February 18, 2021 Thursday at Rikki’s Refuge

all in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate)

Sleeting, Snowing, Freezing Rain, Dark Sunless, Miserable Day
Nobody wants to be out in this. But FOUR amazingly wonderful, dedicated hoomans being worked thru last night, thru all the changing weather today, with icicles in their hair and hanging from their beards and mustaches (yeah, they all get as hairy as possible for the winter, just like the animals), and they’ll stay on and work all night tonight, and maybe if it’s a little less treacherous out tomorrow, and others come in to help, they’ll get a little rest.




It’s all ice balls, some small and some big, what a mess, but thankfully not weighing trees and roofs down.

Cold? No …. we have the thickest bestest hairy leather coats !! What are you thin skinned mostly hairless hoomans doing out in this?

Feline Fields

Scarce few are venturing out

Despite the cold, Smoky Joe is on time for his morning stretching

Smacks practices climbing

Curiosity

… don’t worry, it won’t !!!

Well cook-a-doodle … just venturing out at 11 am !!! What happened with “up with the chickens?”

OK that was enough, I’m ready to go in now !!

We’re having a blast in this wonderful weather !!!

The GOOSE PARADE is in full swing !!!

At Rikki’s FRIDAYS are always FIVE DOLLAR FRIDAY !
Small donations add up and help to support the animals we have rescued at Rikki’s Refuge. For the price of a large coffee at Starbucks, you can feed a few animals today ! $5 buys 20 meals ! We basically can feed our 1300 animals for an average of about .25 cents per meal!

YES !! I’ll be a part of FIVE DOLLAR FRIDAY !!
http://RikkisRefuge.org/donate?purpose=%245

The ducks are pacing wanting it to all melt faster

Just as soon as a pool is filled

These pools were filled only ONE HOUR ago and they’re already freezing over. The hoomans will be round again soon to deice and refill so you all can keep swimming !!!

Hmmm I don’t think we’re going out today !!!!

How many pigs have burrowed into the fresh straw before the job is even done ?

Inseparable twins and friends

Buttercup and Reece

Grizzly and Smoky Joe

Andrew and Abigail

Daphne and Donald

Thelma, Louise, Quackers, Diasy, and Doodle

Bully and Sarah

Gimme kiss…..

Be sure to join us tomorrow for Donation Drop Off at Rikki’s and Fill A Truck at Re-Tail

Everyone lives happily ever after Rikki’s Refuge !

YOUR supports cares for out 1200+ residents !!!

www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
Rikki’s Refuge, 10910 Barr Ln, Rapidan VA 22733 (shipping address for food, etc)
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960 (secure box for checks, etc)

Thank YOU for making it all possible !

February 17, 2021 Wednesday at Rikki’s Refuge

all in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )

Morning has broken …..

Mine is the sunlight …..

Mine is the morning …..

Wonderful !!! Sunny !!!! But COLD !! With a CHILLING wind !!!

We’re going to snuggle in a little late this morning !!!

Soaking up the sun while sitting on a warm hood !!

Warming in the sun before starting her rounds for the morning !!!

Leaps in the first water bowl to be filled !!!

Don’t forget to stock up on canned cat and dog food, dry cat food, sweet feed, cracked corn, senior horse chow, paper towels, bleach, laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, fabuloso floor cleaner, and grab some apples and carrots if you’re coming to Rikki’s on Saturday !!!

Drop off DONATIONS at Rikki’s on Saturday and meet some of the horses, cows, sheep, pigs and goats !!!!

Or stop at Re-Tail and FILL THE TRUCK !!

Here we come, walkin’ down the street

We get the funniest looks from every one we meet

But we’re too busy

We go wherever we want to, do what we like to do

We don’t have time to get restless, there’s always something new

We’re just tryin’ to be friendly, come and watch us

We’re the young generation, and we’ve got something to say

Any time, or anywhere, just look over your shoulder

Guess who’ll be standing there

LOOK !!! FIVE bags of cat food !!!! A two day supply !!!

