Heidi Chronicles: Episode #9064 - ish

I only have a minute. Where does the time go?! Anyhow, I just had to get online to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers for Fraidy. Although she is still walking like she's 103yrs old, tonight I saw the 1st signs of hope in a while now. The large grapefruit (or larger) sized swelling on her shoulder has broken open and drained. It was flat tonight, looking much like the other shoulder. A wet area belied the events that had occurred 'off stage'.

Tonight when I turned on the outside lights Fraidy was sitting on the far edge of the patio. Heidi, Dennis, and that kit that eats Heidi's melon were also out there but up closer to the door. Fraidy walked out with and just a little ahead of me. Tonight, perhaps feeling better now that the abscess has broken or maybe because the new food is tastier, she stayed much, much longer and ate a lot more than she has done in a long time.

I did everything I could to keep her there eating, and I could see that Fraidy knows she is getting a lot of attention - and like all of the raccoons, she seems to like it since attention means more and better food. I gave her the pricey food and the s/w cookies she likes. I've noticed that she has difficulty eating the cookies because, unlike the others, she can't hold them with her hands to take bites off of them, so tonight I broke each of her cookies into 4 bite sized pieces so she would be able to pick them up with her mouth. She stayed a long time, the whole time I was out there. She ate several handfuls of food and 4 or 5 cookies. Oh, and while cleaning yesterday I found a partial package of Pounce which I shared between Fraidy, Dennis, and Heidi - to avoid any jealousy wars. Fraidy really like that stuff, so much so that when she ran out she hobbled over to me looking for more. I must get more Pounce ASAP.

Fraidy always, always leaves when Husky shows up. He knows that he can get away with stealing her food, so he always makes a bee line for her. After a brief and unsuccessful attempt to tell him to stop, she gives up and leaves to avoid getting into a fight that might leave her with more injuries. Tonight, I was so happy to see her eating and when Husky arrived I was not ready to see her leave, so I took out my water bottle and when he came over near her to make his very predictable campaign for her food, I started squirting him right between the eyes as fast as I could pump the trigger. He left and then returned 5 times to try again. He is accustomed to taking Fraidy dinner and just could not seem to understand that tonight it wasn't going to happen that way, but finally after I had discharged 3/4 of the bottle he finally got the message and took himself elsewhere - and Fraidy stayed and ate and ate and ate. Near the end of the night she sat down to eat, but she stayed and she was eating and that was what mattered.

I know fraidy isn't over the hump yet, but glad to know she doing better. bad thing about wound s on shoulders and that area , is they can't get up there to clean em. Maybe she finally rubbe d against something that broke the infection boil. Hope the core of the infection ha s come out with it too.

You go Cheryl with that wate r gun of yours. LOL. Husky probably wondering what the heck. Where fraidy gettign this wate r from. heheheheh That will teach Husky to pick on poor defensless Fraidy. Husky probably figures ok it yoru food tonight , but just wait til tommorrow. Hope ya got plenty of refills for that squirter.

You really havign to hone up on yoru mgt skills. tryign to keep Dennis out of th ebafs, heidi so busy she don't bother fraidy. Husky away from fraidy and the other one s away from coming up and getting treats. Funy, you packing food and " wet heat" hahahah

" Funy, you packing food and " wet heat" hahahah" Yep!!! I love the idea of wet heat"! Glad that you had it with you to use that way. It seems to work perfectly. Have you been able to get any of those antibiotics into her yet?

Hi Starlight,

She is definitely not out of danger yet especially since she's like great-great-granny, but last night I saw a ray of hope. I can't recall when I last saw her eat so well. I was also encouraged to see her sitting on the patio waiting for me and to see that the lump was 'gone'.

