433% growth!

Well, today was a prosperous day. As I walked out through our pasture area I noted a cardboard box that I intended to burn in our wood pile. It seemed like a pleasing exercise to kick said box for the sheer joy of it and so I walked near to kick and right as I did, I noticed that the box had an unusual amount of straw inside as well as enough rabbit fur to make me think Global Warming had exploded one of our rabbits. Fortunately, I also know that mythical creatures do not kill rabbits in boxes. Quickly adapting to the new situation, I peaked inside the box and observed 10 nude rat/dragon/demon creatures. Ten! Our New Zealand White gave birth last night in a box and that, my friends, is progress.


Excited about this and pondering the implications of another buck in our projects, I vied to go purchase the mate of the brown rabbit we got last week. I bought him and noted that he has funk-ear. Mites, you understand, gather in rabbit and weenie dog (PBUT) ears and cause a lot of trouble. Campho phenique is said to cure it. So, to the store to buy some Campho phenique (and salt blocks for their guts) and dumped a bunch in his ears and massaged them. He could not love it. I am sure having that stuff poured into an open wound and then having someone rubbing the wound feels like crashing a stolen plain into government offices. So this begat me to wondering whether our other rabbits were so stricken. Two of them were. Thus I nuked their ears and they will get better.


I decided to take the chance that the new buck might be feeling lucky in a new town with new ears and a new salt wheel, so I put him and the brown female in a coop together and I swear sexual assualt occurs in the animal kingdom. That poor girl didn't have a chance. I expect that at least 30 days from today, we will see how babby gets formed.

So count them: 10 new babies and 1 new buck.

But that's not all! I noted on craigslist this morning that some champ was advertising a doe and kid pygmy goat pair for free. Said he, "I got them to eat all my undergrowth and vines and thorns. Now they are done and I have no use for them." Me knowing that pygmy goats generally go for some $75 around here and 'free' is less than that, I made arrangements and went on to pick up the goats. The catching was easy enough and then I accessed my heritage and hog tied that mamma goat in an enviable fashion, tossed her on a tarp in the back of the minivan and about made it out when the guy let me know that the new world definition of "free" is "$50". Well, swindler that he is, I had to confess he got me. After driving 40 miles out there I was not about to turn back because this guy wanted to be a land pirate, especially when he was selling me goats at $25 each, which is still less than $75 and also less than "free"











In one day, our herd went from 3 rabbits to 14 rabbits and 2 goats. That means we are getting a bit more independent. I'll take 433% growth most days.















Further, I have found a spot where I can excavate and dam up. See, a wee little spring feeds a certain portion of my lot and the water table is extra ordinarily high around here. For less than $700 or so I can have built a pond for channel catfish, large mouth bass and animal water. Can you say, property value appreciation? I swear, this place of mine will fetch a fine price on the survivalist market.