Skinks, Etc.

I'm always a little leery of slithery things, so when I caught sight of a tail disappearing behind Twenty-Two's "bed" in the nursery, I went to investigate to make sure it wasn't something that could harm him.  This turned out to be just a little something about eight inches long, shiny-smooth, very snakelike in appearance and movement, but with legs.  The word "skink" sprang to mind, but I had to check it out later to be sure.  It was, indeed, a skink, which I discovered is one of the largest groups of lizards, with over six hundred varieties.  This skink is nothing like my lizard totem who lives in the lettuce barrel, but anything that eats insects is welcome at Farview.

From past experience, I know that baby goats like to sleep in the shallow rubber feed bowls I use in the barn and so have kept an old one just for the kidlets.  Twins and triplets always cluster in their birth groups to sleep, and I think that for a single-o like Twenty-Two, curling up in the dish helps him feel not quite so much alone.  At nine days old, he's already getting tiny horn spikes.  I have no one available to burn the horn buds this time, but (if Tree Guy's friend comes through) since he's going to get a job as a brush eater and Nineteen has a scur, maybe a set of horns will be an asset.

Larry and Taylor drove up just as I finished barn chores yesterday.  It was the first time I'd seen Taylor since her surgery, and it was more than great to see her standing straight and tall.  If it weren't for the scar from the base of her neck to the lower back, one would never guess from her movement she'd had two rods placed in her spine to correct aggressive scoliosis.  Larry pirated some wire from the old boat (Steve would have been so proud, as he was the Scrounge King) and was able to jerryrig the wiring from his truck to the travel trailer well enough to take the trailer home to finish and improve the job.  I had a momentary pang as I watched the little trailer leave the driveway for the last time; it's been a part of Farview landscape for so long.  It had been lovely to visit with Larry and Tay for the afternoon.

It was a good day.