Yeah, that's right. I'm bad. I'm bad. I'm packing "wet heat" (or is is 'cool'). Anyway, it works like a charm. Husky didn't know what to think. I pushed a few others back from Fraidy, too, when they got too close. She get nervous when the yearlings get close to her because they are inclined to get into arguments and she doesn't want to be in the middle of any of that. When I hear Fraidy 'fussing', I look around and fire on whoever is encroaching on her territory. At 1st, Fraidy just looked shocked as though she were running them off herself. Now I think she has figured it out because she is moving closer and closer to me now to eat instead of staying so far away where I can't help her.

Hi June,

LOL, isn't that 'wet heat' cool. No, I haven't managed to do the antibiotic thing yet.

Wow, I've been catching up for a few days now and so much has happened. Poor lil Fraidy...I'm sure without your help she wouldn't be here now. You are her own personal angel! Bless you for your kindness and caring.

Your pictures are so much fun. The body posture (Echo) and expressions are just priceless! I really like Heidi dunking her cookies. And the in-air peanut is pretty cool too. I never tire of seeing pictures of the steal either. Thanks for all the smiles.

Hi goldfinch!

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed so many of the pictures. I need to take that camera out more often. Last night there was the most incredible moment when Dennis was sitting beside me looking totally dejected and as though she had just, for the moment at least, given up - which for Dennis is actually a good thing. She was sitting there close beside my right leg, sitting upright with her two hind legs pointing in opposite directions, the way you might sit, for instance, if you were playing some board game with the board on the floor before you. Her arms were resting on the ground in front of her, almost as though folded in resignation. A few days earlier she had been 'sprayed' liberally for her pushy, grabby behavior. Now I was too busy trying to look after Fraidy's needs to tend to Dennis' wants; so there she sat in resignation, wanting a cookie but not wanting an impromptu bath to go with it. I would have loved to have captured that moment in a picture.

Echo is too cute when standing. I think she has the gangsta' stance.

As closely as poor Fraidy has been hovering near death, circling the drain as they say in medical circles, I really doubt she would have made it without someone to provide food for her during this difficult time - and she may not make it even with help. She's not out of the woods just yet.

Thanks again.

Hi Judy,

I was just looking back over some posts. It looks like I might have missed your post. Sorry about that.

Heidi really is very much aware that much of the attention I usually heap on her is going to Fraidy right now. I tried to tell her that she will always be my favorite. It's just that poor Fraidy really needs me more right now.

You are right, although I hadn't mentioned it, Heidi is acting out a little bit now. The other day when I got out there to feed them, I sat down and while I was searching for the special food for Heidi I was simultaneously talking to Fraidy trying to get her to come and eat beside me. Well, Heidi got all insulted and grabbed the tote bag sitting in front of me, something Heidi never does. She snatched it over toward her and was about to go plundering in it to serve herself - since I was clearly too concerned about Fraidy to server her in a timely manner. I reached toward her and snatched the bag back. Heidi didn't try to stop me, but then a moment later she moved over in front of the bucket, turned that over and grabbed herself a nice serving of cat food. I took the bucket back and turned it upright. By this time, Heidi was not in her 'proper' spot - and she knows all too well where her spot it, but no matter how hard I tried I could not persuade her to come back over to her spot, no way, no how.

As I sat giving Fraidy more food, breaking her cookies up, giving her water, calling her repeatedly, etc I looked up from time to time to see Heidi watching me and looking over at Fraidy. I began to think that I should be careful not to get Heidi so upset as to send Fraidy packing. Heidi was also watching as I sprayed the others when they got too close to Fraidy's food. It was only later that I realized how that was one of the special things I did for Heidi when she was feeling under the weather after the kits were born, something which seemed to bring Heidi and me closer together than ever before. Now here I was heaping all this attention and affection on another raccoon while appearing to ignore Heidi. It was much like the situation when one child is sick and you need the other child to understand that while you still love them just as much, right now you need to give your time to the sick child. But Heidi has no way of knowing this is temporary.

