There is a feral kitten lost INSIDE my house.

A couple of days ago, one of my mom's coworkers called. She had trapped a five month old feral kitten - could we take it? Of course we said yes, and we headed over to pick it up. Initially it was terrified. After taking it home, we put it in my bathroom. The instant we let it out of the cage it went crazy - literally climbing the walls in a panic, trying to escape. However, within 48 hours it had calmed down enough for me to pet and hold. It even purred. Then I made the mistake of taking it out of the bathroom. It immediately squirmed out of my arms and ran. And I can't find it. It is definitely inside the house, but god knows where. Let's hope it comes out to eat!

The little feral caught in the trap

Sitting on my shoulder being friendly... before she ran and hid.

I can't buy a train station :-(

There's an old, abandoned train depot about half an hour west of Waycross on Highway 84 in the small community of Argyle, GA. I've blogged about it here and here, and as you might guess, I've been fantasizing forever about somehow getting to live in it. Additionally, my mother and I have seriously been considering finding some old building which we could move out to her land and use as a cat shelter. (The idea is that we would incorporate as a 501c3 non-profit.) Then, a couple of days ago, an ad appeared in the Waycross classifieds, offering the train station for sale to be moved, $15,000 OBO. We called the owner and agreed to meet him out there to take a closer look at it. It was wonderful! Structurally sound and dry inside. The only problem was that he didn't want to give it to us for free or less than $1000... plus, it would probably cost us at least $15k to move it from Argyle to my mom's land, and that's not including how much it would cost to start fixing it up. Alas, I have NO money, and my mother doesn't have enough cash on hand to get into a project of this financial magnitude. So, I'm left without the train station. But below are some photos to remember it by:

Notice: Do not tarry in here unless on business and then be brief!

FAN-tastic

I meant to write about this a couple of days ago, but somehow I just didn't get around to it. I don't know how many of you out there read the comments section of each post, but you might recall that on this post, I received a comment telling me about how Hot Toddy's had closed in Waycross. (A totally distressing discovery by they way, as HT was really the only place in this town where I didn't mind hanging out.) Anyway, the comment was left by someone called bitingback, who was a complete stranger to me... until the other day when I went to Kroger on a secret mission to stock up on on-sale ice-cream. (I bought three gallons.) Kroger is connected to Church's Chicken, and as I walked in the door I heard, "Jane? Hi... I'm bitingback!" It was really quite amazing to meet a virtual fan in real life :-)

In which I steal someone's dead cat and someone else's live dog

Three and a half years ago, my mom sold her house in Florida and moved permanently to Waycross. She brought eleven cats with her. Ten of them adapted with no problem. One of them, an adorable tortishell semi-feral named Whiskey did not. She was so panicked by the move that she ripped the siding off the window A/C unit (this was before mom had central heat and air installed) and escaped. We were unable to find her. Since then, my mom has carried Whiskey's picture in her (er, my) car, and even answered "found cat" ads in hopes of finding her. Just yesterday, she told me that a few months ago she had seen Whiskey on a road roughly a mile and a half from her house. She said that she'd gotten out and compared the markings of the cat with the photograph and they matched exactly. However, Whiskey had reverted to full feral mood, and ran off when my mom approached. I didn't really believe her; I thought it was wishful thinking.

This morning, as I was headed to mom's house to pick up Brin before going out to ride, I saw a dead tortishell lying in the road. It was exactly where mom said she'd seen Whiskey, and I knew it was her. I stopped the car, got out, scooped her up, and took her with me. [I do admit the absurdity in this; I know if anyone saw me stop, collect the dead cat, and then drive on, they must've thought I was completely bonkers.] I compared the cat with the photograph (still in the car), and it seemed to me that it was her. It seemed so horrible that she could've lived so close for three and a half years, only to be reunited with us (and her four siblings) in death.

Whiskey's photo and the dead cat in a box

I was feeling really bummed when I took Brin out to the land to feed/ride the horses. I was also musing on the sickly stray dogs which had shown up the other day, only to vanish... then I pulled up to the gate, and who should be on the other side of the fence but Beagley Dog! He and Brin played together like long lost friends, and then the two of them followed me and Honey out on our ride.

Beagley's back!!

