Molly in restful mode Every night is an adventure here at the Ark. Once the sun goes down and the land becomes eerily quiet out here, the entire atmosphere changes dramatically. And being a much blessed foster parent with many animals to care for, the dog contingent becomes focused on any sound heard, no matter how distant or how faint.
One energetic little bundle of joy is Molly, who we often call Molly Mole because of her love for digging and rooting after things. She even tries to do it on those occasions when we let her sleep on the bed. But Miss Molly is always lying on the back of the sofa at night looking out the window and listening.
Last night the coyotes started to howl off in the distance and that resulted in Molly barking and heading for the door. Oh, she wasn't going to tangle with a coyote, she would get her big friend, Kaz the Great Dane to escort her. Now they never go outside of the fenceline but they like to act real tough. And Mr. Kaz with his immense size well, let's just say that the coyotes keep their distance from the property.
Later when it was quiet, I ventured to look for them. They usually come back to the door when they have completed their rounds and the tell-tale sign is Molly's sharp bark. There was no bark and as I walked outside there was no Molly. Kaz walked up to the deck and gave me his customary lick on the hand and went to the door. I let him in and then went back out to look for Molly. As much as she drives me crazy and can be quite the nuisance, she is a fixture around here and I wouldn't want anything to happen to her.
I walked around with my flashlight under the moonless sky but had no luck finding her. I then ventured out into the pasture and saw the horses grazing peacefully but no Molly was in sight. I made a note of the time and went back inside, figuring she would show up when she was good and ready.
Nearly an hour went by and I still hadn't heard from her, so again I went out with the flashlight and decided to scour the entire property. One area where I had not looked closely was the area around the chicken coops behind the garage.
As I approached, Val, our rapidly growing Great Pyrenees who is going to be huge came to me with tail wagging. Molly wasn't with him either. But then I heard a noise that sounded like bats flying around in a cave. Whatever it was, it was in the stand up coop so I shined the light inside and to my surprise found about eight cardinals that were trapped inside. The three chickens, Horatio the Rooster and his two hen friends were perched on a ledge with the poor little cardinals flitting about madly trying to find a way out.
Shining the light from ground to ceiling, I finally found out what Miss Molly was doing. She was quietly at the ready right behind the cage with two of the barn cats, Recon and Rascal. The cats were swiping at the birds through the mesh any time they came down to ground level and I truly believe Molly was trying to help them. But when she saw me and heard the tone of my voice, her tail dropped and she dejectedly headed onto the deck by the door. She knew she was in trouble.
Would she actually have tried to catch a bird? Normally I would say no but in the case of this little rascal I would have to say yes. So I scolded her, put her in the house, chased off the cats, and went in the coop with a dip net to try and push the birds out through the open door. They were stressed and flying erratically but they eventually found their way out and back to their own nest. They must have flown in when we were giving the chickens grain as they love it when they can get it.
Such is a typical night here at the Ark. Sometimes the endings are tragic, other times they are funny, but whatever the case it is always interesting around here. I wonder what tonight will bring?
This is my world and my Ark. It's different, peaceful, all natural and I love it.
_____________________________________________________________________________
If you like simple but true stories about the way animals live, you will like my book, Honey, We Shoulda' Bought the Ark, now available for purchase in paperback or Kindle. Here are the links: www.outskirtspress.com/honeyweshouldaboughttheark and www.amazon.com/author/jamesdick. It's also available at Barnes and Noble. Animals: A Wonderful Gift from God.
One energetic little bundle of joy is Molly, who we often call Molly Mole because of her love for digging and rooting after things. She even tries to do it on those occasions when we let her sleep on the bed. But Miss Molly is always lying on the back of the sofa at night looking out the window and listening.
Last night the coyotes started to howl off in the distance and that resulted in Molly barking and heading for the door. Oh, she wasn't going to tangle with a coyote, she would get her big friend, Kaz the Great Dane to escort her. Now they never go outside of the fenceline but they like to act real tough. And Mr. Kaz with his immense size well, let's just say that the coyotes keep their distance from the property.
Later when it was quiet, I ventured to look for them. They usually come back to the door when they have completed their rounds and the tell-tale sign is Molly's sharp bark. There was no bark and as I walked outside there was no Molly. Kaz walked up to the deck and gave me his customary lick on the hand and went to the door. I let him in and then went back out to look for Molly. As much as she drives me crazy and can be quite the nuisance, she is a fixture around here and I wouldn't want anything to happen to her.
I walked around with my flashlight under the moonless sky but had no luck finding her. I then ventured out into the pasture and saw the horses grazing peacefully but no Molly was in sight. I made a note of the time and went back inside, figuring she would show up when she was good and ready.
Nearly an hour went by and I still hadn't heard from her, so again I went out with the flashlight and decided to scour the entire property. One area where I had not looked closely was the area around the chicken coops behind the garage.
As I approached, Val, our rapidly growing Great Pyrenees who is going to be huge came to me with tail wagging. Molly wasn't with him either. But then I heard a noise that sounded like bats flying around in a cave. Whatever it was, it was in the stand up coop so I shined the light inside and to my surprise found about eight cardinals that were trapped inside. The three chickens, Horatio the Rooster and his two hen friends were perched on a ledge with the poor little cardinals flitting about madly trying to find a way out.
Shining the light from ground to ceiling, I finally found out what Miss Molly was doing. She was quietly at the ready right behind the cage with two of the barn cats, Recon and Rascal. The cats were swiping at the birds through the mesh any time they came down to ground level and I truly believe Molly was trying to help them. But when she saw me and heard the tone of my voice, her tail dropped and she dejectedly headed onto the deck by the door. She knew she was in trouble.
Would she actually have tried to catch a bird? Normally I would say no but in the case of this little rascal I would have to say yes. So I scolded her, put her in the house, chased off the cats, and went in the coop with a dip net to try and push the birds out through the open door. They were stressed and flying erratically but they eventually found their way out and back to their own nest. They must have flown in when we were giving the chickens grain as they love it when they can get it.
Such is a typical night here at the Ark. Sometimes the endings are tragic, other times they are funny, but whatever the case it is always interesting around here. I wonder what tonight will bring?
This is my world and my Ark. It's different, peaceful, all natural and I love it.
_____________________________________________________________________________
If you like simple but true stories about the way animals live, you will like my book, Honey, We Shoulda' Bought the Ark, now available for purchase in paperback or Kindle. Here are the links: www.outskirtspress.com/honeyweshouldaboughttheark and www.amazon.com/author/jamesdick. It's also available at Barnes and Noble. Animals: A Wonderful Gift from God.
Above are the other characters: From the left, Val the growing Great Pyrenees pup, Kaz the mighty Great Dane, and Horatio the Rooster and his lady friend.
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