By the end of the night, Heidi had run out of food. I didn't have anymore food to offer her. She came over, this time behaving nicely to ask for more. Fraidy had just left, so telling Heidi to wait for me, I went back to the house for a few extra scoops of food and the watermelon half I'd left in the fridge. When I returned, Heidi was there waiting for me. I gave her the watermelon and the extra food, sat with her for a few minutes, and then left. Her excitement at seeing the watermelon and at getting a few minutes of personal service seemed indicate this made up for everything.

Oops. Gotta go now. back later. I hope

Bummer. I can't talk much tonight because I left my A/C adaptor at the office. Argh! But, I can talk until I run out of gas...

The idea has been raised that perhaps Fraidy may have contracted rabies from her attacker. Yikes! I hadn't really thought about that possibility. I sure wish Ruth were here now. I could sure use the input of someone with 1st hand knowledge of the subject.

Fraidy shows no sign of rage, disorientation, confusion, lack of fear (where fear is due), or lack of coordination. Quite the contrary, her behavior seems extremely logical. She shows fear of letting the others get too close while she is eating; as anyone who has ever been seriously injured knows, fear of being bumped around much less getting in a fight is quite normal under the circumstances. Although she walks slowly and with apparent pain, she walks a very straight line across the lawn each night as she leaves. There is no sign of a lack of coordination. Moreover, even though her stride is slow and measured and looks of pain, there is real evidence of improvement because these days she is walking on all four feet. If you recall, it wasn't so long ago that she wouldn't even think of putting that 4th hind foot on the ground. She is no longer hopping on 3 legs but is walking slowly and with apparent discomfort on 4 legs.

She is also eating much, much better. For the past 2 nights she has been staying out there eating for an hour or more whereas for a while there she barely nibbled a scant handful before disappearing into the night. Of course, now I'm using my handy water gun to keep the others away so she can eat without the fear of attack or even being bumped by someone executing the Steal; and I've been feeding her a combination of Purina cat food and that pricey stuff I got at the Holistic Pet Store. It's actually Wellness brand BTW. The other day I said it was Evo by mistake, but when I dbl checked I found that I had gotten Evo for Widget an Wellness for Fraidy.

She is looking better than she did in the photos above, I think. I'll try to remember to get a picture tomorrow.

All these things aside, the rabies thing is pretty scarey - even though I did get the shots. Last night I went online to review the signs of rabies in raccoons. The most important caveat to remember is that there may not be any symptoms, at least not yet, hence the reason why the only real way to know is by examining brain tissue. That said, the list of symptoms includes the ones mentioned above along with, and this is the scarey one for me right now, possible paralysis or partial paralysis of the hind legs. Uh Oh! Fraidy is moving those hind legs like a really decrepit, old person - but then again if you had seen me walk for the 1st months after my knee surgery you might have concluded I fit the symptoms of rabies. She has good reason to walk gingerly on those hind legs, right? But then again...well, it's pretty scarey.

Not through but sending in parts to avoid loosing everything if the computer suddenly decides to go to sleep...

Aside from my love of Fraidy as an individual, I think that after 2 knee surgeries in succession followed by a car accident with lots of back pain, I really identify with her plight. The accident that led to my 1st knee surgery totally changed my life. Since that day my life has been about pain. Every day. How to avoid it. How to live with it. How to try to go about my day and get at least the minimum stuff done - with pain. I'm not looking for sympathy. I know there are people with even greater pain, and my heart goes out to them. Still, I wake up in the morning with pain, walk to the door to let the dog out with pain, dress with pain. Walking from the parking lot to my desk is a daily ordeal. Every step of the way I walk in pain counting the steps until I reach the next place where I can sit for a second to relieve the pain before forcing myself to get up and go on once more. Some days the pain is less than others, and since I've been seeing the pain doctor it's more bearable than before, but there is always pain.