Everyone enjoys life at Rikki’s Refuge !

Because YOU care !!!

www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
Rikki’s Refuge, 10910 Barr Ln, Rapidan VA 22733 (shipping address for food, etc)
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960 (secure box for checks, etc)

Thank YOU for making it all possible

February 16, 2021 Tuesday at Rikki’s Refuge

all in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )

Good Moooooorning !!

The rain and snow and ice and sleet has stopped.
We’re holding our breath hoping to see the sun today.


Will it …. or won’t it ???

These two had apparently packed up overnight and decided to head south ……

Cats certainly do sunbathing best !

HIGH FIVE the sunshine !!!

And the left over flooding !!!

Here comes the straw to freshen up everybodys’ beds !!!

And the litter for the week.

We use a full pallet, 50 bags of wood pellets, each bag weighing 40 pounds every week.
We’ve tried every kind or litter and find the wood pellets to be, overall, the absolutely cheapest to use.
First the actual quantity, as in bags or items to be carried, is less.
Secondly the weight is less. You might think that’s silly till you think about how many times it must be picked up. At the store and into the truck. Out of the truck and into the barn. Out of the barn and to the cat facilities. Out of the cat facilities and into trash bags. Heft the trash bags on to the truck. Drive to dump. Hoist the trash bags into the dump.

How many times was that? At least six times !!!

Then you have the volume. The wood pellets start compact and fluff out when you pee on them. Well not you …. I mean the cats. Though if you did, I’m sure they’d fluff up too !!! One bag of pellets fills three litterboxes. We use these giant tubs that are made for mixing cement in. You don’t ask this many cats to share tiny little household boxes !!! It takes 40 pounds of scoopable or clay litter to fill a box. So that’s 3x the weight. Clay litter we must change every single day. It’s just too much cat stinky is we don’t. Scoopable has to be dumped every other day. The wood pellets last about 3 days with scooping. So that means we use 7-9 times as much clay or scoopable.

And that’s a lot more runs to the dump. On a good day we only have to go once. But is we were doing clay or scoopable, some days would have to be more than once.

And we have to pay for every pound we take to the dump. Yup !!! It’s just a few cents per pound. But our bill adds up to about $500 a month. Evey month !!!

And that is using litter that started out weighing 2,000 a week before the cats made their deposits. We’d be dumping more like 16,000 pounds of litter a week with clay or scoopable.

So you can see why we use pellets !!!

We use what ever kind of pellets are the cheapest at the time!! We’re not picky, we’re only going to poop and pee in it anyway !!!

The horse bedding pellets that went up from $4.99 a bag to $5.99 a bag when they learned people were using it for smaller animals too and they added a picture of a cat to the bag! Nope, Rikki’s didn’t invent the idea of using wood pellets !!!

In the winter we can get the wood stove pellets and they are running $5.19 for a bag this week. So a lot cheaper when you multiply that by 50 bags !! AND we get a 5% discount when we buy a pallet at a time which they can just forklift right on to the truck.

But that is still $246.53 a week in litter !!!!!

You know what would be amazing? If we had a special litter angle, who made a weekly recurring donation of only $246.53 !!!

Did I say ONLY? Yikes that’s actually a lot, isn’t it? Well how about one day of litter each week? Would a recurring monthly donation of $35.22 a week be reasonable? If only 7 wonderful donors would do that !!!! Or even 30 donors willing to contribute $35.22 each MONTH would cover the cost of our litter !!!!

Are there 30 of YOU who’d do that to help the cats?
www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate just follow the instructions to sign up for recurring donations !!
Thank you

SOMEBODY is hiding and hoping we won’t find them and make them go finish the scooping !!!

Panda? Is that YOU???

Snoozin in the sun on dry mud !!!

Could they possibly have gotten tired of rolling in the mud ?

Peppers says, this mud is GROSS !!! I can’t stand it on my dainty little feet !!

A foreigner stopped in for lunch !!

They are frequent visitors. As are all kinds of other wildlife. Though most come at night. The birds in the day.

Despite being chilly, everyone wanted to lay in the sun.

