Rikki`s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960 540-854

I learned a lot about corralling, capturing, and transporting animals. I
learned never to put a pillow case over an emu’s head, because it doesn’t
quiet it down, it makes it go crazy. I learned that it’s not a good idea to
drive down I-95 with a mad sheep loose in the van. I learned why they
call male sheep “rams”. As in “ram your butt” if you turn around, “ram the
window”, “ram anything that moves”, or doesn’t. I learned it’s very hard to
get an emu into a dog crate. I learned emus don’t like to ride at all.
I learned that baby emus don’t make very good house pets.
I learned that they’re adorable, are always up to one antic or
another, and make me laugh. They’re always sitting around just
waiting to get into, or out of, something.
I learned that goats are born about the same size as adults cats. And how cute they are. And that they make
great playmates until the goats learn how to butt. I learned what a disaster it was to house the baby goats
in Feline Fields. I learned that baby goats, and their mothers, will not eat the grass in the cat runs, that they
will eat cat food, that they’re adorable when they swoosh down the slide in Cat House Number One with the
cats. I learned that when they jump up and down on top of the cat furniture their hooves will break it. I learned
that even a full-size mother goat can manage to fit through a cat door into the cat barns. I learned that goats
poop in cat food and eat the cat beds. I learned that housing goats and cats together was a big mistake.
I learned goats will eat anything, yes anything, except grass. I learned
that goats will eat the siding off the barn. I thought that painting the
barn might make it less desirable. I learned that I was wrong. I learned
that purple paint tastes just like jelly beans. The dark stripes you see
on the barn are not dark stripes, they are missing strips of siding that
the goats have eaten.
I learned that there are three things pigs like to do: eat, sleep
and roll in mud. No matter how many times you feed them,
they will always line up to eat some more. I learned that
pigs love belly rubs. Start by tickling them in the armpits,
front and back, and they will gradually begin to grunt and
moan and lean to the side, and then fall
over. I learned that the bristles stand up
when they are agitated, and fall out in the
summer, and grow back in the fall, and they feel
just like a paint brush. And I learned that pigs
can be very gentle and very sweet.
I never really knew pigs before Rikki’s Refuge.
Getting to know them has been a wonderful
experience. You’ve heard the saying, “Don’t try to
teach a pig to sing, it wastes your time and annoys
the pig.” I learned that trying to herd a pig and make it go where you want it to
is also a waste of time. I learned that when we only had three gentle lady pigs,
they loved living in a straw house. But when we added more rambunctious
males, the new and improved, larger straw house lasted less than 40 minutes.
After taking 3 1/2 hours to build.
I learned that the pigs are always standing by ready to eat.
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
540-854-0870
page 13 of 20
www.rikkisrefuge.org
mail@rikkisrefuge.org
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