So it is that I can not help but identify with Fraidy now as I watch her walk with obvious pain across the lawn. To be honest, there are times when I have to wonder if a life of constant pain is even worth living - no, I am not suicidal. Please don't leap to that conclusion. I have things that I want to do, things that I need to do, things that I am driven to do, things like paint again and write and hopefully publish the Heidi books. No, I'm just saying that there are days when the road ahead looks long and bleak when one has experienced years of pain and sees no reason to suspect anything less in the future - and I have medical personnel to help me and people who show compassion for me. I cannot imagine what it must be like to suffer that kind of pain - as Fraidy does - and have none of these things, and worse to have to try to hunt down food (with no motorized grocery carts) and try to keep the healthy ones away from her food and on top of all of these things to be a member of a species who is shunned the moment she becomes ill - because she may have the dreaded rabies - and, heaven forbid, she MAY.

It is a tough one. On the one hand, I am afraid and rightly so. On the other hand, I have such compassion for her situation. I can imagine in those painful days after my knee surgery or at the height of my back pain the thought of being shunned for fear I might be contagious.

Saving again.

sheesh...I pray that Fraidy doesnt have rabies, for fraidy sake and for yours as well...As much as I love reading about the raccoons I dont want to see you hurt in the process...I wish Ruth was here also, she has much knowledge in the animal area.

Jeani

Now please, whatever you get from this, don't worry about my pain. This isn't about my injury or my pain except in that it leaves me with the quandary of feeling both incredible empathy for Fraidy and, at times and in view of the very real threat posed by rabies, extreme terror. I vacillate between the two at a time when which emotion to give in to may be a life threatening decision.

Tonight, I wasn't going to go out there at all. The ostrich thing is something I do at times like these. Can't make a decision? Bury your head in the sand and all of the problems will go away or at least seem to. Around 10:30 the idea of poor, thin Fraidy not being able to find enough food got to me, and I decided to go out, throw them some food, and leave immediately. Naturally, once I got out there I found that to be virtually impossible. They are such captivating creatures. (Shaking head in bewilderment)

I didn't touch anyone as I haven't for several days now - well, except for Dennis. She touches me regardless, but tonight I even avoided taking out any cookies. I just didn't want a mob around me under the circumstances. Tonight for the 1st time I mixed about 1T of the coconut oil in with the plastic bag of Wellness food. I had been afraid they might not eat it. Quite the reverse, this time when Heidi finished her portion of the high end food with oil, she walked all the way around me to take Fraidy's. I had spent the evening using my water bottle to keep the other away from Fraidy's food, but I just could not do that to Heidi. So Heidi took Fraidy's food. For a moment Fraidy stood there looking at Heidi and her food and me as if waiting for me to blast her with the water. Then, Fraidy walked right over to me to see if I would give her more food. Quite logical behavior, you see. She stopped just on the other side of my tote bag and bucket and so did not get close enough to touch me or, think, jeopardize me if she is 'sick'. When I did offer up any more food (because I had no more), she went back over to her area to search for crumbs in the grass nearby. This tugged at my heart, so I went back inside and returned with extra food for all. Then I came back in for the night.

Better go now. I'm sure I'm pushing this battery to the limit.

Thanks, Jeani,

For the time being, I'm going to take extra care to feed but not touch. Some days I may try to put the food out before dark and just leave it, although that isn't easy for me to do. I think it is good that the possible threat was brought to my attention. Better safe than sorry. Ruth will be back in a little over a week. Hopefully, she will have some insight into the situation. Meanwhile, I'm going to keep some distance from all of them and observe Fraidy's condition. As long as I don't touch them, I should be ok. Since day one when I started dealing with them, every night when I come in I wash my hands really well - like a surgeon - just to be careful.

Hope Rith gets back too to answer the uestion, but my personal feeling is that griady suffere d major major damage to he r body. If you've eve r been bitten by a dog, you know how long it take s for thos e wound s to heal. Took me months and it was quit painful.