Honey was wonderful. Unlike that cantakerous (yet beautiful) beast, Merlin, Honey was easy to catch and behaved fabulously throughout the ride. She, the dogs, and I didn't go too far. We rode to a nearby pond that my mom and I discovered when we were out riding the other day, took some pictures, and rode back. There's something really wonderful about being out in the woods on a beautiful day, on a horse, accompanied by dogs.

"Are you gonna ride me, or just stand there taking stupid pictures?"

Approaching the pond, with Brin


Pond!


More pond, with Beagley and Brin


Merlin was waiting for us when we returned.

When Brin and I got in the car to leave, Beagley Dog wanted to come, too. I put him back in the field and locked the gate, but the bars in the gate are spaced pretty far apart, and he was able to pop right out and start chasing me down the road. I couldn't bear the thought of leaving him out there, all alone, without even Stinky Hound for company... so I stopped and he got in the car too. I brought him to my mom's house (where he promptly revealed his deathly fear of cats) and stuck him in the back yard with Blackie and Ursa. Initially, he was pretty intimidated by them, and slunk off into a corner with his tail between his legs. But less than an hour later, he and Blackie were playing together like old chums, and soon thereafter, I shot this photo of the three of them sleeping together in the sun:

Blackie, Ursa and Beagley

When mom came home from work, we set about burying Whiskey. I had dug the hole, and mom brought out the body. We decided to compare it with the photograph one last time... and found something I hadn't noticed before: one minor and yet very important discrepancy in their colorations. It wasn't Whiskey! (Although mom admits that it was the cat she'd seen recently.) So, it turns out that I stole someone's dead cat - although at least they'll just think she ran away, and won't be the ones finding her broken body on the road. We buried Not-Whiskey in our pet cemetery nonetheless.

Mostly about animals, but some other stuff, too

These two tabbies are two of the many semi-ferals who eat at my house.
These two are kittens, maybe a little older than Heelix

Unfortunately, their hobby is destroying these chairs. Granted, I hate these chairs and I put them on my front porch in the hope that someone would steal them... but no one's going to run off with them now!

My front porch - and my back yard - are home to at least three possums. Here's one.

Possum in action!

Again, my mom and I volunteered at the Waycross College booth at the Okefenokee Agricultural fair like we did last year. The fair was much more interesting this year, with many more animals.

Mom in her booth

This was right across from the booth...
Isn't this the sort of nonsense that caused our financial crisis to begin with?

The fair at night

Carousel!

Funnel cake! Heaven!

The sweetest Donkey ever!

Alpaca!

Some very conversational hogs

Dude riding the mechanical bull

HorseCam! Taken while I was riding Honey

We get to dodge hunters, as it's hunting season.
See the guy in blaze orange on the pile of logs?

We also get to dodge dismembered deer carcasses

But the scenery is pleasant.

And here's mom, riding Merlin :-)

Censorship on YouTube?

Remember when I went to the eagle festival and there were wolf-hounds fighting a chained wolf? I shot a video of the wolf fighting the dogs and posted it on YouTube, with a warning that it was graphic and with my opinion that this was a particularly horrific aspect to the otherwise incredible festival. I wasn’t posting it in order to glorify dog fighting or dog-n-wolf fighting, but to show how things are in modern Kyrgyzstan. Apparently it was deemed unacceptable by YouTube. When I logged in this afternoon in order to upload the videos in the below post, I received this message:

The following video(s) from your account have been disabled for violation of the YouTube Community Guidelines:

Dogs fight a chained wolf (warning: graphic) - (janekeeler)

Your account has received one Community Guidelines warning strike, which will expire in six months. Additional violations may result in the temporary disabling of your ability to post content to YouTube and/or the termination of your account.For your reference, a copy of this message has also been emailed to the address associated with this account.

I never did receive that email; no doubt it was funneled into my spam box.

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, the images depicted in the video are pretty horrible. On the other hand, that’s what goes on in modern-day Kyrgyzstan. Unlike the US where dog-fighting is something people gather illegally in basements to do, this was one of the main events in a large festival put on by the Krgyzstan Ministry of Tourism. The purpose of my blog (when I’m overseas, at least) is to give readers an accurate glimpse of what life is like wherever I happen to be. Anyone interested in going to Kyrgyzstan should be aware of the fact that animal rights simply do not exist. As such, I feel in part that by removing the video, YouTube has done its users a disservice. What do you think?

Animal Vlogging :-)

I've got a few cute animal videos to share with you today. The first one is Brin (our brindle-colored pit bull) licking the head of Ruffy, one very large, fluffy black cat.

