Debbie and Ronnie continue to make use of their pond in the South Gate Habitat. Usually, Debbie is first to drink, so while she waits, Ronnie goes into the water with grand, loud splashing of red, muddy water. She still coats herself from trunk to tail, pushing her face into a steep bank while rubbing the lovely red dirt/clay mixture referred to by locals as churt, flinging the loose mud over her head and back. She makes quite a show of this, and upon exiting, chooses to come up the small steeper bank facing the caregiver, and Debbie, and makes just as grand an exit as she did an entrance.
The Threesome are taking advantage of the ample shade provided by the woods of Jenny’s Wash and south of the barn. They look so cool and peaceful dusting in the sand pile, enjoying their hay. Just the life of leisure they have earned! Liz is the only one venturing out into the sunny areas the last few days, and she munches hay (what she doesn’t toss on top of her head) under the sycamore, spending a lazy afternoon looking out toward the upper pond where Min and Lottie spend a lot of time.
Speaking of Minnie and Lottie….this morning was quite amusing. A caregiver went out as usual to feed them breakfast. They were, as is common lately, by the Upper Pond. Lottie was on the bank carrying a squished up blue ball toy in her mouth, and followed readily to come and get her meal. Lottie received her breakfast in the shade at the edge of the wash, and began eating quietly. The caregiver looked around for Min who was still by the pond but had just taken off at a quick pace toward the barn. She appeared to be looking for Lottie, stopping to listen for her every so often. Minnie finally stopped in the middle of the 60, turned and went back toward the pond where she had just left. Just then Lottie began walking in Minnie’s direction in her “where is Minnie” amble; funny, fast pace, looking for her sister. Minnie caught sight of Lottie, Lottie saw Min, and it was like a slow motion (elephant style) “Chariots of Fire” musical run across the pasture, which ended in very happy reunion. There were squeaks of joy, trumpets, ears out, tails flapping, an all around happy moment! Then, once settled, they both followed eagerly back to the shade of Barbie’s wash to enjoy breakfast…..together, this time.
Last week Tange and Flora spent time near the barn during fence repairs, assisting with the caregiver in weed eating, and reapplying mud to the outside gates that were recently painted. They do a lot of browsing, napping and lots of mud/dust baths. In the cool mornings and at night feeds they enjoy racing each other to the caregiver.
Almost all of Dulary and Misty’s time this week has been spent on three things. Swimming, dusting and napping. These ladies will now swim morning noon and night—sometimes staying in and playing for hours, other times just going for a quick half hour dip. And when they get out, dusting must follow. They have three favorite dusting spots and Dulary will endlessly cover herself until there is a dust cloud floating down the trails and she is coated from head to toe—that is until her next swim. And of course, with Misty, napping is always a priority. And these days, a nice shady spot, under the trees, or on the side of a sand pile are all quite lovely.