There was a resuc e operation we did wher e os many animals ha d ben abused. if a dog or pup got the owne r ma d he would body slam the animals. I imagine maybe fraidy took a bunch of good shaking and body slamming herself. I have seen wher e it ha s taken weeks and weeks for dog that ha s had injured the hip walk on three legs until kind a like ahuman could get thos e muscle s to heal and able to walk again.

Ya see dogs hobbling all the time on the roads on thre elegs wher e they got into pricker s or somethign from in the woods and be weeks befroe the pricker s eithe r dissolved or worked back out of th ebody.

My son one day thought it wa s cut e to scare the livign daylight s out of me. he did and I hit my elbow on the thermostate control on the wall. I spent like 6 months liek you and th epain you have constantly befor e I was able to mov e my arm again. The slightest touch the slightest movement and even not movement was painful, and I have a high toleranc e for pain.

Actually I am surprised she tryign to us e he r foot again so soon. Now that some of th einfection out of he r body and she not so much in pain an dprobably wa s runnign a fever at the time, she startign to heal and strechign that hip and leg muscle s back out. If she keeps gettign food and strength maybe be ina few weeks she back to using all her factilites well, but you have her named appropiately as fraidy cuz she wil probably always be afriad of her surroundings except wher e you are concerned.

The fact that she come s up to you for food and protection, show s the greta faith that she still has in you and the incrediable trust that she knows you are tryign to help and protect her. She may be an animal liek the others , but you have bridged amamzing bond s with thes e animals that I doubt any other person in the world has done , espcially with wild racoons. You , and you allone have been accepted by yoru gang as part human yes, but part of the family of racoons.

starlight,

I like that. I consider it an honor to be accepted even part way into the raccoon family. : )

I do know what you mean about injuries, and that is why I am so torn. Sometimes I just absolutely believe she is just trying hard to recover from an awful injury. Other times I am stricken with terror to think that I may be feeding and coddling the rabies version of Typhoid Mary. If Fraidy does have rabies, BTW, it will probably mean the end of all of the raccoon in our little group as they are sure to pass it around quickly.

It quite literally took me years to get over my 2nd knee surgery well enough to walk without intense pain. I had a torn ACL or LCL (I forget because I had one of them torn on each knee and now forget which was which) along with torn cartilage, and a damaged knee cap. Worst of all, when the surgeon got in there he found that I had fairly advanced arthritis in the knee such that he had to essentially grind the end of the bone down to try to smooth it out. As a result, I had to recuperate from the initial injury plus the 'damage' (from my bodies stand point) done by the surgeon in grinding bones and such. I wasn't even 40 yet, but I hobbled around like someone 3 or 4 times my age, so I can relate oh so well when I look at her hobbling in pain.

For the longest time she stayed way over there in a dark corner between the water container and the brush to eat. I had to use my flashlight to find her. She wouldn't leave the 'safety' of that area to come no matter how I called her. After I started using the water gun to keep the others away from her food, she moved closer to me. She's still near the water, but now on the far side of it closest to me and away from the brush. It was then that I figured she realized I was helping her. Last night was the 1st time she came to me for more food. She used to just leave whenever the others took her food, so I was elated to see the change in her. I think it not only shows that she realizes I'm there for her, but also shows that she is feeling well enough to walk over to me instead of just giving up and leaving.

Hi Cheryl,

CHecking and and catching up. I have been on the run for two days and another day of it tomorrow.

As you know, this is just tugging at my heart also. This is not an easy situation no matter which way it goes. Poor Fraidy is in such pain, it is something for us humans to be able to grab a bottle of pills and feel better. With wildlife...there is no such luxury. Regardling of the rabies... I too worried about the back leg issue and stiffness that seems to be incompassing her body. And the water consumption. You have made note before of how thirsty she is.

I didn't know that there were two forms of rabies...Dumb rabies, as when they are so very friendly and familar acting....and the Rage/Anger Rabies....which more of us are familiar with. I also have been doing qutie a bit of research the last few days, trying to find answers, clues or suggestions for you. Unfortunately, I find no more than what you have previously mentioned.