Honey was supposed to be delivered on Friday, but as rain is predicted for Friday, her owners decided to bring her out yesterday instead. Merlin’s reaction to having a mare (in heat, no less) in his field was hilarious; it was as though he had forgotten that he was no longer a stallion. He worked himself into a sweat showing off for and chasing poor Honey, who – despite being in heat – didn’t seem too thrilled by all the attention. I’m going to give them a few days to get used to one another before I try riding Honey in her new home. In the meantime, here’s a video of their initial meeting:

Last night, as I was in bed reading, I heard a noise on the front porch. Thinking it might be cat wanting in, I went to the window and peeked out. Well, it wasn't a cat. This was what I saw:

Obstreperous beasts, stinky beasts and electricians

Well, I didn’t get the job at the animal shelter. Even though it was a minimum wage job, over 100 people applied (says a lot about the economy in Waycross) – I was lucky just to be one of the 20 selected for an interview. On the one hand, it’s probably a good thing that I didn’t get the job, as part of my duties would’ve been assisting in the euthanasia of feral cats. On the other hand, I have literally NO money. Kyrgyzstan was definitely worth it, but unfortunately, now I am really, really poor. I can’t even afford to turn the gas on in my house, and as I have gas heat and a gas stove, that kinda sucks.

Meanwhile, I’ve been filling my days by taking care of animals. We don’t pick up Honey (“my” horse) until Friday morning, but there’s still Merlin (mom’s horse) to feed and ride. Merlin – a gorgeous white Arab – alternates between being wonderful and being simply ornery. When you ride out on him he can be stubborn – he doesn’t like to leave his “security blanket” field behind. I’ve been riding him regularly, trying to get him past his stubbornness. It’s actually been a lot of fun… until this morning when I couldn’t catch him at all. And as soon as I gave up and sat down, he wandered right over, rubbing my nose in it. Boo.


Me, riding Merlin on Saturday

Mom on Merlin

He *is* beautiful!

Mom had told me that I could catch him by sneaking the lead rope behind my back then slipping it around his neck. I was told that he would then walk easily to the barn. Hah! We stood there for a good 30 minutes.
As soon as I sat down and put my feet up, he wandered over to the barn!
Last night when I went out to the field to feed Merlin, two scrawny hunting dogs wandered up, a beagle and a hound dog. They’d probably simply gotten separated from their hunters, but as they were so skinny and pathetic looking, I went and got them some food. They were waiting for me when I went out there this morning. I may have just acquired two more unneeded – and stinky – canine friends. They smell like they found the rotting carcass of something and rolled in it.



Speaking of stray dogs, remember the starving pit bull puppies I found when I was home around this time last year? Well, the girl dog (Brownie) ran off sometime during the past year, but the boys Brinny and Blackie are still around. Brin has been a bit of a trouble maker – running off and getting picked up by the animal shelter and biting an old lady who lives down the street from my mom. This means that he now has to be a house dog, in order to keep him from getting into trouble. You’d think having a pit bull in a house full of cats would be nothing but trouble, but he’s *wonderful* with the cats. As soon as I get some high-speed internet going, I’ll upload an adorable video of Brin licking the head of one of the cats, and a hilarious video of a different cat intimidating him into a corner. Anyway, Brin always goes out to the field with me when I feed and ride Merlin, and he loves just running around out there. Hunters (they’re not supposed to hunt out by my mom’s land, but they do) are always leaving behind bits and pieces of deer and hog carcasses which Brin LOVES to pick up and run around with. We’ve had some arguments over whether or not he’s allowed to bring decaying hog spines into my car! I hope he gets along with Slinker and Stinker, assuming they stay out there.


Brin :-)
What else? The Bishkek cats are doing wonderfully here in Waycross, and the local cats are starting to adapt to their presence. Additionally, Daddy Cat (who must weigh 35lbs by now), Mary Cat and Alley Cat are shoving the Bishkek Four aside to get snuggle-space next to me on the bed. Meanwhile, the house is surrounded by numerous semi-ferals who show up for mealtimes, demanding fodder. I swear I’m in competition with the animal shelter.


Alley Cat

Heelix

Look how much of the shyrdak Alley Cat takes up...

...now look how much of it Daddy Cat fills!

