With her baggy skin, wrinkles, and spidery way of moving, our lamb, Gollum, is well named. Her mother is a beautiful yearling, acquired with a winning raffle ticket at the 2016 National Columbia Sheep Show and Sale. For now, however, we're not worried about beauty, for we suspect that Gollum needed several more days of gestation. She spent her first hours in front of our wood stove, sustained by two tube feedings of colostrum from the freezer. Later, while we were outside doing afternoon chores, she propelled herself out of her cozy swaddling and swam across the kitchen floor where we found her sprawled out, scrawny legs stretched full length fore and aft. Mid-evening, we returned her to the barn for a brief reunion with her mother who welcomed her with all the right maternal sounds and attention. I milked the ewe and we returned Gollum to the house, this time to a cozy, but restrictive, box in front of the wood stove. From her new digs, she heard President Trump address Congress and provided us with welcome diversion from the over-long speech. Before we returned her to the barn for the night, she sucked down a generous feed of her mother's milk from a bottle. Now, two days later, she is able to get up and nurse on her own. Despite her fragile condition, she seems determined to survive; despite her homely gnome looks, her mother loves her.
3 Comments
Katrina
3/3/2017 10:54:44 am
Smeagol indeed! Here's hoping she makes it through; that will be an improvement over Stargazer's situation.
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Margaret Eller
3/3/2017 05:53:16 pm
I'd forgotten the name, Smeagol. Are Smeagol and Gollum one and the same?
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Katrina
3/4/2017 06:04:13 pm
Two sides, same coin. :) Gollum is the nasty, sneaky personality. Leave a Reply. |
Margaret zieg ellerFor 25 years, Prairie Island has been my anchor, my core, my muse. The seasonal rhythms of land and livestock sustain me. The power of place inspires me. Archives
November 2024
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