Very happy to hear you are being safe and taking precautions.

Keeping Heidi, Fraidy and the gang....and you....very close in my prayers.

Debbie

Hi Debbie,

Good to hear from you. Best wishes for tomorrow.

Just to clarify a few things. Fraidy isn't drinking a lot lately like she was in the days immediately following her injury. Tonight, for instance, she stayed for roughly an hour during which she made only 2 brief trips to the water. This is in line with the frequency of consumption seen in Heidi, Dennis and the others, all of whom make some 2 to 3 trips to the water while eating the dry cat food. Some of the yearlings spend so much time in the pool that it's difficult to estimate their water consumption. Fraidy has been drinking at this more normal rate for a week or so now. With so much going on, I just neglected to mention it.

As for rabies, there is really only one rabies. The two forms to which you refer are merely different phases of rabies. Most victims will go through both stages, although as I understand it in some victims the phases may be more or less obvious - or at least that is what I've read. The 'dumb' form refers to the phase in which they are disoriented and may exhibit a lack of fear. It is due to this phase that we are told to suspect rabies when we see a raccoon out in daylight (although, as my experience has shown, healthy raccoons may be seen out in daylight) and especially when a wild raccoon approaches humans showing a lack of fear (but hear again as in the case of Heidi the day she came down the fence in front of me to start this whole story, such behavior is not an absolute indicator of rabies).

The 'rage' phase is the probably the one most of us associate with rabies. I think this is the latter stage of the disease. I believe Ruth indicated that the rage is largely due to the intense pain associated with this stage.

As for the relationship between rabies and water, I've not seen any indication of an association between rabies and increased thirst. There is, however, an association between rabies and an apparent fear of water supposedly due to the excrutiating pain caused by swallowing and thus by attempting to drink water.

I need to get to bed now but will post a few quick pics.

I took a number of pics of Fraidy for comparison with the last group of pics. I think she looks noticeably better but am curious to hear what you think. Tonight I only have the Mac with me. I don't have any photo s/w loaded on here, so am limited to iPhoto which, IMHO, has grossly inferior photo editing capabilities; so while I have cropped these to bring the subject up close, I have made no attempt at lighting/color enhancement, so please take that into consideration when evaluating. (Oh, and with iPhoto I'm rather limited as to getting the photo's sized right, so try to bare with me here, please)

The sore on her shoulder is where the huge abscess broke open and drained.

another

and another

not sure the source of this sore. I suspect it started from a spat since she isn't able to defend herself very well right now. I see small bites on the yearlings a lot from their arguments. It doesn't seem to be healing as well as expected though.

here you can see that all 4 feet are on the ground to some extent which is a definite improvement over some weeks back when she would not stand on the one back foot. In this pick she is eating directly from the ground. With limited use of her back legs she is not inclined to lift her front legs to use her hands.

Here is a picture of her good side.

Resting a bit. Perhaps it just because of my own personal ordeal with leg injury and the resulting pain, but I can 'feel' this picture.

Another such moment (both pics taken back to back. she only sat down once tonight)

Last one for tonight. Here all legs are on the ground, but I think I see swelling in the far/right hind leg. I've often wondered, among my many theories, if one of the back legs may have been broken - in which case it may mend with slightly altered alignment.

Well, there you have it for tonight. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how these pics compare with the last set: good, bad, pluses, minuses.

Just today I realized how depressing things have been on the thread just recently: pain, suffering, rabies. What a bummer. Sorry about that, but then again this story is about the real lives of a group of wild raccoons, and these are very real issues for them.

In hopes of ending tonight on a more cheery note, I saved this pic of Echo for last.

One last humorous note. This one isn't about raccoons, so I apologize for yet another OT rambling, but it a short one this time.