These two cuties, Tabby 1 and Tabby 2, are semi-feral
This morning it was pretty chilly in my house, and I turned on my two space heaters (since I can’t run my gas heat) and about an hour later, half of the electricity in my house shut off. I assumed that a breaker had tripped, but when I checked them, they were all still “on.” So, we called an electrician who came out this afternoon. Turns out that one of my breakers *had* switched off, but had remained stuck in the “on” position. Sigh. But, while the electricians were at my house, I got them to crank up the thermostat on my water heater (hot showers!) and install a new, non-flickering light on my front porch.

I’ve been working on cleaning up my house after a year of disuse, and I plan to do some work on it to get it ready to sell. Not that anyone will want to buy it given our current financial situation, but I should at least get it ready.

I bought a horse!

Well, technically my mom bought her, and we won't actually be getting her until next week, but still! She's not any particular breed or anything, but when I rode her she was perfect (she'll probably never be that well-behaved again), doing everything I asked instantaneously, including cantering. Her name is Honey; I hope she and Merlin get along :-)

Joe's Trippin'

My friend and former coworker in Kyrgyzstan, Joe, has a superfabulous blog which all of you should read. He's been to nearly all of the Stans and takes exceptional photographs. Check him out!

Since I've been home

My mom and I had initially planned to “test-drive” a horse in Macon on our way home from the Atlanta airport. Unfortunately, its owner had to work on Monday, so we didn’t get the chance to do so. I hope to have the opportunity to check it out later this month. We did, however, have the dubious pleasure of trying out a four-year-old nag out in Blackshear (about 20 minutes east of Waycross). The poor horse had been “trained” by a girl who was 14 at the most and who obviously knew nothing about how to train a horse. It definitely had potential, but would’ve required a LOT of work. And the poor thing was pretty ugly.


Mom, riding the Blackshear nag
When you compare him to my mom’s beautiful Arabian, Merlin, well, it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Or perhaps fresh apples and rotten ones.


Merlin!

A closer look...
Merlin lives out on my mom’s land, which is literally in the middle of nowhere – no one lives out there but him. In order to make it look as though someone was living out there with him (to deter people from harassing him and whatnot), my mom purchased a supercool trailer to keep out there. Now, before you go thinking that the phrase “supercool trailer” is an oxymoron, check this baby out:



It’s a 1951 Spartan Royal Mansion, filled with nearly all of its early 1950s “space-age” accoutrements. And I would LOVE to live in it. Unfortunately, it needs a bit of work – not to mention that my mom’s land has no electricity or running water. (It has a hand-pumped well to water the horse and that’s it.) But we’ll see. If I can get the stove to operate on propane and can build a solar-generator for the refrigerator, it might very well be doable.

What else? On Tuesday, I called about a job at the local animal shelter, and learned that I needed to have my application in by 2pm. I didn’t have a drivers license yet (y’all remember when it got stolen back in K-stan?), and seriously considered biking to the shelter... but it was raining and I wasn’t 100% certain where the shelter was located, so I snagged my mom’s car (she was at work with mine) and drove in to apply... taking care so to break no traffic laws! I’ve since had one follow-up interview, and might very well be gainfully employed soon.

After leaving the animal shelter, I drove over to my voting precinct and explained about my lack of absentee ballot, and was able to get approved to vote.


The sticker on my shirt says "I'm a Georgia Voter"
I wasn’t able to stay up listening to the election coverage, as I was completely exhausted and still running on Kyrgyz time... but I woke up just in time to hear Obama’s acceptance speech, which made me cry with joy. Literally.

The next day, mom drove me to the DMV to get a replacement drivers license. There is a man who works at the DMV who is thoroughly unpleasant. When my mom went there to switch from a FL to a GA drivers license, he essentially accused her of being a terrorist for not bringing a passport or other form of ID with her. When I first got my GA license, he nearly made a woman cry by yelling at her... and she was there to get a replacement license because she’d lost hers. I have been stressing about dealing with this man ever since my license was stolen back in May. I needn’t have worried, as luckily, he wasn’t there. Five dollars later, I had a new drivers license. Complete with this ridiculous red hair, which I will bear on my ID through 2011 :-)


Not much going on right now otherwise. I’m suffering through my mom’s dial-up internet (although I think I’ve convinced her to upgrade to DSL), cleaning my house (which, having been under the control of innumerable cats over the past year, is an utter mess), and waiting to hear back from the animal shelter.