Even the hoomans. But they had too much work to stop and take a rest.

Diner time !!!!

and … bed time ….

And everyone lives happily ever after at Rikki’s Refuge !

With YOUR help we provide life long homes to well over 1,000 animals each & every day !!!

www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
Rikki’s Refuge, 10910 Barr Ln, Rapidan VA 22733 (shipping address for food, etc)
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960 (secure box for checks, etc)

Thank YOU for making it all possible !

February 15, 2021 Monday at Rikki’s Refuge

all in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )

Panda says she’s done with this wet and icy and muddy and miserable weather and will be resting today.

No, I wasn’t diggin in the mud …. why would you think …. ?

Marbles taste testing the food ….

EVERYONE wants to try that out !!!

I can have some ???

Donations were light today

So Doug headed out prepared to bed for credit extensions to get enough food for the cats

and then back to town to beg for the horses and other large critters.


Some days they might have to double up

but they’ll always get fed.

Think about grabbing some food and stopping by on Saturday to Drop Off Donations and visit some of our larger animals on a self guided tour !!!

Or pop into our Re-Tail Thrift Store and help us FILL-A-TRUCK !!

Hey wouldn’t you like to come help us at Rikki’s Refuge? We’re Hiring !!!

The geese never tire of the weather …. the PARADE MUST GO ON !!!

What’s with THIS corner, piggies?

Tip Toeing to keep their feet dry !

Loving the WET !

And despite the cold, just look at that green grass grow!! It’s going to be a very lush spring after such a wet winter. And we DO know spring is coming! Every morning it’s light just a little earlier, and every night we can work just a little later before donning headlamps to finish up !!!

Larry loves his salt block !

And the pigs love their mud !!

Foggy foggy evening

And Panda is still relaxing !!

The animals have an easy joyful life at Rikki’s Refuge, cuz the hoomans are working long, hard hours !!

And everyone lives happily ever after at Rikki’s Refuge !

With YOUR help we provide life long homes to well over 1,000 animals each & every day !!!
www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
Rikki’s Refuge, 10910 Barr Ln, Rapidan VA 22733 (shipping address for food, etc)
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960 (secure box for checks, etc)

Thank YOU for making it all possible !

February 14, 2021 Sunday at Rikki’s Refuge

all in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )

We were ecstatic to feel the temp go all the way up to 37 today !!! Even if there was not sun. Thankfully no more precipitation came down. Snow and ice melted slowly but steadily ….. until not long before midnight when it started drizzling … AGAIN. Ohhh the MUD … Oh the yuk !!!

I have to tell you a funny story about a sweet young lady who came to work for us once upon a time, many years ago. Now you don’t come to work blind at Rikki’s Refuge. You come for a long interview and we tell you all about snow and mud, and rain and sleet, and blistering heat, and to dress for heavy duty farm work, boots, quilted overalls, the works. We tell you about the 600 pounds of poop you’ll be helping us to clean up. We tell you about long hours, about sleeping over on bad weather nights. We tell you that you’ll be bitten, scratched, kicked, butted and leaned on by 1,500 pound animals. If the lengthy questioner you fill out looks ok and you still express an interest after hearing all about the job, and you can haul 50 pound feed sacks across fields and you can outrun sheep …. then you get to come and actually try it out for a day.

By the way, did I tell you we’re hiring? We are. So if you find what we’re doing fascinating and you want to be a part of our team, show up at our Life Center, 21410 Constitution Hwy, Rapidan VA 22733, at the corner of Rt 20 and Quarterhorse Ln and the Quarterhorse end of the rainbow bridge fence at NOON (don’t be late, cus we need you at work on time every day, so show us you can do that !) on any Saturday for an interview.

So back to the story. This lovely young lady (we do not hire under 18 per state law) made it thru the interview and desperately wanted to work at Rikki’s. So she was scheduled to come on the working part of her interview early the next morning. And the weather was just about what it is now. Totally icky, gross, wet, and knee deep in mud.