Although I've not mentioned it, I've been having problems with my back/hip and leg off and on since that one day discussed earlier. The episodes have not been as severe as the '1st' one, but have been more than sufficient to get my attention. Last night the leg ached all night. While rushing around to get out the house for work, I couldn't find my ice pad quickly. Then at work, when my back/hip was bothering me, I looked over longingly at the frozen dinner I had brought for lunch. It was sitting there on the desk, having been only recently removed from my backpack and awaiting a trip to the office freezer. In an instant, an idea was born. Here was a perfect ice pack - and it needed defrosting anyhow...

We will do strange things to relieve pain - hence my reluctance to call Fraidy's efforts to relieve her own pain rabies - so in an instant I grabbed the frozen dinner still in its box and shoved it between my left hip and the back of my chair. Ahhhh. Perfect! I was only planning to leave it there a few minutes before taking it to the freezer where it belonged, but...Ahhhh. It felt SO good.

About that time a colleague came in to my office. In the ensuing discussion, I shifted in my chair a bit, and 'caplunk!' the slightly squished and deformed, boxed, frozen dinner plummeted to the floor beside my chair. Refusing to look at it or even acknowledge its glaring presence there on the floor between us, I continued with the conversation at hand, trying to maintain my professional air - despite having apparently just laid a fully formed lunch item.

My visitor being one who loves a good laugh, she did NOT let me get away with ignoring the box on the floor. "Cheryl", she said calmly, "You do know we have microwaves here right, I mean, if you want to heat your dinner?" We had a good laugh. I tried to explain why I was 'sitting on' my lunch. Later, she came back to my office with a sandwich, still in the baggie, and rubbed it on her knee (she had recently had knee surgery) and laughed. The rest of the day I heard things like, "Ask Cheryl how she heated her lunch today."

Hey, like I've said before, when you're in pain, you get creative.

I laughed so hard, I woke up the dog! That was hilarious! "despite having apparently just laid a fully formed lunch item." Funniest thing I've read all day.

OK, now I can go to bed with a smile on my face!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE this thread??? ^_^

Angie

Thank you, Angie!

: D

LOL!

^_^ too funny. heheheheheh

Don't ya just lov e those unexpected oopes. hehehehe

That would have made a good funny videos for sure. : )

LOL....That was a caught ya moment for sure. Its something that will be told and retold at gatherings and Christmas parties for years to come. OH and don't go to any Easter Bunny party if you are invited as you may be expected to pay=lay at it.

Cheryl I want to tell you that I follow your threads faithfully and this has become the most enjoyable part of my day but I don't often comment as I don't have a great command of the English language and am afraid of saying things that come off as stupid of just doesn't make a lot of sense. I have to get over this complex and let you know I am here sharing in your journey!

I have a couple of pictures to share,I want to know if this is indeed a nursing mama as I suspect but so far haven't gotten it to post. I will try again but after I post this as I have already lost what I had written before by trying it and If I lose this one I may not try again :(

This is the little one that is not afraid of me and will come out while I am putting food down. She also takes the good stuff first before she allows others to come eat.

I tried to post a lightened picture but maybe it was too big as I couldn't get it to post. Maybe someone here can lighten it. I am not handy at all this yet. Is she a nursing mama as I suspect?

jschweizer.... Don't be afraid to post. My goodness Dg put s up with my not os good english, my dyslexic typign and general over all nuttiness.

Looks liek you may be developign a Heidi of yoru own there. LOL Cute tyke. : )

Cheryl.. sitting here chucklign away to myself, wondering if it almost lunch time, if folsk will be stoppign by yoru offic e with change in their hands wondering if you the newest and bestest lunch vending machine. LOL Sorry : ) Just couldnt resist. Your too cute. : )

jschweizer....here ya go! Awesome picture of the tummy

Definitely a nursing mom! No doubt about it, and from the looks of her, she probably has quite a few kits at that. Oh, and she's a pretty lady, too!