personality that you could ever hope for.
Up next was the wonderful Ramona the pig. She came to Farm Sanctuary a few years back after being found in a well. She has recovered from her ordeal and she is quite a character. Upon hearing her name she came marching right out of the barn and was ready to be petted. Her hair is very bristly and consistent with an old-style hair brush. She is a spotted pig who looked a bit like her buddy Kiwi except that she had an orange "base-coat" whereas Kiwi's was grey. After being very accommodating, she became fascinated with the wooden fence between her area and the next. I can't imagine why she would want to escape so I can only imagine there was some scent of food-stuffs wafting under the boards. Kiwi, Rusty, and Fergus were the other pigs that I was able to meet in this barn. Fergus was much smaller than the others, but he had a cute habit of laying down for a belly rub as soon as you touched his side. He did this a couple times (I got distracted and paused in my rubbing the first time which resulted in him getting back up) and to me it reinforced the fact that all animals enjoy pleasurable things. It was great to be able to provide that. Apparently, Kiwi fancied herself a budding photographer and took a keen interest in my camera bag. She really wanted it so after politely saying that I would love to give it to her but my wife would get mad at me if I did (Hey, she wasn't there and I sure don't want to be the bad guy), we bid adieu and moved on to the next barn.
On our way we had to make a detour around the pig pond when some "rogue geese" protested our first route. They may have been asking for a toll or a bribe, but my language skills are a little shaky when it comes to goose so I didn't want to risk offending them. Lori would have been in heaven in the main pig barn. There were grunts, and oinks, and the pigs that accompany them galore. We seemed to have arrived at nap time and each of the not-so-little piggies was in their respective hay nests. I was told that they make these themselves and that they will sometimes help each other, or in contrast steal from each other's nests. I spent most of my time with Linus who was dreaming pleasant dreams, most likely involving truffle-filled nests. He was huge and his sleep continued unabated in spite of my needs to pet him. Pigs are surprisingly solid. You hear terms like "fat pig" and think they would be soft, but they seem to be all muscle. On close examination, their shouts have the appearance of being stunted elephant trunks (Or elephant trunks are elongated pig snouts - chicken or the egg type debate). They have long eye-lashes and exude a peacefulness that contrasts with the fact that most of them were rescued from some dire circumstances.
Leaving the Pig Barn, we passed through the "Turkey Gauntlet". Actually it had a much more suitable name, but I honestly cannot recall it as I write this. Somewhere in the turkey crowd was Amelinda, but I was told that she, like many of the turkeys, was not too fond of being petted. After a few minutes, one of the turkeys came forward and was willing to be petted under the wings. Her skin was so soft underneath the feathers and she would cock her head whenever you hit a particularly nice spot. Soon, the turkeys began to gang up and march forward on us. Sensing that we were outnumbered, we realized it was time to move on. I didn't get to meet Amelinda personally, but I know that she was in there somewhere. It is important to remember that it is all about the animals and their feelings and not about mine.
Last, but certainly not least, was Penny. Penny is a Muscovy Duck and loves to hear her name. Every time you say, "Penny", she would wag her tail and open her bill as if she wanted to say something. It was very cute and she was eager to come right up to us. I was told, however, that she was a bit of a biter and it would be best not to try to pet her. Not wanting to leave Penny on a sour note, I agreed not to pet her and she agreed to provide me with fond memories of watching her bill and tail in response to my voice. She was so cute and outgoing that it was hard to move on.
I love my new family and I am proud to announce the addition of a new chicken named Indigo. He won't replace Vivien, but he will be a welcome new friend to get to know and cherish. Welcome aboard Indigo, you handsome devil!