She showed up on time the next morning all excited and showed off her brand new pink boots, pink quilted overalls, pink jacket, pink gloves and long, delicious looking (to the pigs) pink stocking hat. We do warn everyone that working in the pig pen can take some getting used to. In the morning you’re rushed by dozens of hungry pigs weighing hundreds and hundreds of pounds who are pushing and rubbing on your legs just like little kitties do. You have to learn to hold your balance in all that. Or you go plop in the mud.

I bet you know where this is going! Yup, she got down to pigs, was so excited, rushed in, was rushed by the pigs, and went plop into the mud. She came crying into the office asking to use the phone (this was in the days before everybody carried one around) to call her dad to come pick her up and all upset she’d ruined her brand new “farm” outfit !!!!! I had to feel sorry for her, but oh gosh it was so hard not to laugh.

She was one of the many many many people who don’t make the first two hours of their working interview. Working at Rikki’s Refuge really is for a very few very special individuals. If you’re one, come on out here Saturday at noon !!!!

Now back to the muddy refuge on February 14th and see what we were doing instead of getting taken out to brunch or getting flowers or chocolates !!!

It started out icy and snowy from the past few days




And gradually melted as the temp slowly climbed








Turning into a wasteland of ice and snow by midday




Thank goodness delivery and supply could make it down the muddy potholed driveway !!!!



We use several hundred pounds of cracked corn, sweet feed and senior horse feed everyday. A little over half a pick up truck full. All to be lugged on shoulders across the muddy mess today !!! Oh we can’t wait till we can drive across the fields again !!!

And that was it for the day. Really, nothing very exciting here to report today !!!

And everyone lives happily ever after at Rikki’s Refuge, even if it is muddy !

With YOUR help we provide life long homes to well over 1,000 animals each & every day !!!
www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
Rikki’s Refuge, 10910 Barr Ln, Rapidan VA 22733 (shipping address for food, etc)
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960 (secure box for checks, etc)

Thank YOU for making it all possible !

February 13, 2021 Saturday at Rikki’s Refuge

all in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )

What a miserable day !!! Light misty sleet coming down. Temps a little above freezing in the middle of the day. Ice building up. Dripping off trees, roofs, icicles.

Icicles growing to 3 feet long !

Some of us opting to stay inside and dry

Others not phased by a little ice at all

And some of us are delighting at the icy muddy wasteland it’s become around here !

By 2 pm ever thing had at least a quarter inch coating of ice

Clarence says his hands are red and numb, but no matter what, the hoomans at Rikki’s keep right on doing the tasks the animals need them too. WHY? Because they truly love their charges and want them to be well fed and comfortable and happy.

Ol Man pulled the straw a Quality Control Officer today

checking off that every bucket of food going to be carried to every area is properly topped off. Everything will be hand carried today because with the ice and snow, it’s far too slippery to drive. Each load will be less than a person’s maximum carrying capacity too because they have to be so careful to avoid falling on the ice and mud. Quite frankly, it’s utterly miserable out here !!!

Our kitties are currently eating about 90 pounds of dry cat food a day. In addition to the hundreds of cans of food. The colder it is, the less they can absorb solar energy, the less they’re out running around, the more they need to metabolize to keep warm. Our average is about 80 pounds a day.

That means we need between two and three of these bags of food EVERY DAY. The very cheapest place we know to buy dry cat food right now is Tractor Supply’s Multi Cat. Right now it’s $18.99 for 44 pounds. You can buy the cats a bag or two at
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/multi-cat-dry-cat-food-40-lb-bag?cm_vc=-10005
for pick up. Be sure to pick Orange, VA as the pick up location and list the pick up person as Rikki’s Refuge, and then us know the order number, what you ordered (cus you can get the bigger animals cracked corn and sweet feed and senior horse chow too) and the name you ordered it under. Please pass this into on to me at m.me/KerryHilliard and I’ll get right over to Tractor Supply to pick up. They won’t call us when an order is ready, so I need to know from you !!! Thank you !!

As the sun starts down …. few animals are still about … the hoomans will be working well into the night, while most of the animals will stay in and dry and out of this miserable weather.

May we see the sun again someday !!

Because YOU care there is a place called Rikki’s Refuge !
Because YOU donate the 1200+ residents will be well fed again tomorrow !!

www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
Rikki’s Refuge, 10910 Barr Ln, Rapidan VA 22733 (shipping address for food, etc)
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960 (secure box for checks, etc)

THANK YOU !!

February 12, 2021 Friday at Rikki’s Refuge

all in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )

Twas the dawn after an ice storm on top of a snow storm, a bitterly cold morning …. not a creature was stirring ….

One by one the animals began to venture forth

Beauty reports for duty

Clinton comes out to say good morning …. but doesn’t stay long

Vampire Kitty braves coming out

The sundeck isn’t working this morning

Calling the goose parade to formation

Who’s YOUR favorite Refuge ever? It is Rikki’s Refuge, right? And we NEED your support in the Endless Love Shelter Challenge. Up for grabs is more than $43,000 in prizes! And it costs YOU nothing !!! FREE !!! All YOU have to do, is go to
https://www.shelterchallenge.com/shelterchallenge/Shelter/Detail/1121079
and vote for Rikki’s Refuge EVERY DAY. You’re allowed ONE vote a day. Make sure to vote every day AND ASK YOUR FRIENDS to vote and increase your impact for Rikki’s Refuge!
THANK YOU!!

Thank goodness enough donations arrived for everyone to have a hearty breakfast


Hang on !!! More is coming !!! I can only carry two platters at a time !!!!

Sated

Playing in the Snow after breakfast

Don’t go away !! There’s a lot more to feed than cats and dogs …..

As it warmed to just a few degrees above freezing for the high of the day, the ice and snow began to melt. Our puddle loving, mud loving friends were ecstatic !

Will you be Patrick’s Valenswine this weekend? He’d love a bag or two of sweet feed!

Each bag is $11.50. If you can help, you can order it directly from the Orange-Madison Coop here in Orange, VA and we will pick it up (phone number 540-672-2977 and press “0”)! Does it get any easier than that??
Your money goes directly to getting us the product and no fees are taken out!! Can you help??? WILL YOU BE PATRICK’S VALENSWINE??
**Orange-Madison Co-op (Southern States) 540-672-2977 and press “0”
**Email with any questions: Rikki@RikkisRefuge.org

Hooves crossed this “red sky at night” will pan out for tomorrow !

Despite the chill, it was another heartwarming day at Rikki’s Refuge

Thank YOU for giving them a place to call HOME !
www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
Rikki’s Refuge, 10910 Barr Ln, Rapidan VA 22733 (shipping address for food, etc)
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960 (secure box for checks, etc)

THANK YOU !!

February 11, 2021 Thursday at Rikki’s Refuge in Memory of Deloris Quick

DIGITAL IMAGE

All in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )

I have some very sad news. The animals have lost a wonderful friend. We are all so saddened to hear of the passing of Deloris Quick. What a loss to the world of a wonderful advocate for animals and a genuinely kind and compassionate human being. Deloris was the kind of person who never had an ill world about anyone, ever. She always helped anyone in need, and put her love of animals to practice everyday.

Deloris and Kiki

She was a devoted volunteer to Rikki’s Refuge for 20 years, serving on our Board of Directors for many of those. She lifted spirits of humans and animals alike, when she visited. The kind of wonderful friend you could always count on. She never met an animals she didn’t love.

Deloris and Bandit

Deloris shared her home with dogs and cats and the love of her life, Mike, who she was deeply devoted to. She helped Rikki’s Refuge and other organizations care for animals.

Deloris and Vincent

Deloris joined other volunteers of Rikki’s Refuge last summer in the successful effort to save our thrift store Re-Tail when reopening after the closure for covid.

Deloris and Gracie

She was very active in TNR and fed several feral colonies. She often helped homeless people and their pets.

Deloris and Cindy

Deloris saw no boundaries in helping anywhere she could and certainly leaves the world a better place for having been here. She leaves all of us better human beings for having known her and seeing true kindness and compassion in action.

Boss Hogette with Deloris and a group of Rikkites

You are deeply missed, Deloris, and welcomed by so many friends at the Rainbow Bridge.
Deloris Quick Memorial Fund For Animals
www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/fredericksburg-va/deloris-quick-10050241

I’m sure the Rainbow Bridge looked something like this

It was another wet and dreary day at Rikki’s Refuge

No BUTTS about it — I drug MY house to the BEST location!

NO! We win!! It took four of us to get out house over to this prime location !!

Loving this wonderful wet winter weather !

And the snow starts ….. again …

Stayin in – stayin dry – stayin warm

sending the hoomans out to take care of every one !!

5:30 pm, still snowing but not accumulating, hovering right around the freezing point.

What will the night bring ?

In the end, what truly matters is who’ll be waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge.

Thank YOU for making a difference to their lives.
www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
Rikki’s Refuge, 10910 Barr Ln, Rapidan VA 22733 (shipping address for food, etc)
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960 (secure box for checks, etc)

THANK YOU !!

February 10, 2021 Wednesday at Rikki’s Refuge

all in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )

Dreary over cast day with a forecast of snow starting in the afternoon and going on and on for days.

Freckles says we’ll make the best of, a wet winter means great grass coming in the spring !

Oh Gross !! Let me out here !! I’m not about to eat THAT !

These are heritage breed turkeys. They’re much more like wild turkeys than factory turkeys.

These are factory turkeys, breed to be all white, grow faster, and have larger parts in the areas people find more tasty. These things all affect their healthy in bad ways.

Interestingly, the two groups of turkeys have nothing to do with each other, acting like they aren’t even the same species.

They will share a meal. Never any conflict. Just totally ignoring each other.

Uh Oh, look who was naughty !!!!

Most of our repair jobs are created by our residents. We just smile, get them safe, and fix it !!

Boys will be boys and compete for the girls !! The peacock and turkey boys compare their spreads. None of the girls pay attention at all !!

Donations are light today.


We’ll pray for a miracle that tomorrow will somehow bring enough for everyone. That’s about a 1/3 of the grain we’ll need for the day. And only 120 cans of cat food. It takes 240 just to feed the houses in Feline Fields. The kitties in all the other buildings like to eat too. As a matter of fact, they demand it !!

Smacks strolls along full of confidence that YOU will see he has all the nums he wants to eat !!

As the snow clouds rolled in the Peacocks took to the high places to sounds the alarm of bad weather coming.

Have you noticed how hardly a picture is ever missing geese? They make rounds of the grounds all day long.

Circling the May Pole hoping spring will hurry up

Without fail, the muddiest corner !!

The sleet started about 2:30 in the afternoon

It wasn’t long before the ground was getting covered

Then the sleet stopped

Before dark the rain started

Will it freeze up overnight, or not ……. The crew that stays on duty all night will keep checking to see if the animals need anything.

Every one of the 1200+ animals at Rikki’s Refuge

is grateful for YOUR kindness and generosity !
They have a home all because of YOU !!
www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
Rikki’s Refuge, 10910 Barr Ln, Rapidan VA 22733 (shipping address for food, etc)
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960 (secure box for checks, etc)

THANK YOU !!

February 9, 2021 Tuesday at Rikki’s Refuge

all in a day’s work …. photos by those caring for the animals
(you can help support those animals at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate )

Is there any creature that is ever happier than a pig in mud !!!

Do you have any idea how much time we spend dragging their houses OUT of the mud !!!! And they drag them right back in !!

Rain, melting snow, more rain, more melting snow and we’re up to our knees in mud.

To the absolute delight of the geese and ducks – puddles everywhere.
Now you see me!

Now you don’t !!!

Diving for nummies ….
Happy Duckies

The geese roam far and wide, sampling every puddle on the property !!

Hi there !!!

I’m Timmy, the Official Spokes Kitty for Rikki’s Refuge. I work very hard to make sure everybody has nums and everybody has a clean warm bed. I was worried about getting lost in all the snow we’ve been having lately, so mom tied a red scarf around my tail so she can always find me and keep me safe !!!

And guess what? I need more nice hoomans to help take care of me!
Do you enjoy reading about the animals at Rikki’s Refuge? Do you dream of being one of my team and being here to help?

Now YOU can !!!

ANIMAL CARETAKER
Join the TEAM at Rikki’s Refuge Animal Sanctuary!
We need your PASSION and COMMITMENT to the animals!

We need FULL-TIME STAFF to take on the daily care for our resident animals, both farm and domestic. If you are not afraid of hard work, we would love to meet you! The work is labor intensive and must be done in all seasons and all weather conditions. We are looking for friendly, even-tempered staff members who are able to follow directions and work well with others.

There is a lot of cleaning to be done (most of it in outside conditions) and food to be prepared and sanctuary maintenance of fields and buildings and everything in between. Your day will be busy from start to finish but we also need you to be flexible as these are animals, many of them with special needs, and they are at all times the priority.

The work is hard, but the rewards are great. PLEASE email Rikki@RikkisRefuge.org for more information (OR just come to see us on Saturdays PROMPTLY AT NOON). We have on-site interviews EVERY SATURDAY at noon (you must be PROMPT) at our Life Center, 21410 Constitution Hwy, Rapidan, VA (look for the brightly colored rainbow fence – you can’t miss us)!

I hope you’ll come by Saturday to talk to us !!!! And if you don’t need a job, how about come by for DONATION DROP OFF on one Saturday, either at Rikki’s Refuge’s Life Center, or at our store Re-Tail !!


Really hoping they’ll be more when this food runs out

Turkeys talking to Clinton

My what fine aura Grizzly has today !!

Notice the outdoor furniture, playhouse and such? They’re Little Tyke outdoor play things for kids. And they are ideal for cats. Very difficult to destruct. Easy to powerwash. Very durable. When ever you see them at yard sales or thrift stores or on marketplace cheap, grab them up for the cats of Rikki’s Refuge !!!

Meet Venus

She was abandoned, and left taped shut in a box. Luckily someone found her and saved her life. She was FIV positive when vetted and so came to live happily after at Rikki’s.

Did you know that FIV doesn’t affect the life of the cat with it? And it doesn’t spread once they aren’t viciously fighting over the girls and mating. FIV cats will live good happy long lives. Just as long as cats who don’t test positive for FIV !!!! Yet the myth of problems with FIV persist and so many cats are not wanted simply because of a little blue dot on a test.

See Venus’ eyes? That has nothing to do with FIV. She was just born especially beautiful. Her eyes are technically known as heterochromia iridis or differently colored irises. It’s a genetic condition carried by the same gene that makes cats white. And that’s why you so often see it in white cats.

Meet JJ. He and Momma were breeding away at a vacant house. We worked on trapping the whole family. He was the hardest and last to get. They’d all been sick. But he was especially bad and had a horrible eye infection too. Too sick to undergo surgery, we treated him for his respiratory illness and the eye infection. Luckily the eye healed as JJ get better and feistier!! The eye did stay a cloudy bluish color and he has little if any vision there. But it doesn’t bother him one little bit, and that’s what counts.

A cat and his rooster

EXCUSE ME ! THIS sundeck is occupied!

Magnificent !!!

Especially that colorful tail !!! It took years of toiling in our cross breeding program to create a cat with a peacock tail !! (ps. Just kidding, the peacock is really just sitting on the other side of the kitty. No breeding permitted at Rikki’s!)

Still light at 5:30 pm these day !!! Spring is coming !!! We can now work outside at 6:45 am without our headlamps on !!

Every one of the 1200+ animals at Rikki’s Refuge

is loved for who they are and get all the love, food and medical care they need
all because of YOUR support !!
www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
Rikki’s Refuge, 10910 Barr Ln, Rapidan VA 22733 (shipping address for food, etc)
Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960 (secure box for checks, etc)

THANK YOU !!